First DEP Meeting

To be honest, it was less exciting that I thought. First we had to weigh in to make sure none of us were at our over our max weight for our height. No big deal. Petty Officer Battle was amazed at how many future sailors didn't know how to enter the recruiting office (in a bad way, mind you). I was surprised myself because that was the first thing my recruiter taught me when we got back from MEPS. And this time I TOOK MY TIME asking permission to come aboard, and managed not to slur my last name! It's the small victories in life...

The main topic of the meeting was veterans' benefits, direct deposit, and other financial stuff, which supposedly is covered in depth in a 135 page packet. This was discussed after we introduced ourselves to each other, stating name, rate, ship date, and why we joined the Navy. Pretty much everyone said the same thing, which involved paying for college. I summed it up by basically saying "Because it's the Navy and I want to be out at sea." That's the bare bones, no bullshit reason. I simply want to be in the U.S. Navy.

And then Petty Officer Battle gave us a bit of a talkin'-to concerning our attitudes towards each other. Apparently, some of the Future Sailors got snippy with one another (I honestly don't know, I was making sure I filled out my paperwork correctly), and she had overheard that. Being about 10 years older than pretty much everybody else, I was initially surprised that even needed to be brought up, but then again, these are 17-20 year olds, some fresh out of high school, and I reckon they needed a kick in the ass.

After the meeting, Petty Officer Williams said to the others to "watch" me, because I'd be over all of the other Future Sailors one day. To have someone in a position that I respect, in the branch of service that means so much to me, say that, in front of everyone else, and acknowledge my dedication really meant a lot to me. My whole life, even though I've done well in school and at work, I've been regarded as merely average, received no recognition, and generally been ignored. It's a strange feeling, to suddenly be recognized as having so much potential. It's actually rather sad that a person who's only known me for about 3 weeks can see more in me than the managers who see me every night for nearly 2 years.