Sierra-182 Week 04

21Dec09: Today Sierra split into 02 different groups, Port and Starboard, to begin our range week activities. Port side shot the P229 PDW Sig Sauer to qualify for basic marksmanship. While Port side went shooting Starboard side learned about the different enlisted careers in the Coast Guard. Starboard also set up email accounts and had indoctrination at the range to shoot the Sig the next day. A memorable and eventful class today was learning about colors. We took time to learn about how important colors are to us Americans, by watching the first twenty minutes of the film Saving Private Ryan. Chief Garry told us to think about the people who came before us and gave the ultimate sacrifice and to think of these people every time it is time for colors. We then picked 02 colors teams and went out to the parade field to practice raising and lowering colors.

22Dec09: "Lock and load," rang out on the range today as Sierra company went to test their marksmanship skills. We were trying to qualify for different levels of marksmanship, sharpshooter, or expert. We had 02 recruits from Sierra qualify as experts and many others at the other 02 levels. For those that did not qualify it's not a problem because they can try to qualify again at their next duty station. The Gunners Mates at the range were very helpful and even took time after to shooting to answer any questions we had about shooting, the range, and the Coast Guard in general. After shooting it was time to take some pictures. We marched over to Dempsey Hall where we put on dress uniform jackets and covers to take our first official Coast Guard picture. We kept our military bearing throughout the process and we all looked sharp.

23Dec09: We all have dreams at night and we have dreams we want to accomplish, but today for Sierra we had the smallest bit of a choice in the dream location of our choice for our ext duty station. Hands were going up left and right as we filled out our Assignment Data Cards. We all had questions about different locations, differences between cutters and small boat stations, and the biggest question, what is the chance of us getting our first pick. Chief Garry was helpful in answering most questions but he told us to remember that all choices are made based on the needs of the service. Today we also took our Physical Fitness Test. As a whole company we all did a great job. Our Company Commanders were there to encourage us the whole way through.

24Dec09: We woke up early this morning to get a head start on studying for our mid-term, but before our mid-term we went to Seamanship class to test our knot tying skills. At Seamanship we also practiced control at the helm. It was then time for the mid-term. Chief Garry gave us a little incentive, that if we received 100% on the mid-term we could make a 05 minute phone call home. About 8 of us were able to make that call. As a company we all did well on the mid-term, with a class average of 96%, one of the highest averages a company has placed in a while.

25Dec09: At home on Christmas Day we usually wake up to presents under the tree and half eaten cookies. At TRACEN Cape May we woke up to Christmas music blaring throughout James Hall and "Merry Christmas you lot," per Chief Eppright. Before going off to Operation Fireside Chief Eppright had us do some uniform maintenance so we would look sharp for the families that were taking us in. Chief Garry even came in to give us a Christmas present, the Coast Guard Standard Flag and a card that read "Fire, fire, fire," Sierra Company not realizing it was an actual fire drill. We then went to the Chapel and met the families that would be taking us into their homes on Christmas. It was good for the recruits to get away from training for a day and to talk to our loved ones at home and to reconnect as to why we are doing this.

26Dec09: "Reveille, reveille, reveille," was our wake up per Chiefs Peralta and Eppright. It may have been because of Christmas yesterday but everyone was loud and proud at muster this morning. We had a morning class on watch standing but more specifically, watch standing at Sexton Hall. Sierra is excited for this as we get to visit and stand watch in the hall where we stayed our first week of boot camp. Today was also our intro to Pugil Stick Fighting, for those that don't know what Pugil Sticks are, think fighting with big Q-Tips. Everyone in Sierra is looking forward to this as it is a morale booster for the company as we duel our shipmates.

27Dec09: Sierra was in for a shock today as we woke up with our Section Commander Chief Hampton. Some of us thought we were in trouble while others weren't quite sure what to think. We turned to Divine Hours still pondering why Chief Hampton would be running the company today. Chief Hampton showed us clips of movies that had themes that related to what was going on in Sierra Company. We will all have to take on a leadership role at some point and as a leader we must also take care of our subordinates, but to effectively do that we must take care of ourselves. Later that night Chief Hampton finally told us why he was here, to evaluate and see where we were as a company. He even took time to let us get to know him better. He wants us to raise our standards of what is expected out in the fleet. Sierra will have to wait and see when we get another inspiring interaction with Chief Hampton.