Lets just say I failed. If you've read my previous 3 or 4 posts you'd see that I continuously promise more and more posts about whats going on in my life. If you've been to my blog 2 or 3 times in the past two months then even you would know that...I've failed. Sorry. I wouldnt say its a lack of passion or something like that. I enjoy writting ALOT, but its clear there just isnt much going on in my life. Nothing has really changed in the past 6 months here in Germany...Until now. I've noticed a trend with my writting style. I usually on post on here when something new or interesting is going on in my life, and I am just going to be honest. There isnt much going on!
I sat in Nuremburg Airport this thursday with a plane ticket bound for London to visit my sister and brother-in-law before Afghanistan. Unfortunatly for me a volcano did not want me or half of the world to travel this past week...So there goes that. I sat in the terminal until I looked at the Tv, and saw that Mount Vjijsfhyelpksuduhf decided it needed to erupt. Glad that I could partake in whats turning out to be a historical event. Neat.
We've pretty much wrapped most of our training up at Hoenfels, Germany. A month in the field! I had a good time, because believe it or not I love my job... We've hit up some ranges latley but most training is done with.
My birthday is comming up this saturday! Yippee, can you sense my lack of motivation?! 19, its just another year. Aren't I suppose to feel this way when I am like 40? I guess being stuck in a stupid country can do that to you. 20 should be even more enjoyable. Not sure what I've got going on so far, who knows what my friends can come up with!
Despite whatever is going on in this goofy little country, I can speak for myself and all of my friends around here that EVERYONE is excited to home for a few weeks. That's what I've got my eyes on. I've got a bunch of really great things planned with a whole bunch of incredible people! Its going to be a good time, and it'll be a good way to start off the deployment. 6 months since i've been back in the states, Im excited to be back there for a short time. I should be busy from the minute I step off the plane until the day I step back on (but im not going to talk about that right now. Either way, Its my two weeks of summer and I am going to make the absolute best out of what the Army could offer.
One Love,
Evan
I read a book last week while I was on a 24 hour CQ shift. It was called Faith on the Front-lines. It was a book that discussed having a relationship with God while serving in the United States Armed Forces. The first two chapters I could relate to so well it brought me back to something I NEVER want to re-live again. Boot Camp. Now that I am sitting here thinking about it, I have never told stories about basic training to my friends and family back home.
So here it is...
It was july 12th
I was at church sunday morning. I remember sitting through service. I couldn't think straight. This was my last Sunday at home. I was trying to soak it all in one last time. All I could really think about is what im going to say to all of my friends when the service was over? It was goodbye. My recruiter was going to pick me up at home in a few hours.
Finally it was that time. I walked out to my car with some of my closest friends. They had surprised me with something that I will never forget. Hundreds of sticky notes on my car of memories that we all had together. We shared laughs and tears together that afternoon. It was bitter sweet. I was so excited to start, but my friends and family mean so much to me. Driving away was the hardest thing I've ever done. After that I sat in living room with my parents. It was quiet. I kept looking at the driveway expecting the recruiter to take me. It was quite enough to hear our clock tick. I could sense the pain my parents were feeling. Their youngest was leaving for the military, something most parents dont ever want to see their child do.
Finally, I said my goodbyes and I was off...
The military never makes anything easy. I found this out fast. My recruiter took me to my hotel in Cherry Hill, NJ. I spent the night there, boy I was miserable. The next morning I got woken up at 4am. An angry man at the door said, "Get your bags its time to leave"
Awesome, a bus full of recruits of all different branches of the military was bound for FT Dix, NJ. We would do some paperwork, get a medical check, and get a brief.
By 5pm I was waiting in my terminal for Atlanta, Georgia. It was time to go! When I got on the plane I sat in my seat horrified. I had my little bible in my hand the whole time. I read it the whole time I was on the plane. My bible was the only comfort I could find in this horrible life transition.
When I finally made it to Atlanta, all the recruits had to meet up in a specific part of the airport. There we waited until our bus driver got us. I felt a sense of relief when I got to the place and met some of the other recruits. You could see in their faces that they were just as terrified as me. We all knew what was to come.
