WOW - It's been quite a while and a lot of miles since my last entry here. I could make all the usual excuses .. life got in the way... business got busy... dealing with the realities of loving someone in the military got me down. While all of that may be true the honest answer is I forgot my sign on information! Yes, lost the spreadsheet with all my information and well.. there you have it. Trust me it's not for lack of things to blog about! There have been many, many occasions over the last 2 years that I've said, " oh do I need to write in my blog about this!". So while I couldn't share it with you at the time, I have been typing away and saving documents for the day that I could again share my opinions and thoughts, in addition to resources and information, with you all.
There's been a lot of changes among my network of Military friends, many who had active duty are now family members of Veterans! We have lost some of our Heroes as well as added to the ranks of Wounded Warriors. Lots of tears and amazement at the strength of the family members and service members dealing with this first hand. All the while, filling in behind us are new family members - all shiny and bright eyed- and I think a bit stunned by some of the cynical or jaded advice they are given. It's hard to remember way back then, when we had no idea what was coming, all we knew was the pride of having our loved one enlist in one of the branches of the military. The pride is still there but the reality is as well. It's really hard some days to care about not getting a letter from boot camp or basic, worrying about losing one hot meal a day ( hey some of us remember when there were NO hot meals a day ), and GASP! the best way to daily facetime/skype/message with a deployed loved one. While I think its great I still can't quite wrap my head around that one.
So get ready folks, there will be some informative posts, some ranting posts, some reflective posts and through it all hope to keep my sense of humor intact.
So glad to be back !
Showing posts with label sailors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sailors. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Alphabet Soup aka the wonderful world of military acronyms
PI, AWF, PFT, IT, PT, MOS, IST, MCT, PDS, FRO, PUMP, SITFU, FEX, FOB, FLEET, CI, DI, OPSEC, POG, GRUNT, FLOAT, HOP, OORAH, YUT, SEMPER GUMBY
O M G how did poor Gumby get dragged into this?
WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!
This all came to mind recently when I was having a conversation with a parent of a fairly new recruit at Parris Island. She asked me to help her interpret a letter she had received.
Upon arrival we were issued go fasters, moon beams, and deserts. We also went to the 7 day and I bought my hygiene items, writing gear and ink sticks. Chow to chow is the only way I can figure out what time of day it is. We received Knowledge from our Knowledge Hat, were given pit time from our Kill Hat and then in the afternoon had Big Daddy time. By the time I hit the rack I'm exhausted - it feels like LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS comes in 5 minutes.
How many of us have been there? Received a letter and wondered what is wrong with my recruit? What is a moonbeam and why would a USMC recruit be in need of one? Oh good ... go fasters... maybe they roller skate to get from point A to point B quickly!!
A year or so ago, when I found myself in a situation not unlike the one above, I panicked. In my boot camp insanity I became convinced this was some diabolical plot to further cement that our recruits have indeed entered another world. Now I can no longer communicate with my Marine! Of course this state of affairs was simply not acceptable. Unwilling to accept defeat I went into my trusty boot camp message board. There I began to read anything and everything posted which caused even further confusion. Realizing the situation was more dire then I had originally thought I took a huge step... clicked on the chat room and entered for the first time. Shy, and a bit out of my element, for days I would visit and watch the sentences fly by as if in another language... well wait ... it is another language! It even has name - MarineSpeak!!!!!!!
Finally I couldn't take it any longer, hesitantly I asked, "Can someone please tell me - what's a KILL HAT? Where in the world is 29 Stumps... ???" and so my education began.
With the help of my beloved and revered mentors I slowly learned MarineSpeak. Despite feeling quite unsure of myself, and I admit a wee bit silly, I never the less started to test my new language skills in the chat room. To my surprise I was understood, no one laughed, I wasn't treated as an impostor! Success was mine I had conquered the basics! Now time for the real test, I began to use my new skills in my letters to boot camp. I was excited !! I could talk to him in his language, oh how proud he would be that I 'got it'.
While I speak to my Marine family friends in this abbreviated language with ease I've learned something very important. I've found that the habit of shortening words does not translate well when speaking with non Military friends. So beware when you feel the need to tell them you are LOL while SMH... seriously... trust me on this ... it is not a good way to go. Take the time, slow it down! Saying I was laughing out loud while shaking my head will earn you an understanding nod instead of the blank stare which says that you've finally gone over the edge.
For all you newbies out there, relax, check out a link below, you'll learn.
