In 2010, I set up this blog as an efficient means of communicating with my friends and family while I was away at Marine Corps boot camp. My dad posted portions of my letters, as well as general information as to what I was doing on any given day. Now, feel free to bookmark this page and check for updates on what I'm up to. Thanks for reading!
A lot has happened in the past four months since my last update!
On June 10th, I graduated the School of Music with class 11060, with a final audition score of 2.9. After graduating, my family and I spent the weekend touring Washington, D.C. and Arlington National Cemetery. We all had a great time seeing all those historic places!
A few weeks ago, I finally checked in -- and have since performed in a few ceremonies with -- the 1st Marine Division Band. I absolutely LOVE my job. Every day I've learned more and more about the idiosyncrasies of being a military musician; specifically, what goes on behind the scenes. To me, this job doesn't seem like work, I love it so much! And the fact I'm getting paid to do what I love is incredible. Because I live so close to base, my family has been able to see many of my ceremonies, which means I can share some videos and photos with you!
My first parade as a Marine musician: a July 4th celebration in Oceanside, CA.
My first big performance with the band...playing in a major league baseball stadium!
Currently, we are on our make-up 4th of July 96 hour liberty. Because the band often does ceremonies on holidays such as Independence and Veterans' Day, we don't get that time off like most others in the military do. So instead, we will get the following weekend or day off. Later this year, we will have a couple weeks off for leave, and also spend some time on the range, fulfilling our annual qualification requirements on the M16.
I deeply appreciate all of you, my readers. I know I haven't been very consistent lately with the updates, but when I log on occasionally and see the comments urging me to post, that makes me motivated to keep you updated! Please comment my blog...it helps me to know that I have people that read what I write! Anyway, if any of you have questions about my time in the band, feel free to ask! I will answer your questions to the best of my ability.
I apologize for not posting the past few months. Updating this site has been on the back of my mind for a couple weeks and now I'm finally taking the time to update it.
Continuing from my last post, I ended up spending Christmas in Virginia, far away from my family back in California. Myself, along with a few friends from guard duty, got "adopted" by a civilian family off-base. Anyway, we had Christmas dinner with them and had a great time.
For New Year's, I was very fortunate to go home for a couple days. The $800 ticket round-trip was well worth it! My family held off on celebrating their Christmas until New Year's, so really it was like I didn't miss anything!
As far as the School of Music goes, I'm about a month and a half into the program. I absolutely LOVE it here. Our days are pretty long due to the number of classes we have, but being so busy definitely makes the days go by very fast. Everyday I participate in concert band, ceremonial band, jazz band, ear training, music theory, and marching band. We exercise quite often. Many nights I have to go back to the school to complete my minimum 2 hours of daily individual practice time, but lately I've been pretty lucky and have had the evenings off.
A neat thing about this base -- and the school -- is that the Navy and Army is stationed here, too. It is great being able to talk to people from other branches of service, and hearing their stories. (Oh, and seeing different uniforms definitely breaks up the monotony of seeing the same uniform everyday.)
The Counter-March -- We are learning how to do this move in marching band
I almost forgot to mention...I got promoted to Lance Corporal! I'm very stoked. I earned the rank on February 1st, after completing more than 6 months of active duty service. For band members, promotion to the first couple ranks are automatic (promotion to PFC after graduating boot camp, and LCpl after 6 months). However, not every musician who went to boot camp when I did got promoted. There are more than a few that are still PFCs. The reason? Those Marines either got Page 11 entries for underage drinking (without incident), or Non-Judicial Punishment for being late to school one too many times (we call this going UA, or Unauthorized Absence...same thing as AWOL). Being promoted has much more prestige knowing that not everyone made the cut. It has to be earned.
Well, that is about all I have to say for now. Being President's Day weekend, we are on what is called a 72-hour liberty, or 3-day weekend. I haven't eaten dinner yet, so I'm going to go for a walk and stop by Subway.
Thanks for reading! As usual, if you have any questions, feel free to post a response! Or, let me know what you think about my blog!
