Greetings, Internet!
As I write this, it is Sunday, February 8th, around noon. Every week, we’re given five hours of personal time, to go to church, maintain our uniforms, and write letters, so today, I am writing this for the blog.
Training has been difficult and memorable thus far, and now that my company is going into our sixth week of eight, the whole demeanor has changed from “destroy the civilian” to “make a coastie.”
The major hallmark of this shift occured last Thursday when we received our orders.
Here were my picks:
- STA Grand Haven
- STA St. Joseph
- STA Holland
- CGC Mackinaw
- Any other small boat station on Lake Michigan
My desired geographic preference was pretty narrow, so as my name approached, I was rather anxious.
STA ST IGNUS
Um. Okay, I didn’t know where that is. Might be good, might not.
The following day, we were permitted to use the computers to contact our unit (no personal email, though. Sorry.), so I looked up my station on live.com. [Marc asked me to link to his station's unit page here - unfortunately his unit's page is apparently down. Here is the page that should link to his unit. Also, here is a Microsoft Word document telling Marc what to expect at that station. Finally, here is a map showing where St. Ignace is located. --Eric]
Evidently, St. Ignace is on the southernmost point of the upper peninsula [of Michigan], meaning that it gets very cold during the winter months (all ten of them).
Still, this is my assignment, and I am excited about learning everything I can about their 25′ response boat, 47′ motor life boat (Seriously, check this one out. It’s awesome.), and ice rescue work. I’ll be graduating (assuming all goes according to plan) on the 27th, and I’ll be back that night, through most of the following week. If you live in Peorialand, I look forward to seeing you and hearing about events in my absence. If you don’t, then I look forward to being back in the world of connectivity, cell phones, email, facebook, and the rest.
Be well,
Marc