O M G how did poor Gumby get dragged into this?
WHAAAAAAAAATTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!
This all came to mind recently when I was having a conversation with a parent of a fairly new recruit at Parris Island. She asked me to help her interpret a letter she had received.
Upon arrival we were issued go fasters, moon beams, and deserts. We also went to the 7 day and I bought my hygiene items, writing gear and ink sticks. Chow to chow is the only way I can figure out what time of day it is. We received Knowledge from our Knowledge Hat, were given pit time from our Kill Hat and then in the afternoon had Big Daddy time. By the time I hit the rack I'm exhausted - it feels like LIGHTS LIGHTS LIGHTS comes in 5 minutes.
How many of us have been there? Received a letter and wondered what is wrong with my recruit? What is a moonbeam and why would a USMC recruit be in need of one? Oh good ... go fasters... maybe they roller skate to get from point A to point B quickly!!
A year or so ago, when I found myself in a situation not unlike the one above, I panicked. In my boot camp insanity I became convinced this was some diabolical plot to further cement that our recruits have indeed entered another world. Now I can no longer communicate with my Marine! Of course this state of affairs was simply not acceptable. Unwilling to accept defeat I went into my trusty boot camp message board. There I began to read anything and everything posted which caused even further confusion. Realizing the situation was more dire then I had originally thought I took a huge step... clicked on the chat room and entered for the first time. Shy, and a bit out of my element, for days I would visit and watch the sentences fly by as if in another language... well wait ... it is another language! It even has name - MarineSpeak!!!!!!!
Finally I couldn't take it any longer, hesitantly I asked, "Can someone please tell me - what's a KILL HAT? Where in the world is 29 Stumps... ???" and so my education began.
With the help of my beloved and revered mentors I slowly learned MarineSpeak. Despite feeling quite unsure of myself, and I admit a wee bit silly, I never the less started to test my new language skills in the chat room. To my surprise I was understood, no one laughed, I wasn't treated as an impostor! Success was mine I had conquered the basics! Now time for the real test, I began to use my new skills in my letters to boot camp. I was excited !! I could talk to him in his language, oh how proud he would be that I 'got it'.
note - no they do not always like when we speak MarineSpeak. It's like learning the secret handshake or password to their childhood fort . What muddies the waters though is they appreciate we take the time to understand it
This had both a good and bad result. Have you ever said to someone Hola and then they proceeded to chatter at you in Spanish? Well that's pretty much what happened during boot leave after I asked, innocently, "What's your MOS?" Yes friends, I received a full out answer to my question, which also included numbers, and very little of which I understood. Deflation and confusion threatened but NO I will not quit!! Okay, so now why use words when we have #'s. Deep calming breath, where's my laptop? Apparently all I had mastered was MarineSpeak101 and it was time for the next level. While I speak to my Marine family friends in this abbreviated language with ease I've learned something very important. I've found that the habit of shortening words does not translate well when speaking with non Military friends. So beware when you feel the need to tell them you are LOL while SMH... seriously... trust me on this ... it is not a good way to go. Take the time, slow it down! Saying I was laughing out loud while shaking my head will earn you an understanding nod instead of the blank stare which says that you've finally gone over the edge.
For all you newbies out there, relax, check out a link below, you'll learn.
What I have found is that the education is never ending, with each new phase comes another layer of words/slang/acronyms that I need to master. I truly believe though that our Marines invent new words to keep us guessing - it's their language, it's a secret and just when we think we catch on we're thrown a curve ball.
Which brings me to my real question - FOBBIT !?!? maybe I'm living in a Tolkien fantasy? Fobbit ?!?! really?
Which brings me to my real question - FOBBIT !?!? maybe I'm living in a Tolkien fantasy? Fobbit ?!?! really?
Sigh... and the education continues.
