Surgery

Well, I have been here at Fort Huachuca, AZ since mid September. A lot of things have happened since I've been here, but overall I can't complain. I will fill you in on everything, but it might take a while.
I rented a house with a big back yard for my noodle Lelu to run around in. I didn't realize that the yards here have all these little stickers that get stuck in her paws. Not that it slows her down at all....she just runs on three legs til I pull the sticker out.
When I got here, I got assigned to a company where they told me I would be doing all kinds of really cool things. The actual job is pretty nifty, but its almost all civilians there and I ended up doing excel spreadsheets that a private could have done.
About a month into being here, I started feeling weak and lethargic.....I was bleeding a lot. I finally went and got it checked out and the Dr. decided that I needed to have surgery. This is not for the faint of heart....I ended up have a hemorrhoidectomy where they removed three of those bad boys (internally, not externally). They put me under and when I woke up I couldn't feel my entire lower body. Very nifty....until it wore off. I was laying there in the hospital and the pain came.....I had never felt anything like that before in my life. Now I have a high tolerance for pain, but this was crazy. I actually started crying and my friend that was sitting with me called the nurse and she put something in my iv that flushed my face, melted me like a baby and had me babbling all kinds of nonsense. Apparently it was something stronger than morphine. Whatever it was, they kept me nice and juiced up until I left a day and a half later. I can definitely see why people can get addicted to that kind of stuff. When you are in pain and then that morphine high comes along.....ahhhhhhh! They gave me percacet which kept me nice and loopy at home too. I couldn't believe the amount of pain that I was in. Then to make things even better, I have extreme swelling at all the incision sites that do not want to heal. Altogether, I have been at home resting for a month. They actually put me on convalescent leave (go home and recover leave) until December 26th but my company commander wants me back early.....so I head back to work on Monday. I have a follow up appointment December 14th with my Dr. He is the one that will tell me if I have actually healed up yet. I know the swelling hasn't gone away yet, but I doubt I will be doing anything hardcore enough to warrant damage.
I think that may be enough information to satisfy you for now.....maybe more than you wanted to know. hahahah. I will try to write more often and stop being such a slacker about this. Promise.

New Butter Bar

I know I have been HORRIBLE about keeping up with this thing, but now that I have more free time I promise I will be better about updating this. I am home in Oregon now for another week then flying back to Georgia to begin my trip to Arizona. I graduated from OCS August 27th with my little butter bar and am now officially a second lieutenant in the Army. I branched Military Intelligence and do my branch training at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. I don't start school for several more months so I will just be working there until school starts. I am sure I will have interesting stories to tell about that. I will try to backdate this a little ways and fill you in on some of the interesting things that went on during school. I had WAY too much fun there and have plenty of stories to tell. Anyways, I have too much stuff to do and too little time to do it in so I will write again later. Thanks for hanging in there with me.

I start school tomorrow!

I don't know how good I am about doing this every day but I'm trying. Where I left off, I was still in processing. Friday we had an early formation in the morning, ate at the DFAC and then Sam, my roommate, and I went back to the room and crashed out til lunch formation. They told us we were heading off to HHC company for OBC. Of course it decided to pour the entire time we were loading our bags onto the bus. We drove about ten minutes to the main side of post and there we were.

We signed in there and then went over the HHC building where all the officer candidates that had been recycled from other companies, the broken ones, the ones that quit and the ones waiting to go to my company. They were filling our heads up with all sorts of advice and rumors and scaring the living crap out of us. If you don't drink enough milk, you can get stress fractures and get kicked out. If you miss a comma in one of the written memorization's, you get kicked out. If you fall back on a run, you get kicked out. Everyone runs at an eight minutes pace or less, if you don't, you get kicked out. If you are caught fraternizing, you get kicked out. This one guy had been there for seven MONTHS! I think he was pretty much full of it and it has been a running joke now between my little group of people that hangs out....YOU WILL BE KICKED OUT! Obviously we have had to establish a rumor patrol.
That night Sam and I were put in a bay with a bunch of other females and they told us we could sleep on some cots. Charming. We found some empty beds though so at least we got to sleep in a bed. Up early in the morning again for a formation. Remember what I told you about the people at HHC now? They have formations in the morning so that people can be assigned details throughout the day. I thought I had got lucky but not so fast....I got to drain oil and gas out of lawn mowers with a bunch of other females. At least I kind of knew what I was doing. Once that was done, more formations, more sitting around and then finally we had a briefing with the 1SG.
He told us about what it would be like, then pretty much released us for the weekend. They told us to move over to our permanent company where we will living for the next 12 weeks.
Sam and I moved our stuff over there and then showered and changed into civilian clothes. We went to a Mexican restaurant and then came back to the barracks.

