It's been a long time since the last blog. SO much has changed. First of all i'm in the Navy now. Good ol MUSN (Musician Seaman) Garcia is my official title and I literally play "full time" for a living. Let us look back....
Bootcamp was miserable. My friend Jim Watkins can attest to this - Watkins was my protege at Rutgers, but went into the navy to play bone 1 month before I did. He said the day we saw each other in the galley was the worst he'd ever seen me. I will not disagree with him. I was absolutely disheveled emotionally and physically. My head was shaved (full heads of hair help hide fat faces apparently), my clothes were too big, and I looked like a scared 18 year-old. Which wasn't that far off...just a decade. Long story short - I DID get "beat" (a navy term for intense working out in full camos and boots....pain.) for the stupid antics of dumb teenagers just like I was afraid I would. I hated life for about 4 weeks straight. I know...it sounds dramatic. I'm dramatic. Whatever. The only thing 2 things that I look forward to, was getting in my rack at night...and the letters from Ashley, family and friends. But I made it through. Passed the PT tests, lost 22 lbs overall, and graduated. It sucked.
I almost got set back in training because of a misunderstanding AFTER I had graduated bootcamp (but that's another story) - but I didn't, and on december 1st, I flew to Norfolk, Virginia and reported to the Musician A-school at Little Creek Joint Expeditionary Base in Virginia Beach. Ash moved down from jersey the following week and we got an awesome 3 bdr/1 bath house right up the road from the base.
A-school was interesting. It was easy. Time consuming - and sometimes stupid. But easy and beneficial to my military knowledge and to my chops. I got just enough phone signal in the practice rooms to stream netflix, so I would watch "Scrubs" while I was doing long tones or whatever monotonous exercises I could think of that were good for the chops, but boring to the mind. Made some GOOD friends that I miss very much already. And learned alot from my teacher - Ssgt. Ebo (USMC). He's a KILLIN Jazz player that is rivaled by few as far as I'm concerned. I also got to witness the "hurry up and wait" that people talk about the military being about. I can do that. That's what smartphones are for. I got the 4th highest overall score in the past decade from the school - which I do attribute to my good friend Diane informing that I should take the academic portion seriously (thanks Diane!) and because of that I'll be getting an advanced promotion to E4 in mid-August.
I received emailed word that I would get stationed in Jacksonville, which was our first choice for duty station. Imagine my surprise when I received orders stating I was going to Rhode Island. Well, this was apparently a surprise to the masterchief who writes our orders...and he informed me that that was a mistake and I was definitely going to Jacksonville. And that is where I write to you from now.
We have a condo on the river, with a porch that overlooks the complex's pool. I'm 5 minutes from base, driving against traffic. I was assigned as the trombonist for the brass quintet. My wife is happy, my dogs are happy. I paid off my car and we are aggressively paying off debt, which in turn makes my bank account happy. We are close to finding a church home. And I was home by 12:30 today. God is good. Look how far He's brought me.