On Tuesday, November 23rd, I finally completed Marine Combat Training, graduating with Fox Company, 3rd Platoon. It was 29 days spent learning numerous infantry-related skills, including patrolling, IED recognition, small unit leadership, convoy security, day and night land navigation with a lensatic compass and map, combat hunter tactics, camoflauge, and clearing houses. I had a great time! I shot plenty of cool weapons: the M249 SAW, M240B medium machine gun, AT-4, M203, and I got to throw a live grenade. Not only that, but we were also able to utilize some neat technology, including night vision goggles, ACOG scopes, and infrared lasers. We took plenty of classes, and did numerous night-fire exercises in close quarters.
Compared to boot camp, MCT was certainly a big upgrade. First, our racks more resembeled our beds at home, complete with a comforter. Second, we were upgraded to "wall lockers", which are perfect for hanging uniforms and had more space for personal items (unlike the small foot lockers in boot camp). Another good thing is that we were allowed to have our electronics. However, we were only granted limited use; they had to be turned in, and could only be used when we were given permission (normally just during liberty). Hands down the best thing about MCT was having liberty. This meant for a certain number of hours, we could do as we pleased: use our laptops, take a long shower, call our family, visit the PX (a mini grocery store), get haircuts, go to church, or eat at some nearby resturaunts. My family visited a couple times, and even went to church with me. (The church there was great...it was very different from what I was used to; with only about 13 people there in the service, it certainly made things feel more intimate, at least compared to the 500+ I'm used to at my normal church).
After MCT, I ended up spending a month in 52 Area Guard Duty.
Had a great time, learned a lot, and even had time to
pose for a picture!
Definitely the coolest week was range week. During this week, we slept in sleeping bags and hygiened with the single moist towelette that is found in each MRE (Meal-Ready-to-Eat), which we ate for every meal throughout the week. (On a side note, I LOVE MREs. Other people got sick of them, luckily I never did.) Anyway, we would wake up early every morning, and get ready for class to start. After class, we would spend a couple hours getting hands-on experience with the weapons we just learned about; we would practice clearing the weapon, disassembling and reassembling it, and performing a function check (making sure the weapon was put together properly without actually firing it). We would also spend time memorizing the nomenclature of the different parts of the weapon. I don't mean to brag, but we had a competition in our little group to see who could clear, disassemble, reassemble, and perform a function check on the M240B medium machine gun the quickest. I was the last man standing, with a final time of 41.9 seconds, which earned me some Red Bull for the next class.
After the first class of the day and "practical application", we would have another class purely on target engagement, which basically just covered the different rates of fire (sustained, rapid and cyclic), and how to engage targets at different distances. After class, we played large arcade-style video games that used electronic rifles to simulate the shooting. One thing I don't get is how they were able to make the weapons feel so realistic, but have the graphics on the game comparable to the Nintendo 64. Anyway, after that we would spend an entire afternoon on the range actually shooting the weapons with live ammunition. Being paid to shoot military-grade weapons civilians aren't allowed to use is certainly fun. Also it was just like Call of Duty, I kid you not.
The biggest things that reminded me of video games were the night vision goggles and infrared lasers. One night, we were out well into the night shooting targets at close range (less than 50 yards) with those cool toys. (A crazy thing was that because there were so many Marines shooting so close to each other, many people had hot brass burn their necks and cheeks. I was lucky and never had that happen, except the big 7.62mm rounds from the M240 I was shooting -- at least compared to the normal 5.56mm the M16A4 shoots -- roll down my arm. Even though I was wearing long-sleeved cammies, it still burned pretty bad, but not enough to burn through the material or my skin.) Range week was very fun and something I won't forget for awhile.
Finally, thank you all for reading! I'll do my best to keep you updated!
My brother trying on the gear we wore on our hikes.
Notice the M16A4 with M203 grenade attachment and ACOG scope.
The Marines of Platoon 2106 are nearing the end of their 10-day liberty, awaiting the start of Marine Combat Training at Camp Pendleton.