Hotel Alpha Victor Echo Alpha Golf Oscar Oscar Delta Delta Alpha Yankee
Marines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Marine_Corps_acronyms_and_expressions
http://4mermarine.com/USMC/dictionary/a.htmlHotel Alpha Victor Echo Alpha Golf Oscar Oscar Delta Delta Alpha Yankee
Marines
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Marine_Corps_acronyms_and_expressions
Army
http://www.acronymslist.com/cat/us-army-acronyms-%28official%29.html
http://www.acronymslist.com/cat/us-army-acronyms-%28slang%29.html
http://www.all-acronyms.com/tag/army
Military
http://www.fas.org/news/reference/lexicon/acronym.htm
http://www.globemaster.de/html/dictionary.html
http://usmilitary.about.com/od/theorderlyroom/a/alphabet.htm
Navy
https://portal.navfac.navy.mil/portal/page/portal/navfac/acronyms/abc_tb
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Navy_acronyms
Air Force
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Air_Force_acronyms_and_expressions
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/usaf/afdd1-2.pdf
Coast Guard
http://a091.uscgaux.info/docs/AcronymsList.pdf
http://www.coastguardfamily.org/acronyms.htm
Monday, April 19, 2010
Tick Tock goes the Clock
Time .. minutes, days, weeks, months, years - they take on a new meaning when you have someone in the military.
Oh don' t get me wrong, in our regular everyday, ( read pre-military ), lives there are plenty of times when time and the calendar play a large role. We mark meetings, birthdays, vacations, special events and go on about our business. What I have found, post enlistment, for me, time has become a living breathing entity that has a constant presence. Time is both my friend and my enemy, sometimes at the same time!
It's as if there were suddenly all these tickers clicking simultaneously in my head. First, the countdown to his shipping off to boot camp... 3 months .. everything seems to be focused on that 3 months left.
Ship day comes and another clock starts - 13 weeks of boot camp, and the realization that there is another much larger ticker -the one that marks the end of his first active duty enlistment.. that's the big ticker that is on all the time running in the background. It's silent, but it's there.
Of course when the boot camp ticker starts, we move onto the marking off on the calendar of the weeks .. then days left in boot camp (another topic that will be written about in depth by the way). During boot there was the weekly letter ticker - Thursdays were a favorite day around here ! While this is happening we follow the training matrix as if it holds the answer to eternal youth. A week to rifle qualification, the gas chamber, the final written test, final PFT and the biggie .. gulp.. the Crucible.. a long 54 hour wait for anyone with a recruit in Marine Corp boot camp. Then the longest and shortest week - the one leading to graduation... a week, then day countdown. We get to see him.. and hug him.. and take him home .. hooray!
While we celebrate the day we've been waiting for, graduation from boot camp, we can't help but start thinking about .. only 10 days.. he leaves again in 10 days.. so there is a whisper in the background - Tick Tock.
The 10 days end and as if by magic.. here's comes that clock again - 29 days .. we have 29 days until we see and speak to him again. 30, 20, 10 single digits YAY.
now it's days to spend with him before the next ticker starts - how to enjoy the hours without the clock intruding? it's a balancing act.
On to school... again... tick tock ... how long until graduation this time? 9 months .. another big hooray.. time is now my friend. 9 months he's still safe, 9 months we can breath, 9 more months we can sleep. Though slowly the dark clock is starting to buzz.. the deployment clock.. 9 months until he heads to the operating forces.. 9 months until the reality of his being a Marine hits.. 9 months. During the 9 months were the little tickers.. how many days until the 1st class begins - ends? You can come home for a month?? Yippee !! then the 30 day clock starts again.. how much love, how much fun can you pack into 30 days? Answer is a lot.
Back to the school clock now it's 6 months ... oh wait ... the holidays are coming, he can come home?? how long ? tick tock - he's here- tick tock.. he's gone . tick tock a month to MOS graduation.. can we tell time to stand still? Can I at least try before reality crushes us? Tick Tock is my answer.
Wait ... you get leave before checking in to your unit? 18 days ... He's HOME ... he's gone.. tick tock
Check in day, time to settle into the life of a Marine "in the fleet". The EAS clock is ticking but mercifully all else is quiet. Then the call or text .. we were given our deployment window .. don't worry it's not for a while... like a steam train coming down the tracks... ticking is threatening to drown out all else, drive all thought from my head. The D word? please not the dreaded D word. But it's inevitable and it's out there now.. so the clock starts again. But wait, look at the calendar - don't allow all this good time to be wasted worrying about what's coming. So the smaller clocks start again, visits, leave.... a chance for dinner. But those damn large clocks are clouding up the horizon.
Along the way, somehow the awakening begins, it starts quietly but then becomes a roar. Life can't revolve around the ends, it will steal from the now. Live in the what you know, not the what ifs. Nothing can put off the day that your Marine, Airmen, Soldier or Sailor has to leave for their next training, next mission or end of leave.
