Fort Bragg, NC!!

Hello all!

A lot has happened since my last blog post! The Rhodes family and I went down to Fort Benning, GA the second week in February to see Seth Turn Blue (where he gets his Infantry cords) and graduate from Basic training. He looked so handsome in his dress uniform!!

After he went and checked in for Airborne School and served his first shift, we all got to hang out with him for a couple of hours the night of graduation, and the afternoon afterward. We all had to go home on Saturday afternoon, but it was probably good for Seth to have a little while to relax before starting Airborne School! 

Originally he thought he was going to have a few weeks of Airborne Hold (basically where they sit around and do nothing but PT while waiting for the next session of School to start), but he ended up starting Airborne the Monday after graduation. The first week they did ground jumps (off of walls and the like), the second week they did tower jumps (these crazy towers (think big power line type towers - I'll try to find a picture) that they basically put you into a harness/open parachute, pull you up this tower, then drop you...), and the third week he finally got to do his five jumps out of a real plane! ("But it was only at like 1200 feet, so it really doesn't count, AND it was static line...") Oh well, it seems pretty exciting to me! Upon completing Airborne School, he got some patches to put on his ACU's!

The towers... 

His patch!

After he graduated Airborne School, they bused him up to Fort Bragg, NC, where he is now. He has spent the last week doing paperwork and "Welcome to the base!" type briefings. Needless to say, he's anxious to get back to doing something, instead of just sitting around doing paperwork.


I'll keep you all updated as I hear more information, and I'll post on here what I'm allowed to post (they get awfully picky about putting up secret information on the internet...)


Oh, and for anyone wondering, Seth should be stationed at Bragg for the next year and a half to two years. And as soon as I get an address for him, I'll post it on here.


Have a good night everyone!

Graduation

So, it's been a while since I've posted on here. Sorry for the delay. 

Seth came home for a few weeks over Christmas and New Years. I hope everyone was able to see him if they wanted to.

I talked to him on Sunday, and he sounded like he was doing...well. After flying back to Georgia a few weeks ago, he has been pretty much constantly working on getting his PT scores back up to where he feels like they should be, since the Army bases pretty much everything on PT scores.

He sounded a little stressed out about it, but I told him that he's the most determined person I know, and that if anyone can do it, he can. He "Turns Blue" (when he gets his Infantry cords three weeks from yesterday (Thursday, February 9), and graduates from Basic three weeks from today.

His sister, Rachael, and I are meeting his parents and his brother down in Olive Branch, MS to drive to Georgia for graduation. If you have any well wishes for him, or have anything you'd like for us to bring to him, please give it to me no later than Sunday, February 5.

Also, if you are planning on sending Seth any letters (the address is in a previous post), make sure you get them mailed NO LATER THAN FEBRUARY 1, or else they won't get to him before he graduates. Also, don't forget that stamps go up to $0.45 on Sunday (January 22).

After graduation, Seth is supposed to spend (I believe) three more weeks in Georgia for Airborne training, before moving up to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for SFAS.

If you have any questions or anything, you know how to reach me. Have a great weekend!

Long Time, No Blog

First, let me start off by saying sorry for taking so long to post a new update. School and work have been keeping me absurdly busy.

With that, where to begin! I got my first letter from Seth on November 3, and it was mostly him complaining about how he and his platoon can't follow even the most simple of instructions... It was rather amusing, as Rachael and Dorothy can tell you, that the letter started out with "...they can't follow instructions..." and ended with "...we can't do anything..."

As of the time of the writing of his first letter, he had done the climbing wall (made a seat completely out of rope!) and some basic hand to hand type stuff (to quote him, nothing that will help you win the fight, but it'll keep you alive). He seemed rather stressed at the lack of cohesion when he first got there, but his mood, and opinions seem to have improved in his following letters..

In the second letter he starts out by saying that they are getting "smoked" less (essentially when they get in trouble and have to do push-ups, and who knows what else). He continues, "Half the people around here are wimps in my opinion. All they do is complain about how hard things are and how we don't have time to eat. I just wish people would man up and get over themselves. This place isn't hard, its easy if you listen."

The third letter was pretty tame, without much complaining, other than about the random guy who STILL can't follow directions... As of the time of the third letter, he had also done First Aid and Communications, as well as the Pugil Sticks (think American Gladiator...). Apparently they are cutting people (letting them go, so to speak) left and right, and have plans to cut 56 people out of two platoons in order to combine them. The reasoning behind that is apparently so they can "...give better training and the DS (Drill Sergeant) get more time off. We'll see." Apparently the Red Phase (Red Phase, then White Phase, then Blue Phase, right before graduation) had several failures, and if the PT scores don't improve, those people will get cut too.

Other than that, Seth appears to be doing well. As it stands right now, he flies into KC late on Friday December 16 and is here through the New Year. That is all subject to change, of course. If you want to see him while he's here, please email (tg656@umkc.edu) me, so I can make sure he has a chance to see everyone, since I am now apparently his social coordinator. =)

Also, he can receive mail and pictures, though it takes AGES to get there.

Here's his address:

Rhodes, Seth RN 138
B. Co. 1/50 INF ITB
9899 Second Armor Division Road, Building 3570
Fort Benning, GA  31905

Also, you MUST put the number "138" on each bottom corner on the front of the envelope. I have no idea why, but you do. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Thanks, and have a great week everyone!

Made it Through the First 48...

Well, Seth made it through the first 48 hours of Boot. I got a voicemail from him earlier this evening saying that he was there, doing well, and that he only had a minute to talk. 

