Title courtesy of Michael.
Honestly, I don’t know what I was expecting when I re-classed from 11B to 94F and decided to come on down to Fort Gordon. I can tell you with great certainty that I was not expecting my living conditions to worsen from that of Fort Lewis... I will admit that I was warned about the culture shock that would come from witnessing AIT kids in all their glory, but even that wasn’t enough to fully prepare me for their discipline, or lack thereof.
The building I live in his asbestos. That’s neat. The building has signs posted around it warning of creating too much dust in the air, lest we provoke the asbestos. The rooms surprisingly have less amenities to offer than that of the barracks from Fort Lewis. Rooms here offer: 2 closets the size of your average military wall locker, 1 desk, 4 mini-drawers (2 per roommate), a small microwave, a fridge, and a sink. There is also a bathroom in the middle of a room and the one neighboring it, so a singular bathroom is shared between up to 4 individuals. Wonderful.
Being the friendless, meme sharing addict, video game playing addict that I am, one of my first worries/priorities was finding a reliable ISP. I wrongfully assumed that because my previous barracks had Xfinity so easily intertwined with the barracks, that all installations would be like that as well. Sadly, that was not the case. After driving almost half an hour to get to my nearest Xfinity store, I was regretfully informed that Xfinity does not service Ft. Gordon. The alternative that most barracks rats use being Boingo. Only ever hearing bad things about Boingo, and seeing their two offered plans (a whopping 10mbs plan for a “Blazing” 30mbs for the real gamers) I tried hard not to immediately purchase from them. Unfortunately, it was between Boingo and Wow! in terms of viable ISP’s in the barracks. I looked into Wow! and only unearthed scathingly negative reviews. I decided I’d test my luck and go with Boingo, and although it seems that I’ll have to take a console hiatus in terms of my gaming life, hopefully I can still manage, and rekindle, my Oldschool Runescape account.
The cadre here haven’t been the most helpful either. On Day 1, they seemed mostly focused on trying to rush the AIT kids out, so that they too could start to enjoy their Friday. I briefly met an E5 who introduced himself as my PSG, he then passed me over to a group of NCO’s who quickly assigned me to my room and tried to send me on my way. I never found out where the DFAC was, the hours of operation for said DFAC, I was given your cookie cutter style safety brief and initial counseling, and just like that I was done for the day. It was barely 1300.
My last gripe for the post, I grossly over-packed. I brought most of my TA-50, only to find out we never use any of it. I brought so much stuff because I was under the impression that I’d still have as much space allotted to myself as I did in Lewis. I don’t even think I can set up my PS4 to my monitor. I’d have to ask my roommate to make sure he wasn’t planning on using any of the desk space, but even then I’d feel rude because I can’t openly listen to shows as safely as I want anymore. I mean safely in the sense that, what if he doesn’t want to be listening to the glory that is The Office? I mean, he’d be wrong of course, but I don’t want to be rude is all I’m saying.
Welp, if I survived Benning and Yakima, I’ll be fine. I’ll just also be fuckin’ bored.
