Terms and Updates

Hey all!!!

So only a month and 10 days until my brother graduates boot camp! But whose counting? Anyways. My mom found a few definitions for the terms that my brother uses in his letters and it is pretty useful for those of us who aren't in the marines and don't really know what he's talking about sometimes. So here they are!

SQUAD LEADER is a leadership position. There are approximately four squad leaders in the platoon. Each squad leader is responsible for the recruits in his squad and reports to the Platoon Guide. The SDI can hire and fire squad leaders at will.

PLATOON GUIDE (one per platoon) is a leadership position. The Guide, like squad leaders, is chosen by the SDI. Squad Leaders report to the Guide and the Guide reports to the SDI. The Guide, like squad leaders, can be hired and fired but seems to me that it doesn't happen as often with as squad leaders. The Guide carries the platoon flag (the guidon) at the front of the platoon. Being Guide is quite an honor.  

SCRIBE as I understand it is a sort of clerk position and handles paperwork – usually someone with good computer skills.

Okay now that we all understand a little bit more about what Jason is talking about...Here are some updates from him! This letter came to my parents on June 23.

He is now second squad leader. They do squad leaders by height and other people keep getting fired which is why Jason keeps getting switched around. He really doesn't like the system since he's built a relationship with the first squad but now he needs to get to know the members of the second squad. Jason has always been a natural leader so its not surprising to us that he was put in this position! According to Dana, a lot of other leaders talk down to the squads and are rude to them and go on power trips and that really bothers my brother.

The past week was pretty much the same every day. They went to the range to practice shooting. His PMI instructor is crazy but an awesome guy. PMIs act more relaxed than DIs and he even told the guys about this going on in the world like the fact that the Heat won the championship.

Apparently on the first day Jason got in a lot of trouble because he didn't pay attention to where his rifle was pointing. His platoon also got in a lot of trouble because turnos out one of them was messing with their guide's stuff. THey redid his shoe laces, stole stuff, and pt his toothbrush in the toilet for three weeks! He did admit to is but the whole platoon got in trouble and the DI's trashed their squad's area. They put all their locks together, flipped foot lockers, took off our linen and threw it onto one bed, put laundry detergent all ofter the bathroom, knocked everything in the bathroom down, and took their shoes and threw it in the shower and said that it was a "mini" tornado AND this happened all an hour before bed.

They also had a three mile and five mile hike and my brother said it wasn't bad but a couple guys struggled because they had to carry 40 lb packs and at the end of the five mile hike there was a hill at the end but it wasn't bad. They have been practicing shooting all week. They have rifle quals and field week so there might not be a lot of time to write mail. They only get mail twice a week and even though that sucks it is nice that every time mail comes, Jason gets something.

He seems to be doing really well and isn't as sick anymore which is good. Please keep writing him if you have time. It really is what's keeping him going! He's more than half way through and we couldn't be more proud of him!

Moving to Pendleton

Hi Everyone!!!

Jason has been transitioning to Camp Pendleton so he might not be able to get letters as quickly to people and such but he's doing really well and here are a couple of updates on him! He gets mail once a week so he'll try his best to keep up.

He is currently on phase two and started field week, rifle week, and grass week. This is an interesting part of training for him. He passed his swim test and has already taken graduation pictures in his dress blues!

Unfortunately, he went to medical and it turns out that he has bronchitis so he got medicine for that and is much better but it definitely took a toll on his training. He took his initial physical fitness test and he feels weaker than when he first arrived to boot camp. He did well but needs to improve on his pull ups especially being squad leader.

His platoon got second to last on PFT and his Senior was upset. But they moved on a Saturday and packed all day that Friday. Everything is really precise and it took a while to move but at least the waiting gave my brother a chance to catch up on a little bit of sleep.

He's still taking it day by day so keep writing and encouraging him! A little more than a month and he's done!!

Address

Hey everyone!

So oops on my part because I actually wasn't supposed to post my brother's address out in the public to see. SOOO if you want his address to send him a letter, you can email me at vnguyen719@gmail.com OR Dana at danachhum@gmail.com for his address. ALSO, if you don't really write much and are too lazy to go buy stamps or an envelope or whatever, you can email the letter to my mom at dinhstephanie@outlook.com and she can print it and send it for you.

