Fort Bragg, NC

I have arrived here at Fort Bragg on March 24 and reported in. I really don’t think that it has still sunk in that I am here and in the Army. I had to in process the post first. They gave me a list of things to do and people to visit, all of who had to sign off on my paper. It wasn’t very hard, just time consuming. We were given 72 hours and finished in 48. I have decided to live on post with a friend from OBLC for the couple months I am here prior to deploying. As many of you know I will be deploying this fall some time and as I get information so will you, the joys of the military is that they don’t tell you much, you’re on a need to know basis and I am at the bottom of the totem pull!!
I knew I would be asked about jump school, where you jump out of airplanes and get certified but I did not think it would happen in my first hour on post, we went to the 28th CSH head quarters and meet my commanders and was asked when I would be ready to jump, I said not quite there but am working on it, let alone want to do it for fun and not sure want the certification, however it would be pretty cool on the resume!!
The first shock I learned about here on post is there are constant background artillery rounds going most the time; it was my second night that it was so heavy my walls in my hotel were shaking. I learned that this is VERY common and to get used to it, fun fun!!
Fort Bragg is huge, 19 square miles with a couple semi highways where you can drive 55 miles an hour. Most the side streets you can drive 35, it’s nice over the 15 at Ft Sam. We have a north and side PX (shopping center) and commissary (groceries). There is really no reason to leave post except for sanity. We have swimming, rec centers, schools, gyms, shopping, theaters, lakes, trails, shooting ranges, tanks, and convoys, what more could you ask for!! We are also right next to Pope Air force Base where there is a park you can sit and watch the plans fly in and out, it’s pretty amazing how big some of them are. I have so much to learn and see here.
On my 4th day here on Fort Bragg I was able to attend my first dining out. It was pretty cool, very happy I went. Meet lots of people who I don’t remember a lot of names but am sure I will soon and learned a lot. We were blessed to have the 82nd airborne choir to sing to us which was very impressive; we had toasts and saw my first fallen solider tribute, very impressive. It was a pretty cool event and happy to put my dress blue uniform to use.
Currently I am in processing my unit (28th CSH, B Company). I have to meet lots of people and taken several on online tests. Once I am done with this than I will in process at the hospital and hopefully start to do some nursing.
Since I am at Fort Bragg, home of the airborne, I have set some goals for myself. I am very thankful I am assigned to an airborne unit and given the privilege of wearing a red breat, it’s pretty cool because I fit in. if you’re wearing a black breat you kinda stand out. I feel being able to wear the red breat I should also meet the airborne standards. So I have to past my APFT at 80% which means I have to do 34 push-ups in 2 minutes, 64 sit-ups in 2 minutes and run 2 miles in 18:12 along with be able to run 4 miles in 36minutes. I have a lot of work to do and hope to achieve this goal for my fall APFT giving me about 6 months, mind over matter!!!
I will post again soon when I get into the hospital.
Miss you all!!