Update

To all who may be following or happen to wander over this way, HI!! Its been awhile since I gave a personal status update so here it is! I have since taken the networking course for the SWAN-D Satellite System as well as the DMVPN (Dynamic Multipoint Virtual Private Network) course which will be phasing out the legacy way of implementing the SWAN-D.

After the course was done I had the opportunity to finally take leave and visit home for a couple of weeks. I drove the sixteen hours with great enthusiasm and excitement...for about the first four hours! After that I was just ready to get home. Although, the drive through the mountains is awesome and I do look forward to that portion of it. It was great being home and having the chance to visit family and friends and see how everyone is doing. I celebrated my 26th year of life while on leave and was once again reminded of how important it is to make every single moment with family and friends count! Many times we are to tired or distracted by other things when those close to us in our lives are seeking our attention. It is easy to brush them away, but when all is said and done, the time that we could have had with them is lost and we wish we could get it back.

After driving back to Cherry Point it was time to get back to work. We were preparing for WTI training (Weapons and Tactics Instructor course) at the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, AZ. Considering we are in Cherry Point, NC we had a long trip ahead of us. There was gear to be checked for operability, things to be packed, gear to be staged, loaded, offloaded, reloaded, and shipped off ahead of time in preparation for our arrival. I was selected along with others to leave a week early to help set up the main side site in preparation for the main body of Marines to arrive. On September 19, 2009 I awoke at 0200 to get ready for the accountability formation at 0300. We would be leaving on a commercial flight to Yuma, AZ later that morning. Once the planes arrived on the Air Station in Cherry Point we (the Marines) actually had to load our own gear into the hull of the planes. So many different things you get to do being a Marine...ha!

Throughout our whole preparation leading to our departure to WTI I kept thinking to myself, "Wow, this is really costing a lot of money!" We loaded several tractor trailers with Seven Tons, HMMWV's, and metal containers, we order tons of gear and supplies in preparation to go, as well as the commercial flights for hundreds of Marines! And I'm sure I have not even scraped the surface as to all the other cost related factors. All of this time, effort, and man hours in preparation for our deployment in the beginning of 2011.

We are scheduled to arrive in Afghanistan in the first quarter of 2011, although exact dates have not yet been given to us. There is a chance that I may or may not go as it has been stated by our First Sargent and CO that everyone from Alpha Company will not be going. The rosters for the deployment are being trimmed. I would hope that I am able to go and work along side the Marines that I have worked with since I arrived here almost a year ago. There is something to be said about an individual who is happy idling by while his brothers and sisters are in the fight. I hope to be right there along side them.

Well, as of now the first week of WTI is over. Main side is set up and Marines from Cherry Point start arriving tomorrow. Several other sites remain to be set up and gear still needs to be delivered to those sites. I have a feeling I'm going to be driving a lot of seven tons! I hope I learn and retain much experience from the training I receive here. I want to be useful to the Corps in service to my Country. I'm sure I'll have lots more to say about WTI once it's all said and over. One week down, six weeks left! Here we go!!

One Year Later

It has been exactly one year since I joined the United States Marine Corps. On this day last year I was in the processing phase of recruit training at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot, San Diego. I remember the fear of uncertainty as I began that journey. The biggest fear in any new situation seems to be that of uncertainty.

Many of the friends that I went to school with are now being deployed to Afghanistan. People that I work with have left for Afghanistan and more are on their way. I am not wondering if I will go but rather when I will go. I know that the day is coming; if it were today I would gladly accept my orders and begin preparation to go. Yet, that fear of uncertainty would no doubt be there. In friends that I have talked to I have detected a hint of uneasiness as well.

On the flip side, I have talked to a few people who have come back from Iraq. They enjoyed it and have often stated that they wouldn't mind going back. I'm sure there were times when things were tough, but overall the experience was good for them.

Many times in life we let fear hold us back and rob us of experiences that although are tough for awhile, ultimately mold and shape us into better people. We have nothing to fear at all if we know we are in God's will. The uncertainty that we feel is not a feeling that God is familiar with. Though we have no control over what may come our way, we can rest in knowing that there is One who is in control of it all.

Quite frankly the job is a little mundane and the hours are long. But there is a truth that I am experiencing and developing in my life. That of a self sacrificing love for others. As I work with my fellow Marines and those who are above me and I learn of them, grow with them, and labor with them. I on more then one occasion have found myself thinking as I interact with these people, "I would die for them." Not in a way of pride or arrogance and not in the plural sense of the Marine Corps as a whole, but rather the individual Marine. In my young life I have not been in a profession or job where that thought would ever enter one's mind. You don't normally have to think of dieing for your Co-worker selling life insurance. You don't envision an attack at the counter of Geek Squad as you troubleshoot computers. But in this line of work, although minute, the chances of being placed in those situations is real.

I love what I do and I love the people that I work with. I hope that this next coming year will bring new experiences that I can embrace without that fear of uncertainty, but rather a dependence on the One in control of it all. I also hope that the lessons that I am being taught continue and that I recognize God's hand in them all.

To all reading,
Good Day!

Class 26.5

Class 26.5 has been my family for the past few months. I remember very distinctly when it was finally time for class to start. I had grown accustomed to the routine that I had already fallen in and like anything new that may come into a person’s life, I felt a little apprehensive. Since that time I am thankful for the class that I am in and for the instructors that have been put in charge of us. We have been through a lot as a class. Some hard times, and some really good times. Either way we each pushed each other to continue pressing on.

Physically I am doing well and am seeing progress, although I have a long way to go. The pictures are from a five mile run that we did along the ridge line of some of the hills/mountains that surround our base. The terrain and the sand really make it hard. Believe me when I say I surely wasn’t leading the pack.

Academically I am doing well too. Since my last posting I have become fully A+ Certified. It is an entry level certification that shows the Marine Corps and the Civilian world I am skilled in computer repair and troubleshooting. We have also finished the CCNA courses which introduce us to networking fundamentals and the beginnings of understanding and setting up a network. It was split into 4 parts called Modules, with the 4^th module being voluntary if you qualified based on your class average. Each module was at most 11 chapters long. It was very tough to study like I knew I should because it is just so time consuming. Nevertheless, I was able to do fairly well in it.

I am still number one in my class, but I say that in humbleness knowing that at anytime I could become prideful and arrogant and lose my spot. I still need to study hard to keep that intact and if my instructors see fit, they may reward me with a meritorious promotion to Lance Corporal.

Currently we are studying Microsoft Server and after that we will be studying Microsoft Exchange. Once again we will be graduating October 1^st, 2009 and after that it will be off to my first duty station. I hope and pray that I get stationed at Camp Pendleton, but I suppose wherever I go I can make the best of it.

I have learned a lot while being here in Twenty-nine Palms. Both inside and outside of the classroom. Things in the Marine Corps can be really tough. Physically, mentally, and emotionally we are challenged. I suppose it would be the same for anybody who is living. Life is tough! So many decisions, so many choices. Thank God for the Light that lights our path! Though life is tough I am so thankful for it. August 26, 2009 will begin my 25^th year of life. If only it didn’t have to begin in the middle of the desert!! Then again, some of God’s greatest leaders were shaped and formed on the backside of a desert where the only place worth looking, was up! May I continue to look up.

Pictures!

It took awhile to organize everything, but here are some pictures of some of the highlights of recruit training including the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor Ceremony, the Moto Run, and Family Day. The picture above is after graduation in our hotel room. I hope to post more pictures of Graduation and our trip to Sea World and the San Diego Zoo at a later time. Enjoy My Pictures!