Their Oct. 15 graduation made room at MCRD for another platoon, and reporter Tony Perry and photographer Walt Skalij, both of the Los Angeles Times, were there when anxious recruits first stepped on the yellow footprints ready to join "something bigger than themselves."
Here's a link to the story: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-boot-camp-20101024,0,3415946,full.story
It has been at least 6 years since I first dreamed of becoming a Marine, almost one full year since enlisting in the Delayed Entry Program, and more than three long months since I've last posted on here. Today, I can finally call myself a United States Marine; a title that will stay with me for the rest of my life and can never be taken away.
First, I'd like to thank you all for reading my blog. I know my dad put a ton of work into it! It certainly means a lot to have others read and comment.
Before I talk about my experiences, I would just like to say how comfortable I am; it is pouring rain outside, and the peace and quiet of my empty home is occasionally broken by the sounds of distant thunder. I'm lying back in our recliner, typing away on my new laptop. I dreamed of doing all of this throughout training, and especially during the Crucible when I was outside in this kind of weather. I'm definitely more appreciative of having a roof over my head when we had to march around in the rain and sleep in sleeping bags on the dirt.
Of course, boot camp really did suck at times. For the first month, I really had a hard time buying-in to what I was doing. I knew before that I was going to learn how to kill. What was hard for me was that everything we did was geared towards combat. Everything we did was to train us for war. I've never been deployed, but the way I was trained certainly made me realize the harsh realities of war. Now after graduating, I'm glad that we were trained the way we were; I'm fully confident in my abilities to perform at a basic level in combat. I'm confident in my shooting abilities, and I know that if and when the time comes, I can rely on my training to help me in war.
Speaking of shooting, I did meet one of my pre-boot camp goals: qualifying as an expert rifleman. Even with a full day less of practicing than most recruits, I still managed to do well. (We were supposed to qualify on a Friday, but because of labor day, and thus our coaches being on liberty, we got one less day and had to qualify on Thursday.) A little over half of my platoon did qualify as expert; however, we did have two recruits fail, or UNQ (un-qualify). (They were able to have a second attempt; both qualified, but even though one would have qualified as a sharpshooter, they were only marked down as getting a 190 -- the bare minimum for passing. Shooting is important in the Marine Corps, as qualification levels and scores on the range count greatly towards one's next promotion.)
Another goal that I accomplished was qualifying pretty good on the combat swimming. There are four levels of qualification for swim:
Level IV: The basic level required for all Marines. The hardest part was staying afloat -- without our heads going beneath the water -- for four minutes in full cammies and combat boots. I honestly didn't think I was going to pass this, but luckily, I did. We also had to jump off a 12-foot diving board, which was scary at first, but just like some of those roller coaster rides, I wanted to jump off again as soon as I resurfaced. Every Marine with this level of qualification must re-qualify every year.
Level III: I forget the exact distances, but we basically had to swim from one side of the long pool to the other in full combat gear: boots, cammies, Kevlar, flak jacket, rifle, and backpack. We also had to jump off the diving board in all that gear and then swim to the side. The hardest part about this for me was getting the rifle's sling un-tangled from my backpack strap, arm, and neck. I wanted to fail at that point because with all that gear on and having my arms tangled, plus the fact that my heart was racing after resurfacing from the jump (I went down pretty far with all that gear!), I literally felt like I was going to drown. But, I survived. A Marine with this level of qualification must re-qualify every other year.
Level II: This was the highest level that was offered at MCRD. This one, despite one of my drill instructors scaring us before qualifying by saying how hard it was, wasn't all that bad. All we had to do was drag a buddy through the water halfway the distance of the pool, then switch and have the other guy drag us back. Both recruits are in full gear, just like level two. The good thing is that the backpack does naturally float; only problem is is that you move very, very slow. I qualified at this level, and only have to qualify one more time before my four-year contract is over.
Level I: I have no idea what one has to do to get this level of qualification, except that it requires a TON of distance swimming. It is only required for those with special jobs, like those in Force Recon (special forces).