Saturday we got up around ten or so and went for a run around the track we will be using for our pt test. We made a new friend, Mona who ran with us. She timed us and it looks like we will be fine for our pt test. Came back, showered, changed, went to IHOP and ate. Then we went to see the movie Hangover which was super funny. Then crashed out again.

Which brings me to Sunday. I obviously have internet now...yay! We were up by eight and went on a 3 miler. It was a little intense sunwise today though. We need to run before the sun comes up. A ton of people have moved in and we have 151 people in our class now. Which is great because that way noone gets cut. So we start off with the height and weight tomorrow morning and then fill out a lot of paperwork to kick this thing off. I have duty from 0200 to 0400 which sucks really bad. That is such an ackward time. Wake up is at 445 and formation is at 515. Then our last formation tonight is 2050 so no sleep for poor Julie. lol. I will deal with it though. Nothing too strenous going on tomorrow.

So Georgia is BLAZING hot. I feel constantly dehydrated and burning up. Sam gets a little sweat on her hairline and meanwhile I am pouring sweat...into my eyes, down my back, its ugly I tell you. I think I will come back a good twenty pounds lighter. And then everyone says "this is nothing! wait til August!" Great.

Another Wednesday

I didn’t write anything yesterday mostly because there is nothing to write. Everything is winding down for me and I am about to head down range. I think we take off tomorrow. Then we are in another holding company until Monday when we finally start school. Yesterday we got our shots and I got one in my butt…the penicillin shot. It still hurts today.
Picked up my glasses and my new ID card then pulled staff duty for two hours. All I did was answer phones and sit at a desk. Today I literally had nothing to do, not that I am complaining at all. I am ready to get going though. It is all the anticipation and everyone telling their stories and what they are expecting and what they heard. I’m just ready to get going and get it over with. It more than likely will not be as bad as I think it is going to be.
During the summer it sounds like they overbook the classes so then they cut people based on their pt score. If you get cut then you have to wait for the next class to start. No pressure right? My recruiter told me I couldn’t drive here which turns out to be not true. I miss my truck and the freedom it brings. Haha. I don’t like relying on anyone else to get me where I need to go. My plan is just to sleep and then get ready to go tomorrow

Monday

Another day of inprocessing down. There was another early formation in which my roommate took a dive to the pavement; she just passed out. It was a little scary but she woke up and was fine. It felt like we had a formation every hour and were eating nonstop. The meals are really close together so it just feels like all you do is eat. It was amazingly hot today but we got issued out spiffy little camelbacks so at least we will stay hydrated. I am ready to start school already but I’m sure once I do start school I will think that this wasn’t that bad either. Haha. I am planning on going to bed early tonight. It is about 730 and I am crawling under the covers. I need to catch up on some rest.

Sunday

Surprisingly, nothing much happened today. I had a formation at 730, went to chow, had another formation at 9 am and then we were released for the day. Of course I went right back to my room and both my roommate and I crashed out until about 2 pm. Man, it felt AMAZING to sleep that long. We got up, went to the PX to return some things and get some small items we missed off the packing list. Then we came back to the room and that is where we have been ever since. I have to go outside to the parking lot in order to use my phone. Once in a while I get reception in the room but most of the time it is in and out. My phone won’t even say I missed a call so make sure you leave me a voicemail so I can call you back.
Sometimes the smells and the sounds of the Army bring back so many memories for me. I have been feeling a mixture of excitement, fear, sadness, loneliness, and fun. I just put on my pt jacket for the first time tonight and the swishing of the fabric and the smell took me right back to Christmas in Afghanistan with all the SSA (Supply Support Activity) people. It was so vivid for me and I wanted to cry, just the loss of good friends and relationships since then due to a million different reasons. I think too the Army has brought back a lot of good feelings too. I am looking forward to the work and the intensity of things.
I am kind of feeling out this blog as I go…how personal to be, how honest to be, and what all to write. It can’t exactly be my journal because some things really do need to stay private. I am struggling with dealing with the Army without my ex by my side. It is a foreign concept to do this on my own after having him help me along the way for so many years. I know I am going to be successful and do not need him to hold my hand through this, but it is just very intense for me. I don’t think I have been this much of a ball of emotions for a really long time. It is already a wild ride and I haven’t even started OCS. Lol
Mary and I had a really good conversation today too, and I really do have the most amazing siblings in the world. Somehow they always make the world a better and more fun place.

