Inspections....Failed

Steven called while I was at church on Wednesday night. I dropped what I was doing to answer it. He was checking to see if I had been working on my paperwork and what the status of our No-Fee passports was.

I asked him how his room and uniform inspections went. He said he failed both of them. When they arrived, there was a document about  how to keep your room while there, with no further instructions. The list had about 60 things on it, he said. Joking or not, I'm sure they have to be meticulous. Anyway, he said when they came back to their rooms, their beds, bedding and any gear out was tossed all about. Apparently, they (he and his roommate I guess) didn't fill out the room inspection sheet correctly.

Then he said he also failed his uniform inspection. His belt wasn't straight, the officer crest wasn't on correctly, etc. He also said everyone except one person failed it.

He had to order military grade glasses for chaplaincy school.

I had to overnight some information to him yesterday so that he could get us enrolled in DEERs.

When I spoke with him last night, he said that they have what's called a gouge pack (scroll to the bottom to see a link to a pdf of the gouge pack). It's about million things they have to have memorized. Anchors Aweigh, Chain of Command, Officer Rank Structure, etc. Anyway, when they go to eat, they are supposed to have this with them to study. If you forget it, you are supposed to grab a ketchup bottle (or whatever's on the table) and begin reading that instead. The chief petty officer will see you reading that bottle and know that you made a mistake by NOT bringing your gouge pack. The guy next to Steven began reading a ketchup bottle, so Steven ripped out a page of his gouge paperwork and handed it to him. The Chief Petty Officer saw this whole thing and then walked away. I have no idea what Steven was thinking at this point. I would be thinking that I was in trouble. But apparently, the Chiefs go on and on about helping your shipmate, etc.

At the end of the day, you can nominate anyone for doing something exceptional. All these are read out loud later. Steven's lunchtime act was read aloud. Then, they put all these nominations in a hat to draw for who gets a special privilege. Most of these acts are done by 2 people, so since Steven did this all by himself, he was chosen to have the privilege of doing his laundry first.

He said he's doing fine, but still a little tired. He is eating well and excersizing but is staying under 180. They get liberty on Sunday and Monday.

The kids and I are doing well. We are keeping pretty busy really. I only seem to miss him in the early morning, when I write my daily letter to him. Thanks for all who are praying. We need it and we notice it!