So I try to quiet the ticker that is counting toward the biggie, deployments, and celebrate the present. It's a work in progress - but at least for the most part I'm somewhat back to the banality of time. I have gone back to the birthdays and meetings .. the lunch dates and holidays. The chance for a dinner with my Marine, visits with his parents and girlfriend... all the happy moments that we'd miss if we allowed the dark side of time to intrude.
Those tickers are always there in the background, quieter now, but never the less -Tick Tock goes the military loved ones clock
Oh don' t get me wrong, in our regular everyday, ( read pre-military ), lives there are plenty of times when time and the calendar play a large role. We mark meetings, birthdays, vacations, special events and go on about our business. What I have found, post enlistment, for me, time has become a living breathing entity that has a constant presence. Time is both my friend and my enemy, sometimes at the same time!
It's as if there were suddenly all these tickers clicking simultaneously in my head. First, the countdown to his shipping off to boot camp... 3 months .. everything seems to be focused on that 3 months left.
Ship day comes and another clock starts - 13 weeks of boot camp, and the realization that there is another much larger ticker -the one that marks the end of his first active duty enlistment.. that's the big ticker that is on all the time running in the background. It's silent, but it's there.
Of course when the boot camp ticker starts, we move onto the marking off on the calendar of the weeks .. then days left in boot camp (another topic that will be written about in depth by the way). During boot there was the weekly letter ticker - Thursdays were a favorite day around here ! While this is happening we follow the training matrix as if it holds the answer to eternal youth. A week to rifle qualification, the gas chamber, the final written test, final PFT and the biggie .. gulp.. the Crucible.. a long 54 hour wait for anyone with a recruit in Marine Corp boot camp. Then the longest and shortest week - the one leading to graduation... a week, then day countdown. We get to see him.. and hug him.. and take him home .. hooray!
While we celebrate the day we've been waiting for, graduation from boot camp, we can't help but start thinking about .. only 10 days.. he leaves again in 10 days.. so there is a whisper in the background - Tick Tock.
The 10 days end and as if by magic.. here's comes that clock again - 29 days .. we have 29 days until we see and speak to him again. 30, 20, 10 single digits YAY.
now it's days to spend with him before the next ticker starts - how to enjoy the hours without the clock intruding? it's a balancing act.
On to school... again... tick tock ... how long until graduation this time? 9 months .. another big hooray.. time is now my friend. 9 months he's still safe, 9 months we can breath, 9 more months we can sleep. Though slowly the dark clock is starting to buzz.. the deployment clock.. 9 months until he heads to the operating forces.. 9 months until the reality of his being a Marine hits.. 9 months. During the 9 months were the little tickers.. how many days until the 1st class begins - ends? You can come home for a month?? Yippee !! then the 30 day clock starts again.. how much love, how much fun can you pack into 30 days? Answer is a lot.
Back to the school clock now it's 6 months ... oh wait ... the holidays are coming, he can come home?? how long ? tick tock - he's here- tick tock.. he's gone . tick tock a month to MOS graduation.. can we tell time to stand still? Can I at least try before reality crushes us? Tick Tock is my answer.
Wait ... you get leave before checking in to your unit? 18 days ... He's HOME ... he's gone.. tick tock
Check in day, time to settle into the life of a Marine "in the fleet". The EAS clock is ticking but mercifully all else is quiet. Then the call or text .. we were given our deployment window .. don't worry it's not for a while... like a steam train coming down the tracks... ticking is threatening to drown out all else, drive all thought from my head. The D word? please not the dreaded D word. But it's inevitable and it's out there now.. so the clock starts again. But wait, look at the calendar - don't allow all this good time to be wasted worrying about what's coming. So the smaller clocks start again, visits, leave.... a chance for dinner. But those damn large clocks are clouding up the horizon.
Along the way, somehow the awakening begins, it starts quietly but then becomes a roar. Life can't revolve around the ends, it will steal from the now. Live in the what you know, not the what ifs. Nothing can put off the day that your Marine, Airmen, Soldier or Sailor has to leave for their next training, next mission or end of leave.
So I try to quiet the ticker that is counting toward the biggie, deployments, and celebrate the present. It's a work in progress - but at least for the most part I'm somewhat back to the banality of time. I have gone back to the birthdays and meetings .. the lunch dates and holidays. The chance for a dinner with my Marine, visits with his parents and girlfriend... all the happy moments that we'd miss if we allowed the dark side of time to intrude.
Those tickers are always there in the background, quieter now, but never the less -Tick Tock goes the military loved ones clock
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