Eventually our bus driver made it to us, and told us to hurry up we were late. by this time it was 10pm. We were all tired, but little did we know it was just the beginning of a miserable week. The coach bus was nice... Most kids were too anxious to sleep so there was a good amount of chatter among the bus. Typical chatter, Where are you from? How old are you? What do you think boot is gonna be like? The same questions you get asked 1000 times. After the two hour ride, I looked out a window. I saw a sign that read, "Welcome to Ft. Benning, Home of the Infantry"
Ohhhhhhhhhh Shit. Home. The bus got silent, we all grew silent for we knew what was coming. Ft Benning is huge so we drove around for a while. The bus stopped in this parkin lot next to a building that said, '3oth AG reception battalion' little did I know this place was hell on earth.
Anyway the bus was silent. The bus driver disappeared. About 20 meters off of the bus I saw a Drill Sergeant approaching the bus . FML. He was bald, about 6'4 and was horrifying. Just imagine a scary looking guy. Yeah that was him.
He stood in the door of the bus, calmly said, " Welcome to Ft. Benning, Georgia" then without hesitation he roared loudly, "NOW GET THE F**K OFF OF MY BUS" Little did I know this wasnt going to be the fastest I've ever seen a bus get cleared out. It was like a movie!
3 seconds of being off of the bus I was doing push-ups. Apparently I dont know how to follow directions. The DS (Drill Sergeant) proceeded to tell me about how I was a useless cock that didnt know how to line up correctly! Ooops.
By this time It was midnight. While standing outside I looked around and saw tree's. I could feel the humid summer air on my skin. It reminded me of the summer nights with my friends. Those nights were long gone.
We sat in the reception building all night. We got searched for weapons or other crap we cant have, we did paperwork, got issued uniforms, and got rid of out civilian clothes for 3 months. Finally at 330am they sent us to our barracks. They said, go to bed. First call (wake up) is at 0400. They gave us 30 minutes to sleep. This was the initial part of their "break down" plan.
sleep deprivation. 3oth AG was miserable. After that first night we didnt have many DS interactions. We didnt get yelled at. We got about an hour of sleep each night. It was 5 days long and it was paperwork, wait in line, get shots, more lines, more paperwork, and more waiting. HELL. I could write a whole post about this place but it was so miserable im not even motivated to write about it. we were allowed to use the phone for 5 minutes there. I talked to my mom. I could hardly talk. I wanted my mom to think that everything was great. I tried my best to convince her that I was happy. Thats all I cared about.
Well it was friday and the rumor was that we were gonna leave. Early friday we packed our bags and we sat outside. After a few hours of useless sitting down we were ordered to grab our bags. Our bags at this point had all of our issued uniforms. We had two full heavy duffel bags.
You ever watch a movie about bootcamp where the new recruits are on those white school buses? Yup, thats not just in the movies. They really exist.
They pulled up and we all piled on about 5 school buses with our gear. The buses drove around in circles for about 20 minutes to build up our anticipation. Then it happened. They slowed down, I looked outside on the door side of the bus and saw 12 Drill Sergeants standing there with their arms crossed. One was holding a dagger, by this point i just about pissed myself. The busses stopped next to the DSgts and the doors opened....
All hell broke loose. I thought the first time I was told to get off the bus was scary, this time there were 12 of them screaming at the top of their lungs. Yeahhhh f that. There were 200 horrified privates running around like D-Day. We were instructed to hold our duffel bags over our head and run around the track a few times. While we were running in the 90 degree Georgia heat we were rounded up like a dog rounds sheep. The Drill Sergeants running within the wild stampede of privates screaming in their faces. When someone tripped a DS was in their face to scream. If someone wasnt moving fast enough, they heard about it. But honestly that day no one was moving fast enough for DS satisfaction. I remember at one point there was a DS on my left, and on my right screaming. I temporarily put my bags down. What a horrible idea. During this time all I could think about was, "what kind of jackass would sign up for this bull crap?"
After running around the track enough, jumping over a 7 footwall, and standing in formation with our bags over our heads, and getting mentally mauled they decided we should sprint a few hundred yards to our barracks. SWEET! Thats where we were split and sent to our rooms, where for the next 3 months we would have our lives transform.