He also said that he should be able to write in a few weeks, and that after that we would all have an address to send him mail to. It's looking like he WILL get to come home for Christmas, details to come later... Cell phones are hated at Boot, so don't expect to get any calls or text messages from him, though he should be able to write...

Also, if you were wondering, he says he's in the Bravo Company, First Battalion, The Punishers.

Will post more as I know!

-tg

Off to Boot (at some horribly early hour) in the Morning!!

Hey everyone! I got to talk to Seth again tonight... He was calling since this is his last night in Reception, and will be moving across the base to begin Boot/Basic Training at some horribly early hour of the morning tomorrow. 

I guess for the past week and change that he has been in Reception, he has been bored out of his skull. As the Burrow's put it, "The Army is a lot of hurry up and wait."

Seth said that he WAS able to go to church on Sunday, so that's good at least. He doesn't know if he'll be able to go during the first few weeks of Boot, but we shall see.

As to what tomorrow holds for him, "The first two days are the hardest. They're essentially going to try to kill us." Apparently, rumor has it that they are going to keep him up for 48 straight hours, in an attempt to see who's weak (mentally and physically), who can/will take orders, who will possibly make a good leader later and so on. 

I told him to sleep well tonight, since he's sure going to need his energy tomorrow!

As soon as he's able to write, I'll post whatever updates I get from him. In the mean time, I'll probably continue to post updates from Jim Burrow, since Jim has the inside track about what Seth's going to be doing...

And to keep with the theme of the last post, here's some food for thought...

"It's a strange thing, you have said it a thousand times I am sure...you will never know what you can do until you try. However, the sad truth is that most people never try anything until they know they can do it."

-George Sheehan

-tg

Second Phone Call!!

I got to talk to Seth again on Saturday! He called me while I was running around trying to help my best girl friend get dressed and made up for her wedding.

Seth said that he was bored out of his mind, and that all they had done was stand in line all day, but at least they had earned their phone privileges. Other than not knowing which day of the week it was (he thought I was in class again, haha), he sounded like he was having a good time.

As far as I know, he'll be in Reception until Friday still (10/21), and then he will be off to Boot. As mentioned before, as soon as I get contact information for him, I'll put it up here.

On an different note, my old boss sent this to me as her thought of the day today, and I thought it was fitting:

"You have to find something that you love enough to be able to take risks, jump over the hurdles and break through the brick walls that are always going to be placed in front of you.  If you don't have that kind of feeling for what it is you're doing, you'll stop at the first giant hurdle."

-George Lucas

Have a great night!!

-tg 

First Phone Call!!

I received my first phone call from Seth! 

He's doing well in Georgia, and has spent the last two days doing nothing but filling out paperwork, getting immunizations, and "buying" his gear etc (since they can't technically GIVE it to them, so they sell it to them for next to nothing). From what Seth said, he will be in Reception (the paperwork/shots/gear etc.) until a week from tomorrow (Friday, October 21), and then he gets starts boot for real.


Again, from what he's said, it sounds like he'll be doing boot for 12 weeks, will have graduation, and then will have four more weeks of Airborne training, before they bus him off to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for the rest of his training. As soon as I learn more about his time in NC, I'll put an updated time line up on here.


Whether or not Seth will be able to come home for Christmas or not is still up in the air, and I still don't know when he'll be able to write or call again, but when I know more, you'll know more!!


-tg

Arrival in Georgia!!

Hey guys! 

I got a text from Seth at roughly 5:30pm tonight saying that he made it safely to Atlanta. I guess that means that they're taking a bus from the airport to the base...

Just figured I'd let you all know that he made it to Georgia!!

-tg

Day One

Hey everybody! I dropped Seth off at his hotel up by the airport last night. They like to keep all of the people who are going to have medical tests run, are signing papers, or are shipping out, in a hotel the night before, to deter them from doing anything...stupid.

Anyway, spoke with Seth EARLY this morning (around 4:30 a.m.), and he said that they were taking all of the people at the hotel to MEPS (Medical Expenditure Panel Survey - where they get all of their physicals and such done), since most of the people in the hotel were new recruits needing their initial physicals and tests run. Seth went there with the other people shipping out to get another mini-physical (to (in his words) "make sure we haven't died or anything"), before they issue plane tickets and bus them up to the airport. By now they've most likely taken his phone, but I'll put up contact information for him when I receive it, and will post updates as they are received too.

Have a great Tuesday!

-tg

Basic Information and Going Away Party!!!

Hey everybody!!

I just thought I would make a page that you could all come to and check on the latest news about Seth's Army adventures, so, here it is!

Seth leaves, officially, on Monday, October 11, 2011 for Fort Benning, Georgia. I am unsure of the details of his time in Georgia, but when I get that information, I'll update this post. After Georgia, he is going to Fort Bragg, North Carolina for some more training. As with Georgia, I'll update with more info as I get it.

To the best of my knowledge, Seth cannot recieve or send mail, or use the phone for at least the first few weeks he'll be in Georgia. If you would like to write him before he can officially recieve letters, you can send them to me, and I'll send all of the letters to him in one envelope once he's able to get them.

As soon as he's able to write/call, I'll put contact information for him up on here.
If you want to send the link to this blog to people who may not have seen the post on Facebook, here is the URL: www.SethRhodesArmy.blogspot.com. Feel free to login and leave comments and words of encouragement for Seth, for when he can check it.
Hope everyone has a wonderful Friday, and I hope to see many of you for Seth's going away party on Sunday (October 9) at the Chipman Road Church of Christ, after evening services! Cake and ice cream will be provided, but please bring a side dish of some sort.

-tg