I decided to post this here instead of the private spouses corner on Solenita's suggestion.......
Warrior Day used to be called Jane Wayne Day but of course the Corps had to get PC. Really this is family day for 2nd Lts at TBS. For all the family or spouses that participate or are thinking about it it's a blast!!!
Of course I hope for anyone else that does it you get to go in warmer weather. Some genius for Alpha Company scheduled Warrior Day for the end of January which set record lows for Virginia. But on with the fun stuff.
One of the great things was that the lts didn't have to be on deck until 8 am as opposed to the usual 6:30. It was nice to "sleep in" with my husband. When we arrived at TBS they had coffee and food for us and we had to go through a little orientation so we could get the schedule for the day. They split us up by platoons into two groups for the activities.
Okay some of it was kind of cheesy like the "class" we had on night vision equipment. But we got to stay inside for that and keep warm. Actually, that night vision stuff is really cool. You could spy on anyone in that auditorium.
The real fun stuff came after that. We got to run the Nato Obstacle course!!! This was my favorite part of the day. Well, we didn't actually run the whole thing. They took us through one obstacle at a time. Some of those obstacles look really easy, none of them are. I had the most fun doing the low crawl and the wall. If you get to participate in this get into, it's so much more fun. All the Marines were cheering on their spouses/family members it was a blast! During the low crawl my husband was hollering at me to keep up. All I could he was "you're losing, come on Jess you gave birth this should be no problem" It made me life so hard I had to stop. Then came the WALL. It was so much easier t get up than I thought but coming down was another story. Leave it to me to fall straight off the stupid thing when there are 4 Marines just waiting to catch me. I still landed flat on my butt and died laughing. It was great to get all down and dirty and get a taste of what the Marines go through.
After the o-course they suited us up in kevlar helmets and flack jackets and took us for a ride in AAVs (Amphibious Assault Vehicles). Man those things were great. It was like riding a mini roller coaster. They dropped us off a short way from the range and we had to hike the rest of the way. Then they gave us all M-16s and a full magazine
Okay they didn't just turn us lose but we did get to shoot. Those things are a lot of fun. I'd like to have more time with one and really get good with it.
Oh I almost forgot the best part, that is from the Aviation standpoint, they brought in a couple of helos and let us all check those out. There was a 46 (Phrog) and a 53 (****ter). Needless to say they almost had to get the MPs to get my husband of that 53 so they could take off. Damn that's a huge helicopter. It was pretty neat to see the inside of what he wants to fly though.
If anybody out there gets the chance to experience Warrior Day with their Marine I highly reccomend it. I have a much better idea how mine feels everyday when he comes home now. It's a really fun day. Some people really got into the spirit and wore their Marine's cammies and painted their faces.
Oh, and they fed us too. An MRE. It was interesting. I will say the Jambalaya was pretty good and that chocolate covered oatmeal cookie is awesome.
Warrior Day used to be called Jane Wayne Day but of course the Corps had to get PC. Really this is family day for 2nd Lts at TBS. For all the family or spouses that participate or are thinking about it it's a blast!!!
Of course I hope for anyone else that does it you get to go in warmer weather. Some genius for Alpha Company scheduled Warrior Day for the end of January which set record lows for Virginia. But on with the fun stuff.
One of the great things was that the lts didn't have to be on deck until 8 am as opposed to the usual 6:30. It was nice to "sleep in" with my husband. When we arrived at TBS they had coffee and food for us and we had to go through a little orientation so we could get the schedule for the day. They split us up by platoons into two groups for the activities.
Okay some of it was kind of cheesy like the "class" we had on night vision equipment. But we got to stay inside for that and keep warm. Actually, that night vision stuff is really cool. You could spy on anyone in that auditorium.
The real fun stuff came after that. We got to run the Nato Obstacle course!!! This was my favorite part of the day. Well, we didn't actually run the whole thing. They took us through one obstacle at a time. Some of those obstacles look really easy, none of them are. I had the most fun doing the low crawl and the wall. If you get to participate in this get into, it's so much more fun. All the Marines were cheering on their spouses/family members it was a blast! During the low crawl my husband was hollering at me to keep up. All I could he was "you're losing, come on Jess you gave birth this should be no problem" It made me life so hard I had to stop. Then came the WALL. It was so much easier t get up than I thought but coming down was another story. Leave it to me to fall straight off the stupid thing when there are 4 Marines just waiting to catch me. I still landed flat on my butt and died laughing. It was great to get all down and dirty and get a taste of what the Marines go through.
After the o-course they suited us up in kevlar helmets and flack jackets and took us for a ride in AAVs (Amphibious Assault Vehicles). Man those things were great. It was like riding a mini roller coaster. They dropped us off a short way from the range and we had to hike the rest of the way. Then they gave us all M-16s and a full magazine
Okay they didn't just turn us lose but we did get to shoot. Those things are a lot of fun. I'd like to have more time with one and really get good with it.
Oh I almost forgot the best part, that is from the Aviation standpoint, they brought in a couple of helos and let us all check those out. There was a 46 (Phrog) and a 53 (****ter). Needless to say they almost had to get the MPs to get my husband of that 53 so they could take off. Damn that's a huge helicopter. It was pretty neat to see the inside of what he wants to fly though.
If anybody out there gets the chance to experience Warrior Day with their Marine I highly reccomend it. I have a much better idea how mine feels everyday when he comes home now. It's a really fun day. Some people really got into the spirit and wore their Marine's cammies and painted their faces.
Oh, and they fed us too. An MRE. It was interesting. I will say the Jambalaya was pretty good and that chocolate covered oatmeal cookie is awesome.