Even if you just want to send a little note of encouragement or some news or sports clippings, he will appreciate it!

First Squad Leader

Hello everyone!!

So there has been a little bit of confusion over the address to send to my brother....We have discovered that 36001 or 38001 both work so just use the address I put in my first post. We've all been getting letters here and there from him...He's been so busy but is pretty good at writing back. He keeps saying that letters are like gold there and loves getting mail. But here's a quick update on him now!

Jason has already been there for a month AND he has already bought graduation pictures and his uniform for graduation...Can you believe it?! He says he's going to get 30 wallet size pictures and doesn't know what to do with them so if you want one, holler at me.

My mom sent him some food and other families have sent his squad mates food and they all share it together,

On Monday, the 3rd, they had the confidence course which is a series of obstacles that, "are more about having balls and not being scared of heights," more than anything else- his words, not mine. He didn't get to do all the courses though because they had so many people in their company. For physical stuff they maiunly had martial arts and this circuit martial arts course which he says sucked.

What is super exciting is that he is first squad leader! They rearranged the house by squads and his new rackmate, Velasco, is really awesome he said. He said that they did really poorly at the marching and practice for Initial Drill and their Senior Drill Instructor was so mad that he didn't pass out the mail, which really sucked.

He also got his debit cards and military ID (apparently his picture sucks because he took it the second day he was there). At their Initial Drill, Jason's squad went first out of the six platoons and this put them at a big disadvantage but they placed third, which made his instructor happy.

Now they also had a Combat Fitness Test (CFT) which sounds like it was pretty brutal. It consists of a 800 m sprint, 30 lb ammo can lifts, and a movement under fire course. He told us to youtube it and here's a demonstration of something similar to what Jason had to do if any of you are interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3lmdEVXO-M

Jason's squad won first place overall for the CFT and his Senior Instructor was really happy and they got to watch the movie 300.

Right now he is doing swim week and he failed the tread water test---which we were shocked to hear since Jason is such a strong swimmer!!! He was surprised too and is going to retake it. He said he knows it was a fluke but swimming in combat utilities and boots is really tough.

He also told me in my letter that he signed up for a GI bill where he had to pay some money and after he's done with his 4 years, they will give him money for school including flight school and this has always been a dream of my brother's so hes pretty pumped about it. And if he doesn't use it, it gets transferred to his wife and kids but only if he stays in the marines for 10 years.

But anyways he is starting Phase two at Camp Pendleton next week so he might not be as quick to write back but keep writing to him because it really is whats keeping him going! If you have any funny pictures or news to send him too, he would love that.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the camp my brother is at, here is the Facebook link you can like! It's pretty interesting actually. https://www.facebook.com/mcrdsd

Thanks for reading and thinking of my brother! We're so proud of him and he seems to be doing well! I'll try to post again soon :)

Oorah! First few weeks

Hey everyone!

So as you all know, Jason is currently at bootcamp in San Diego for the Marines. He can finally send letters and has contacted us with updates and told me that he wants me to blog about his experience for any friends or family that want to check up on him! He asked that you please send him as many letters as you want because its a huge morale boost for him and he likes to keep in touch with news going on in the world and whats going on with everyone's lives.

He's busy all day and they've been working him pretty hard as expected. He has a senior drill sergeant who he says really likes him and is friends with his recruiter so thats a plus! He has three other drill sergeants and the one in charge of discipline seems to have taken extra favoritism on my brother and made him his pet project haha. He gets a lot of intensive training and the drill sergeant gives him a pretty hard time but my brother just brushes it off ad knows its his job. My brother has had to do the obstacle course a bunch of times and has been struggling a little with the rope but I'm sure he'll get it soon.

One of the bonuses to Jason's day is meal time (surprise surprise) and he said hes really well fed there and even gets dessert. His classes are "blah" and he told me he has so much stuff to memorize and its actually a lot of work. He's already doing so well and he's third squad leader and armory recruit, which means he controls the keys for the guns but he can get fired from squad leader if his team doesn't perform well.

My mom got a surprise when my brother got phone privileges yesterday and she got to talk to him for a bit. He says he's doing well and he is on track to graduate August 9th. But he does have a little cold, which isn't uncommon for people in boot camp.




Until next time!

Vanessa