Anyway, another thing that I had trouble with was the obstacle course. I messed up my fingers pretty bad during Phase I when doing the rope climb at the end. Basically, I got almost to the top, but my arms and grip got super-tired, and when I looked around and realized just how high I was, I freaked out and slid all the way down, burning my fingertips in the process. I had to go to medical, and it took about a month for my wounds to completely heal. After many nights of dreaming about the dreaded rope climb, I did get a chance to redeem myself in Phase III. However, this time we had to do the course with body armor (flak jackets) and helmets (Kevlar). Believe me, I was so pumped and motivated at the beginning of the course because I could finally face one of my boot camp fears. But of course, the drill instructors got bored, and kept sending me back to the beginning of the course, over and over, whenever I got close to the end. (This happened to a lot of others too.) What sucks is that the first few obstacles are the most tiring: having to throw your body around what is like a tall pull-up bar, as well as get over a bunch of logs. The trick is to jump as high as you can, push your hips up above the log, and throw your feet over. It is very hard, but with all the practice, it eventually became very easy. Anyway, I eventually got to the rope and made it up there. I got to the top and had to extend my arm pretty high up to slap the wood and yell, "Recruit Rice, Platoon 2106, Senior Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Hernandez, Kill kill kill 'em all!" I quickly climbed back down, and even though I felt amazing, my hands and forearms were pretty worn out. This video has a clip of that rope climb:
Now, I can't go on without talking about the food. I have to admit, the food at recruit training is absolutely delicious. And it is very healthy too: I had a piece of watermelon, canned fruit/peaches and orange juice every morning for breakfast. I also had a salad and an apple for both lunch and dinner, complete with either milk or Powerade. Even the MREs, or Meals Ready-to-Eat in the field tasted great. The only problem: I often had to throw away some or most of my meal, because we were either too pressed for time, or because another recruit was caught with ice cream or extra dessert. Yes, they did have some desserts, like cookies, cake, or pudding. However, there would usually be one of our drill instructors standing right by where the deserts are at, or only those who dared to go against what we were taught about nutrition would attempt to get some. Yes, later on in training (Phase III) it was rare that a drill instructor would be standing by the cookies, I did get dessert a lot of times then. However, ice cream was always off limits. The ice cream was reserved for Marines only, which a lot of us got to enjoy during Marine week (the last week of training), and during the Warrior's Breakfast (the first meal after completing the Crucible and earning the title Marine). But even during Marine week, we were still discouraged from using the machines, and some new Marines still got yelled at for making poor food choices. However, at the end, no one got kicked out of the chow hall for getting ice cream, so the yelling didn't stop a lot of people. I never got ice cream, but I did get desert pretty much every meal after the Crucible. Heck, in our minds, we freaking made it, and we were going to celebrate by getting some cookies for dinner. =)
There was one thing that never really got easier throughout training: dealing with other recruits. I spent four years in marching band in high school, and I know that I learned a LOT about dealing with other people and working as a team. I am now so much more grateful for what I learned. There were plenty of recruits that tried to initiate fights with me; even though it was hard it first, it did eventually become natural to see how stupid they were being -- and how much more stupid the things were that caused them to become ill-tempered. My best response to somebody who shoved me out of their way? Simply ignore them. Some recruits even criticized me for everything I did (or didn't do)! It was easy to show them how hypocritical they were being, but that always resulted in a heated argument that eventually led to fighting. Especially after seeing how those recruits treated others the same, I just learned to let their comments go in one ear, and out the other. The way I see it, I learned a lot on how to deal with others. But of course, this is always room for improvement, especially in this area.