Saturday

Although I checked several times last night about a formation and was reassured there was none, there was a knock at my door at 645 this morning. Mind you, I stayed up reading and then my new roommate got in at about 1 am. Of course we stayed up talking, mostly because both of us were so happy to see another female here that was going to OCS. When I answered the door this morning and was told there was a formation needless to say I was irritated. I don’t like looking like I’m not squared away. I asked when it was….five minutes. Samantha (my new battle) and I rushed around and got dressed and made it out there just in time for them to tell us that there was now a new formation at seven thirty. Ahhhh! This is what I really missed about the Army. Lol
We made it to that formation in time for them to tell us there was another formation at nine. YAY. We came out at nine and were told that we had to look busy, picking up leaves and branches around the area. I was grumpy but went ahead. I wasn’t going to be a party pooper. At around eleven am, a 1SG came up and greeted us. He asked us what we were doing in ACUs (Army Combat Uniform) on a Saturday. (He was the duty 1SG) When we told him what we were doing he said that he was about to change that and off he went. Another formation, chow (delicious rice and unrecognizable sauce) and then another formation at 1300 (that’s 1 pm).
The 1SG brought us into the auditorium, (all 70 something of us) and told us that he had made a deal with our 1SG and he was giving us back our freedom…with some limitations. He said that SSG Skiles (yes, that’s me) had talked to him and informed him of our situation. By the way, I did not tell him! I just happened to be standing next to the guy who told him but I guess 1SG thought he was being funny. My face was beet red. Like I don’t stand out enough here.
So we got to go to the main PX (Post Exchange) and everything else that Fort Benning has to offer. I was excited cause that meant I could buy all the additional items for school.

When the 1SG got up to leave we all went to parade rest and he goes “SSG Skiles, I need to see you outside.” Here’s the thing with being called out. Even if you haven’t done anything wrong, you start to panic wondering what you did. He sits me down outside the auditorium and says he just to bs with me a little bit. Haha So he asked me how everything is going, if they are treating us right, where I’m from, where I’m going, etc. Of course everyone was coming up to me after to ask what he had and looking at me all curious. Oh well.
My battle and I went to the PX then and got our gear. While we were there getting our stuff all the OCS candidates in school that were shopping there thought they would enlighten us on all the horrors that were upcoming for us. My stomach was in knots and I suddenly was super nervous about going….all I could picture was failure. I really had to step back and realize that I am going to be fine and I will do the best I can and that’s it. So I’m back on track!

Funny story from today also occurred when I was on my way back from the chow hall. Remember how I mentioned earlier that the privates keep scaring my by yelling out “AT EASE!” every time an NCO walks by? As I walk out of the door, this huge platoon sounds off with a massive “AT EASE!” I maintained my cool until I realized they had called it for me. Yes, I am now in ACUs with my rank on it and I immediately forgot what in the world I was supposed to do. The other prior service guy in front of me froze on the steps, snapped to parade rest and I was about to do the same. I completely blanked that I had to say “Carry On” and just hustled myself up the stairs. I told the prior service guy to hurry up and move out with me. In hindsight I remembered what to do, but dang it; I’ve been a civilian for two years! I told Briz (my brother) and he couldn’t stop laughing at me.
Finally, I told my buddies Matt and Dave that would be included in my blog tonight as they drunk dialed me at midnight and interrupted my blogging. So a shout out to Dave and Matthew