Feb 19, 2010
Here is a great video of some fun training i've been doing! its a night fire with our IR (infrared) lasers. this is just a video i took using my video camera looking through my Night Vision Optics!
Enjoy!
Turn the speakers up!!!
Enjoy!
Turn the speakers up!!!
Jan 26, 2010
I haven't been here too long and i've already personally witnessed enough stupid crap to formulate a list about things you shouldn't do while traveling in Germany! I'm stationed here in Germany! Yes I am stuck here filled with testosterone pumped guys who want nothing more than some german beers and a sneak peek at some german boobies! Lets see, army guys + money + beer + endless amounts of woman = never a good thing. Learn from these people!
1. This one is called the Krusty Crab!
This guy came into my barracks room explaining to me the good time he had with some random romanian girl from the red light district. If you don't know what that is its basically a playground for hookers. Gross right? Anyway when this guy proceeded tell me about his adventures with this girl he had to pay 100 Euros for (which is roughly 160 American dollars.) He kept going on as if I cared to hear about his sad stories about how he had to pay for a good time. As he continued to tell me his story i couldn't help but nothing something was bothering him… i don't need to go into detail because I feel that the title is enough for you to figure out but let me tell you something. Man-scaping in my shower is not going to be a good solution, Actually its more of a HORRIBLE idea. See, now I am just pissed!
Moral of the story: Just because prostitution is legal here does not mean you wont get the itchies! Gross!
2. The Battle Buddy System!
Here in the army we don't do anything alone! Why? Because if something goes horribly wrong you've got a soldier to cover you, to watch your back, to make sure you get out alive! One guy decided he was too good for his battle buddy and left him in a hotel room passed out with a hooker in a city pretty far from base. The next morning he found a note and some money, she felt bad for him and paid HIM to get back to base! Taxis here arent cheap either! Moral of the story: Pick the right battle buddies! Don't leave your buddy in a hotel room with a syphylgonjuas infected woman. Thats not right!
3. Loans are for houses, cars, or really expensive things!
I know obama wants us to spend money so the economy can kind of fix itself, I guess a few guys here got the idea ohhh so wrong. If your a single guy, 18 and have never really made to much money before the armies pay seems pretty freaking awesome! Right? If your 21, paying child support and are in debt at home you should probably be careful with what seems to be not enough money for you… And when i say careful I don't mean taking out a german loan and spending 2500 Euros in one night. I wish this was a joke but sadly its not…. How does one spend that much money in a strip club? Where do they keep all that money? I probably don't even want to know! This guy spends his nights in the barracks now! Hes out of money.
Moral of the story: You're in Europe! Spend the money on something better than strip clubs! Go see something cool! Do something other than blowing all your money! Also, this place is HELLA expensive don't blow all your money!
4. Watch your stuff!
We've learned that some people over here:
A. Hate americans
B. Hate soldiers more than american civilians
C. Are Racist!
D. Will steal your credit card when your drunk and will max out your cards at strip clubs!
This one is pretty simple… Watch your stuff, be careful who you talk to, and remember…people here arent to fond of us, esp soldiers.
Moral of the story - Look at A through D again.
5. This ones for real
Although the 1 through 4 are pretty funny this one….eh not so much. Maybe you arrant aware but sex trafficking is a pretty popular thing in this world. I would like to say that things in the movie, "Taken" aren't true, but that kind of stuff is happening. Germany is one of the worst countries for hosting sex trafficking. Its not funny at all… This stuff is a real bad issue. The red-light district is a city block of women in windows waiting to be picked! sex for money. You think they all want that? How can anyone willingly take part in that? That makes you just as bad as the assohle pimp who deserves a grenade in his mouth with the pin pulled…. Take it as you will! Moral of the story: Dont be a part of that girls horrible life...
This place is nuts! Just as a sidenote, I haven't been involved in ANY of these shenanigans! Why because Im Awe…
wait for it…
wait for it…
some!
Hope you've enjoyed my return to the blogging world!