Now, about the Crucible. The first two full days are action-packed. From 0400 to midnight, you are constantly on the move. Throughout Edson Range, there are many different obstacles; each has a Medal of Honor citation, and the obstacle is based on what that Marine did. One of my favorite courses had us work as a team to transport ammo and supplies across a rope, which simulated a broken bridge. I forget the name, but back in Vietnam a Marine spent hours setting up explosives underneath a highly-traveled bridge, constantly going back and forward to get more supplies. It was very touching to read those citations. It definitely makes earning the title Marine that much bigger of a deal, because you remember all those who died before you. All of them were Marines who went to boot camp, then went to war, and did their job honorably. Just to be called a Marine -- and therefore bearing the same name as those who did things that seem to come straight out of Hollywood -- is very heavy on the soul. I took the most away from the two times we got to sit down and talk to our drill instructors. For the first time, we are allowed to use "I" and other first-person words on the Crucible. Also for the first time, we are able to sit down and talk to our drill instructors and ask them about their experiences in the Marines: we asked about what war was like, what the fleet is like, and so on. This only happened twice throughout the Crucible, and each session lasted under 45 minutes (I'm assuming). I loved hearing about my drill instructors, especially since hearing them talk about their lives made them seem actually human. I never saw my drill instructors eat, drink, or sleep throughout boot camp. They were up before we were, went to sleep after us, and were even out and about when I was on firewatch at 0200. I don't know how they do it. I know have the utmost respect for those who serve as drill instructors; and only a couple weeks after graduation, they go right back at it with a whole new cycle of recruits. This goes on and on for 3 years, the length of a tour.
On a side note, firewatch is a big thing in training. Each of us learned about the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon on October 23rd, 1983. It is a date we committed to memory. Basically, 220 Marines were killed went a suicide bomber drove his vehicle -- full of explosives -- and detonated it near the barracks. This all happened because the Marine who was standing front post fell asleep. The purpose of firewatch is to preserve order, protect property, and enforce regulations (keyword P.O.P.P.E.R.). Even though there is no immediate threat on the Depot, we had to stand firewatch throughout the night to get us ready for living in a war-time environment. Marines are humans too. There has to be someone always standing guard to make sure the enemy doesn't kill them in their sleep. Every hour throughout the night, 4 recruits would stand firewatch, one of which would be "front post." The others would count bodies (so if a recruit goes missing, the drill instructors know immediately), patrol the squadbay and head (restroom), or any other tasks that were assigned. Sometimes, firewatch would be boring and uneventful. Other times, we would have so much to do, it was overwhelming. Some tasks would be marking 78 physical training shirts, marking score cards, and stapling them to all the shirts for the physical fitness test (I scored a first-class PFT, btw, another one of my goals). Or the night before an inspection, we would have to polish/re-darken our dress shoes, or fix our uniforms. Anyway, firewatch is very important, even at the cost of losing a couple hours of sleep each night.
Overall, I loved boot camp. The days truly flew by. With no calendars, watches, televisions, cell phones, newspapers, magazines, or computers, it is really easy to feel like MCRD San Diego is all that there is in the world -- nothing else exists, and all memories I had of home seemed like just a dream. Because there is no way to measure the time, except for night and day and each meal, it is easy to get lost in the recruit training world. This is good because it allows you to focus on training, and it does make each day go by fast. There were slow days, of course, but overall, it literally flew right by.
Now this entry would not be complete without some funny drill instructor quotes I wrote down throughout the cycle. Even in all the seriousness, drill instructors would still say some pretty funny things, even if it didn't always seem so at the time (some contain profanity...you have been warned):
"I'm a 4th award expert shot, a black belt instructor in MCMAP, I run a first-class PFT, and I piss excellence. I'm a sexy bitch!"
"I'm just like your football coach, but more badass."
"Yeah.....get on my quarterdeck." (Meaning you were going to be IT'd, or forced to do non-stop physical exercises until muscle failure.)
"...so just suck it the fuck up."
(When talking about camouflage) "You're gunna stick out like an adam's apple on a hooker."
"What girl?"
"Son, I'm gunna jack you up."
"Test me."
"Don't worry, I got you."
"Why wouldn't it be you."
