Beginning of ODS

Okay, I have a little bit of time so let me see if I can get some updates going here.

As you may recall, I received my orders to report to Officer Development School (ODS) only two days prior to when I needed to be there. Needless to say it was a mad scramble to get my apartment all packed and everything done before leaving on that Sunday. With the help of Teresa and my parents though, we got everything done. The highlight of those few days was finding out that I will be going to Bremerton, WA once all of my training is done. It is right outside of Seattle and I think it will be a great fit!

So onto that Sunday. My flight was supposed to leave around 1:50 I think from MSP with a layover in Detroit before eventually landing in Providence where I would take a shuttle to Newport. Unfortunately it was raining and for some reason one of the runways at MSP was shutdown (never did find out if the two were related). To make a long story short, I was supposed to get into Providence at about 8:00 and I didn't get in until shortly after 11:00. The shuttle didn't leave until 12:00 and after taking what felt like the longest shuttle ride in history, I made it to my room at 2:00 a.m. Monday morning. Keep in mind, we were supposed to be up at 5:00 and I had heard rumors that we were going to be woken up at 3:30. Welcome to ODS. Oh, I forgot to mention that they gave us these jumpsuits to wear that were pretty hideous and made it really hard to go to the bathroom.

After waking up my roommate and figuring out that everyone had pretty much been there since Saturday, I lied down on my bed and couldn't fall asleep at all. I got out of bed at 3:30 and waited outside with everyone else, just making out the outlines of faces and trying to stay awake. The first day was basically just administrative stuff and people telling us about all the different policies, how to stay safe, and that sort of thing. We also got our t-shirts and shorts that are known as PT gear (physical training). We would wear these for almost a week before actually putting on our official uniforms. I'll try to get some pictures up in the near future showing me in my wonderful gear.

The next morning we heard a loud voice coming down the hallway telling us to get out of bed and into the hallway. This turned out to be our Division Lead Chief Petty Officer, Senior Chief Boyd. He proceeded to shout at us and tell us what we were here to do and how he would kick our butts if we screwed up and all sorts of stuff. Not a lot of it registered because I was so tired and just couldn't stay with it. We were then introduced to our Division Officer, Lieutenant Brewer. He joined suit and yelled at us, telling us that we were not worthy of wearing the same uniform as him and that we would have to earn his respect and everything that we do here. It was pretty clear that this was going to be a tough road ahead and we were just getting started.

So that was the start of ODS. I'll try to write more later today or this weekend!

Matt