E
1. This one is called the Krusty Crab!
This guy came into my barracks room explaining to me the good time he had with some random romanian girl from the red light district. If you don't know what that is its basically a playground for hookers. Gross right? Anyway when this guy proceeded tell me about his adventures with this girl he had to pay 100 Euros for (which is roughly 160 American dollars.) He kept going on as if I cared to hear about his sad stories about how he had to pay for a good time. As he continued to tell me his story i couldn't help but nothing something was bothering him… i don't need to go into detail because I feel that the title is enough for you to figure out but let me tell you something. Man-scaping in my shower is not going to be a good solution, Actually its more of a HORRIBLE idea. See, now I am just pissed!
Moral of the story: Just because prostitution is legal here does not mean you wont get the itchies! Gross!
2. The Battle Buddy System!
Here in the army we don't do anything alone! Why? Because if something goes horribly wrong you've got a soldier to cover you, to watch your back, to make sure you get out alive! One guy decided he was too good for his battle buddy and left him in a hotel room passed out with a hooker in a city pretty far from base. The next morning he found a note and some money, she felt bad for him and paid HIM to get back to base! Taxis here arent cheap either! Moral of the story: Pick the right battle buddies! Don't leave your buddy in a hotel room with a syphylgonjuas infected woman. Thats not right!
3. Loans are for houses, cars, or really expensive things!
I know obama wants us to spend money so the economy can kind of fix itself, I guess a few guys here got the idea ohhh so wrong. If your a single guy, 18 and have never really made to much money before the armies pay seems pretty freaking awesome! Right? If your 21, paying child support and are in debt at home you should probably be careful with what seems to be not enough money for you… And when i say careful I don't mean taking out a german loan and spending 2500 Euros in one night. I wish this was a joke but sadly its not…. How does one spend that much money in a strip club? Where do they keep all that money? I probably don't even want to know! This guy spends his nights in the barracks now! Hes out of money.
Moral of the story: You're in Europe! Spend the money on something better than strip clubs! Go see something cool! Do something other than blowing all your money! Also, this place is HELLA expensive don't blow all your money!
4. Watch your stuff!
We've learned that some people over here:
A. Hate americans
B. Hate soldiers more than american civilians
C. Are Racist!
D. Will steal your credit card when your drunk and will max out your cards at strip clubs!
This one is pretty simple… Watch your stuff, be careful who you talk to, and remember…people here arent to fond of us, esp soldiers.
Moral of the story - Look at A through D again.
5. This ones for real
Although the 1 through 4 are pretty funny this one….eh not so much. Maybe you arrant aware but sex trafficking is a pretty popular thing in this world. I would like to say that things in the movie, "Taken" aren't true, but that kind of stuff is happening. Germany is one of the worst countries for hosting sex trafficking. Its not funny at all… This stuff is a real bad issue. The red-light district is a city block of women in windows waiting to be picked! sex for money. You think they all want that? How can anyone willingly take part in that? That makes you just as bad as the assohle pimp who deserves a grenade in his mouth with the pin pulled…. Take it as you will! Moral of the story: Dont be a part of that girls horrible life...
This place is nuts! Just as a sidenote, I haven't been involved in ANY of these shenanigans! Why because Im Awe…
wait for it…
wait for it…
some!
Hope you've enjoyed my return to the blogging world!
E
Nov 27, 2009
After many many many months of crazy training... I have found time to start blogging again. Its going to get intense here...
Be ready!
Writing from Germany!
Hope to see you soon!
Evan
Be ready!
Writing from Germany!
Hope to see you soon!
Evan
Nov 19, 2009
Well im gone.
Im sitting in new jersey right now on my last time on a computer for a while.
Today is the hardest day of my life.
I have been praying, and I can only keep praying
I hope things get easier cause this is not easy at all.
I've been alone for 4 hours and im already freaking out!
How do people do this without God?
Well i already miss everyone. Take care
With Love,
Evan
Im sitting in new jersey right now on my last time on a computer for a while.
Today is the hardest day of my life.
I have been praying, and I can only keep praying
I hope things get easier cause this is not easy at all.
I've been alone for 4 hours and im already freaking out!
How do people do this without God?
Well i already miss everyone. Take care
With Love,
Evan
Jul 12, 2009
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