Now, here are some videos for your viewing pleasure:
The new Marines of Platoon 2106 have been in boot camp since July 19, without the opportunity to read the morning newspaper or watch the nightly news. Away from MCRD and Camp Pendleton, a lot has been happening:
The day boot camp started, the oil gusher in the Gulf of Mexico was the lead story nationwide. BP’s blown-out well 40 miles off the Louisiana coast was sealed from the top on July 15, four days before the recruits shipped off. It took another two months for the well to be permanently plugged with cement in an operation known as the “bottom kill.”
Also on July 15, the Los Angeles Times first reported that Robert Rizzo, the city manager in Bell, one of Los Angeles County’s poorest cities, was making nearly $800,000 a year, and several City Council members were pulling in nearly $100,000 a year for part time work. The revelation sparked outrage from Bell residents, and a review of salaries in cities nationwide. On Sept. 21, eight Bell officials were arrested, along with Rizzo, who faces up to 58 years in prison if convicted.
It’s unlikely any of the recruits heard of Jackie Evancho or Christine O’Donnell, but both quickly became national sensations during the past 13 weeks. Evancho, a 10-year-old singer inspired by “The Phantom of the Opera,” on Aug. 10 first dazzled viewers of “America’s Got Talent” with her powerful, adult-sounding voice. She surprisingly lost in the season finale to a shy blues singer from Mississippi, Michael Grimm. For her part, O’Donnell pulled off an upset win in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate on Sept. 14, becoming a darling of the right and a lampoon target of the left for views she expressed on a variety of topics years earlier.
What’s bacon and hash browns without scrambled eggs? Americans found out in August after more than 1,500 became sick after eating eggs produced at farms in Iowa. The salmonella illnesses led to a recall of 550 million eggs.
U.S. combat troops finished pulling out of Iraq on Aug. 19, leaving about 50,000 servicemen in the country, working mainly as a training force.
“Mad Men” and “Modern Family” were named the top drama and comedy series, respectively, at the 62nd Emmy Awards on Aug. 22. “The Pacific” won for best miniseries.
The new fall TV season officially started Sept. 20. Eight days later, the critically acclaimed series about a Texas con man leading a double life, “Lone Star,” was pulled from Fox’s primetime schedule after just two airings, making it the first casualty of the young season.
After a cooler-than-normal summer, on Sept. 28 the temperature in Los Angeles reached 113 degrees – the highest ever in records that date back to 1877. Then the thermometer stopped working.
From the “What will Google do next?” department. The Internet giant announced that it has been testing unmanned vehicles on city streets and highways. Seven test cars have logged 1,000 miles without human intervention and more than 140,000 miles with only occasional human control. One even went down San Francisco’s Lombard Street, one of the steepest and curviest streets in the nation. The only accident was when one Google car was stopped at a traffic light, and it was rear-ended.
George Lucas announced that the six star wars movies will be converted into 3-D and released in theaters, starting with “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace” in 2012.
Among the recruits, a fair number of them are likely baseball fans – although Josh is not among them. Those who are may be surprised to know they missed history in the first round of the Major League Baseball playoffs. Roy Halladay of the Philadelphia Phillies tossed a 4-0 no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds on Oct. 6. It was the second playoff no-hitter in history, and the first since Don Larsen threw a perfect game for the New York Yankees against Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1956 World Series.
An Aug. 6 cave-in trapped 33 miners a mile below ground in Chile. Following an international rescue effort compared to the one staged for the Apollo 13 crew, the miners were pulled from the depths – one by one – starting Oct. 12.
Since July 19, we’ve lost George Blanda (NFL Hall of Fame quarterback and kicker), writer and TV series creator Stephen J. Cannell (“The A-Team,” “The Rockford Files”), Oscar nominated actor Tony Curtis (“The Defiant Ones”), director Arthur Penn (“Bonnie and Clyde,” “Little Big Man”), Billie Richards (the voice of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in the 1964 TV special), Leonard Skinner (the tongue-in-cheek inspiration for the 1970s rock ’n’ roll band Lynyrd Skynyrd), and Oscar nominated actress Gloria Stewart (“Titanic”).
See, you really do miss a lot when you’re away for 13 weeks.
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