Friday

I am finally up to date. Hopefully this isn’t boring all of you. I am just trying to get as much information in as I can. If not, I will use this to write my memoirs some day. I woke up at four for the formation at 450 and then proceeded to the Headquarters office for more paperwork. We were given our inprocessing checklist folders and filled out minor stuff. Somehow that took us at least an hour. Then we walked down the chow hall where we stood in line for literally 45 minutes.
Let me try to paint you a picture of what it looks like. The chow hall is at the bottom of about thirty stairs with a cement area in front. At the top of the stairs is a HUGE area that is covered. The barracks and other forms of offices run alongside the entire area on both sides. This is where all the new Soldiers form up. All of them…from Soldiers on day one to Soldiers about to ship out to basic training. There are hundreds of these poor kids with their shaved heads, camelbacks and pts on. Every time an NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) walks by them, they scream out “AT EASE!” or if an Officer walks by “ATTENTION!” It kept scaring the living crap out of me. The sounds just echo and reverberate in there. They aren’t allowed to talk in formation so it will be super quiet then a roar. Kind of funny actually.
We finally made it into the chow hall where you form two lines side by side and wind your way into where the food is served. Again, no talking allowed. In our initial briefing we were told as prior service to not talk to the trainees, etc. So I’m standing there and I hear this “PSSSST! MAAM! PSSSST! PSSST! MAAM!” I couldn’t exactly ignore him as I was the only female so I turned and this kid goes “What are you doing here?!” I wanted to mess with his head and tell him I was the first female to go through basic training but I muttered OCS and turned back around. I can almost guarantee you the kid did not know what I was talking about. The DFAC (Dining Facility) smelled horrible but I ate 2 boiled eggs and was on my way. Still too early for breakfast.
All the prior service goes as a group to the different stations to improcess. We did optometry, got a fun little card that had 250 dollars (our own money, of course, to be taken out when we get paid), spent about an hour on paperwork that should have taken ten minutes, got told we missed our dental appointment, and told we don’t get paid until July 1st. WHOAH! Good thing they are feeding and giving me a place to sleep. Haha. We went back to the DFAC for lunch upon which a DS (Drill Sergeant) yelled for everyone to get shoulder to shoulder and heel to toe. I was not comfortable with his instructions in the least and suddenly felt VERY claustrophobic. I was glad when the line started moving. Ate a lunch and then went down for our clothing issue. The civilians were really nice and fun so they made the afternoon fly by. I got issued so much stuff it was ridiculous. It will be a blast lugging this stuff around. I shouldn’t complain as I could be paying for it with my own money.
They made me change rooms in my barracks out but at least I don’t have a roommate now. I walked down to the shopette and got some snacks for the weekend. On the way back one of the Sergeants that works here stopped me and asked me where I was from. We had been deployed to Khandahar at the same time. He recognized me but I had no clue who he was; I just recognized the unit he was talking about. The Army is a very small place sometimes. Apparently someone pissed off the DS so instead of having a normal weekend where we can go off post and even up to Atlanta we are on lockdown. We can go to the little store and that’s about it. So my plans for the weekend include sitting in my room reading, writing and sleeping.

Thursday

Another early morning. This time breakfast was at 430 and my opinion has not changed. It is still way too early to be eating. More fruit and a coffee. We got taxis to the airport this time and I rode with two other girls from MEPS. My roommate from the night before was freaking out a little…..now the transportation video brief made sense. Some people need help more than others. I checked in my luggage, went through security and got on the plane. I went with four other guys who were headed to Benning as well.
As soon as the plane took off I was out like a light and did not wake up until we were descending into Atlanta. Once we got to Atlanta it was more of the waiting game. I ate a sandwich and sat there for six hours. Finally some civilians yelled for everyone going to Benning to follow them. As I fell into the line, I started getting crazy looks. Before we had made it down to where the bus was I had been asked several times if I was in the right line.
Yes, I am going to Benning and Yes, I am a female. We formed two lines on the sides of a hallway in the airport and then they promptly decided they were too long so some of us had to stand in the middle so everyone could hear. I felt REALLY weird then. Out of about 80 guys I was the only female. Everyone dumped their contraband…to include gum, candy, water, nicotine of any kind and more. Everyone had to tuck their shirts in, except me of course.
Oh, you will see I stand out a lot in the next couple of hours. An hour and a half later we were there at Benning. They pulled all the prior service off the bus….again I informed them, yes, I am supposed to be at Benning and yes, I am going to OCS (Officer Candidate School) and a female. (As a disclaimer...Fort Benning is home of the Infantry and an all male basic training. They do not see many females improcessing there.)
We sat on benches for several hours, went over contraband again, and watched the Drill Sergeants break down the new recruits. So many of them were incredibly young. They looked like scared little boys. Broke my heart. As an example…the new Soldiers kept calling the DS “Sir”. He yelled that the next Soldier to call him Sir he would “stand a random private up and kick him in the nuts.” Immediately when he called another name the kid answered with “yes sir”. He yanks a Soldier sitting on the end of the bench up, tells him to go to parade rest and spread his legs. And this poor, scared little guy actually did exactly what the DS said to do. Of course he didn’t actually kick him, but I guess he made his point. Another Soldier was not being loud enough so the DS told him “go to the PX (Post Exchange), go to aisle four, grab two dollars and buy himself a pair of nuts”. Oh the difference between all male basic and what I went through. Those poor little guys.
I chatted with a couple of guys that were also going to OCS and realized that I perhaps should not be as worried as I am. There were some interesting ones…and one I already need to keep my eye on. He wants the same branch as I do. NOOOOO!!! I was issued a room key in the permanent party barracks (pays to be the only female) and finally crashed out around 1230.

