Chapter 5: Session Reflection #1

"I'm sure there were plenty of details you skimmed over, but I don't hold it against you. Like you said, I know your memory isn't the greatest since it all went by very fast. Is it possible some of what you mentioned was out of order?"

"Probably. I mean, the MEPS facility had plenty of things happen that I didn't feel was incredibly important, but I guess being observed by doctors and sitting around until you were called to do shit like the duck walk kinda went under the radar for me."

"Duck walk? What's that?"

"You squat down and try to walk forward without tipping over or showing any weird signs of your inability to do so. We were all in our underwear too, which was also something I got used to after the uncomfortability was shared by everyone there. Call it a bro moment, I guess."

"Ah, so you were basically going through a medical screening?"

"Mhm. The docs had fun fondling my balls."

"So, you went there, then to the hotel with the other recruits until you were sent to the airport?"

"I believe that's how it went. It was a luxurious place to sleep. I remember talking on the phone with my mom the night before we left, though. I was sorta restless."

"I take it you were nervous?"

"I was already homesick. Didn't realize how being away from home would affect me. The hotel had a lounge though, with board games, cards, consoles and big tvs. That stuff sort of helped. I was a huge gamer as a kid. Xbox 360 was my first console."

"We don't have to continue putting everything in order. Whatever comes to you firsthand is undoubtedly important. I just wanted to go over some smaller things you went through and how they made you feel, since it can help reveal some more underlying sources that added to the stress you've unconsciously repressed. I can only imagine the nerves getting to you, the nights leading up to your confrontation with Parris Island and their Drill Instructors."

"Yeah, sure. I think I get that? You're the expert, I guess."

"I mean, it was definitely hard for you to be away from home, which makes sense. You've never been away from the family in any setting before this for an extended period of time. I can't imagine how it made you feel."

"Look. We were all homesick. Comes with the oath we took before we made it to MCRD. The point is to give you every reason to consider your fellow recruits as your new family, so a sense of brotherhood can be established. We were all in it together, and whether we liked it or not, all we had was each other."

"It translates to the warrior mentality, especially for when you hit the fleet. It's a core value, after all."

"Exactly."

"Do you remember the first recruits you opened up to in your first week of training?"

"Of course. My bunkmate, Beard. He was always coating himself in cocoa butter. That was his most distinguishing habit that I took from him, other than having a human to talk to. Heh. Cool kid. There was also Jenkins. We got to be real close friends, him being in the bunk next to ours. We talked about our family and lives before the Corps during our free time, shared more than I can remember. Soft spoken, yet a fun guy to talk to. We helped each other when either of us needed second opinions before our DIs came to check our work for folding our beds, cleaning our rifles, ect. There was also, fuck, what was his name? I'll say McCarty for now, but I could be wrong. I'd have to look at the graduation photo, but I do recall him saying he was in the medical field before he joined. He helped me with any medical concern of mine like chafing, foot rot, cuts and scrapes. You name it. He helped me with all of it."

"Were there any others who stood out to you?"

"There were like 70 of us or so, but I also remember recruits Costa and Joseph. Costa was our private Pyle, and Joseph, well, he was the tallest motherfucker who we all loved for his eh, way of speech. 'Recruit Joe-seph this', 'recruit Joe-seph that'. He beat the shit out of me in the crucible, during our MCMAP sessions, but we respected each other. I remember him taking me to the side to commend me for an earlier trial, where I fell off a log and ate shit with all my gear, got right back up, and made it over the second time around. Oh! And I couldn't forget Alvarez or McDonald. Alvarez saw to it that us Christians prayed together before lights out, leading our prayer sessions in a circle with all our arms around each other's shoulders. He sorta rekindled my religious side. McDonald was too self aware and it wound up getting him and us in trouble more often than not. He considered our DIs more human than we initially gave him credit for, and one time, due to such a mentality, someone dumped a bunch of paint into his boot and, well, we never found out who did it. We all got reemed for that one. Heh. I thought it was funny, looking back. That, and the fact thst so many of us were so caught up thinking the DIs were monsters, or hellhounds."

"It sounds like you were quick to make friends, as opposed to being the big, quiet kid you were in high school."

"Yeah. I mean, I didn't really have a choice, nor was it weird for me after the first week. Also, I wasn't considered the big kid in that group. We all got to know each other and formed that brotherhood so we could cope as a group against the wrath of our Drill Instructors. Plus uh, after you shower with 70 plus guys in a big, open shower hall, you learn to get the awkwardness out of your system real fucking quick."

"Hm. I bet that's quite the experience."

"We couldn't get boners thanks to the abundant shots we received, so that was also a plus. You couldn't imagine how it humbles you. The shitters didn't have doors either. Heheh. We exchanged glances and photos of our families more often than not, and shared them and toilet paper like they were trading cards."

"So, you overcame your shyness and opened up to others who were going through the exact same thing you were. If that doesn't make you all a unit, I really don't know what would."

"Heh, yeah. We loved each other plenty. I got to know most of them really well, beyond the ones I mentioned prior. We were like one big miserable yet determined family, constantly looking out for one another like brothers. I learned to appreciate the small things, like the morning and evening skyline. God or what have you, there was just something magical about an orange, purple sky and how decorative the clouds made it. It was like a free trip to the best art museum money could buy, except you got a free lifetime pass to gaze between marching, cleaning, and doing drills."

"Interesting. That's funny, actually. I learned to do the same sort of thing in my daily meditation sessions back home. I loved to watch the sun rise and fall just as you did, even when I wasn't all there."

"Yeah, so, week one on Parris Island was a learning experience I never took for granted. While I don't remember all of it, I gleaned over some of it earlier in the session. We got our core values down to a T, and did all sorts of MCMAP and physical exercises that were actually fun looking back at it. In the heat of the moment, I think it was more grueling to keep up with. Not that I struggled, or stood out. I think that's where I began to earn my label as the 'ghost' of the platoon. I, and a few others, sort of flew under the radar since our performances were average and we did what we were told by the order. If ordered to keep pushing, I did. Small successes like that kept my morale up when doing pull ups, crunches, and I always sprinted during the end of my last lap during runs. I was a good recruit, but not outstanding or an underperformed slacker."

"As some say in university, C's get degrees. I say that not to assume you only performed just good enough to pass, but to say that you at least performed above the bare minimum and pushed yourself to reach B's across the board. That on its own is more than commendable."

"Heh. Just wait until the part where we qualified for our rifle badges. That was the most fun I ever had in boot camp. All the physical stuff, beyond rope climbing, I excelled at in my eyes. Even only getting eleven pull ups, the DIs talked shit, but I was beyond proud of myself for reaching that number."

"Alright, enough bouncing around. Whenever you're ready, I think we can move onto the next part of your boot camp experience. Unless there's anything else you remember from week one?"

"Now that you say that, I also found a huge fondness in learning about MCMAP. There's a reason why I teach it to the others, and meld it with Brynjar's mikill hjaldr. It's an all encompassing combative artform that is universal in any fighting scenario that's close quarters. I did what I learned in high school when I was practicing MMA; jabs, crosses, and they introduced elbow strikes, kicks, the works. I also learned to effectively gouge an opponent's eye out too, which I wasn't expecting, but uh, heh, I've used it as needed more than once after I got out."

"We'll cover it all one memory and timestamp at a time. Let's continue where we left off, shall we?"