Over the next ten weeks, I’ll be posting news/info that I get from Adam as he goes through basic training in Fort Sill, Oklahoma as training for the Maryland National Guard. Joining was a huge step – something that he had talked about doing for the past ten years so despite the nerves, and my apprehension of living alone for the better half of six months, we were both really excited about all the opportunities. Earlier this evening when he was in a holding pattern, he posted this over on www.adamjschmidt.com but I decided (with his permission obvi) to cross-post. Enjoy!
Started my day on about 30 minutes of sleep at 5am after a late night of tying up loose ends for my departure to Basic Combat Training at Ft. Sill. Due to a miscommunication with my recruiter my ride failed to appear at the appointed time so I had to rouse the Mrs. a few hours early and race up to the Baltimore MEPS to make my 6am reporting time.
Four hours later after being weighed, taped, measured, and thoroughly eyed over I was cleared to ship. The Mrs. made it up a little after 11am and we had some time together between informational briefings about how airports work before I boarded the bus to BWI.
We’d made a point to take advantage of the prior week, so our parting wasn’t as heart-wrenching as it could have been. However, my main concern about the next eight weeks is how I’m going to fair without her. We started dating five years ago, celebrated our second anniversary in September, and in that time I doubt we’ve spent more than a week apart.
Was booked on Southwest from BWI to Dallas with a stopover in Little Rock before my final connecting flight to Oklahoma. Everything went off smoothly, I was even able to get my frequent flyer account credit for the travel! Unfortunately, I now find myself in a holding pattern at the Will Rodgers World Airport due to the fact that they ran out of seats on the bus to Ft. Sill. So I’ve been separated from the other recruits that I’d thus far traveled with from the Baltimore MEPS.
If all goes according to schedule I should hop the 10:30pm bus for the 90 minute ride to Ft. Sill and reception battalion where my processing for Basic Combat Training will commence.
In the meantime I’m taking a breather at the YMCA Military Reception Center staffed by a great group of volunteers who are making me feel at home.
It’s doubtful that I’ll have any substantial access to email or the internet over the next eight weeks – so I’ve arranged to have the Mrs. periodically post my letters to Newly Marylanders so that I can share my Maryland Army National Guard training experience.
Looking forward to being back with my family for Christmas – I’ll have the Mrs. post my mailing address for Ft. Sill when I get in case anyone wants to write.
{Crossposted from www.adamjschmidt.com}
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