Wednesday

Five am is entirely too early to be eating breakfast in my opinion. I ate some fruit though and got on the bus for a fun filled day at MEPS. Amazingly, we managed to fit about two hours of actual work into a full twelve hours there. I peed in a cup….I’m not pregnant, stripped to my skivvies to get height and weight…gained a little weight but still five six, and then lifted up my feet to show the Doctor whatever they were looking for. Fast forward about three hours of sitting there and I signed my contract saying I am going in for three years as an Officer Candidate. Fast forward a couple more hours, I signed another paper saying that nothing had changed since they talked to me three months prior. I ate a sandwich from Subway that the Army generously provided.
Meanwhile, I am trying to stay awake as you are not allowed to sleep at MEPS. Hours more and I finally raise my right hand and swear in. Then I waited another hour and a half for the transportation video brief which explained leaving the hotel to arriving at your final destination. In excruciating detail!…..such as….take your bag to the airline you will be departing from, stand in line, get your ticket, walk to security…you get my point. I suppose there are people who have never flown before but WOW! We finally made it back to the hotel where Sara was waiting to pick me up. We cruised around (also known as got lost) and chit chatted it up the whole time. We ate at Olive Garden and she gave me my graduation present…a coach purse! My friends know me too well. We chilled in the car for a while and she took off around nine. Thank you so much Sara for coming up there. It meant the world to me. I had a roommate this night in the hotel. A girl going to basic in Fort Jackson and she was NERVOUS. I tried to reassure her but it sure made me feel better that I’m not going to basic. I finally fell asleep around one am.

Tuesday

I tried to post a blog at the hotel in Portland and it disappeared into cyberspace. Then the internet quit working so I am now going to try and create a blog on Word and then post them all together once I finally get some internet going. I would do this on my blackberry but that could take a really long time.
I cleaned and packed up the rest of the house and packed up Rizzo for Bree to drive her to Georgia. Ran some errands in town and then picked up Mom from her school so she could drive me up to Portland. Of course Lelu rode with us. I was so glad that Mom could drive me there. Somehow it makes it that much better to be dropped off by someone you love. I checked into the hotel and did nothing for the next couple of hours. I texted people called some friends and then couldn’t sleep ‘til about 230 or so in the morning. Tossed and turned, had bad dreams and then woke up at four am to go to MEPS. Oh, as a side note, adding to my restless night….whoever was next door to me decided to party it up ALL night so it really made sleep impossible.

I'm missing UFC 98!!

I am sitting here, with Lelu curled up next to me listening to Quincy Harper. If you don't know who that is, be sure to listen to him. He is really good...get "Hole in the Wall". I am completely sun burnt from mowing the million acres that Mom and Dad like to call a lawn.
I did my 72 hour check in with the recruiter yesterday and that made the reality set in a lot more. I have my bags out, ready to pack but of course I have procrastinated and haven't really packed anything yet. I am already thinking that I will forget something. I am dreading leaving my girls and family here and of course my baby Lelu. Somehow I think they will all be fine without me here but I will still miss them like crazy.
I am completely ready for this in so many ways, yet terrified in others. It's not like the Army is unfamiliar to me, but I am just a natural stressor. I worry about everything. I keep convincing myself that I won't fail at this. lol
I was talking about twittering with my Uncle and I told him that we are a society of narcissists but really blogging is about the same thing. I hope this doesn't mean that I am full of my self. Haha.
So far, all I have is one reader...YAY SARA!!!
And for those of you wondering....UFC 98 is Ultimate Fighting Championship and I am missing it but getting constant updates on it over texts.

Three Weeks To Go!

Well, I started running on the road again today. Let me tell you...it wasn't pretty. I'm not saying I am as out of shape as I thought I was, but my dog kicked my ass. Enough said. I am getting nervous about this whole process, but excited at the same time. I have WAY too much free time on my hands and I am just ready to get down and dirty. It was a nice Oregon day today...that means rainy and gloomy but I shouldn't complain seeing as Georgia will be blazing and I will be crying for the rain. It is time to get back in the land of the living and stop moping about being dumped and unemployed. I have a lot to offer and damn it! the Army is going to give me the means to do it.