Shipping March 7th!! Very pumped!!

[JoeSzynal]

What's happennin people. Less than two weeks now and i'm feeling like a million bucks. Can't wait to get after it.

Come here if anybody's interested in reading a boot camp blog. I plan on posting to it from within via letters that my brother will post on my behalf.

http://neocongonemarine.blogspot.com

Thanks for this site too. I joined it last night and was up late reading through a bunch of great stuff.

Now I gotta call my recruiter. Missed morning PT!! I know some of the Marines here are not wired anymore to process excuses, but i got a good one.

See we're getting dumped on here in Southern California with this rain. Lost power sometime after I passed out and my alarm never clicked off. In a way, I blame leatherneck.com :p

[USMC-FO]

Good luck Joe going forward....but there are no excuses..EVER.

[Sgtj]

Good luck, you seem pretty moto. Who's the women on your website?

[JoeSzynal]

Sgt. that's Gunny McGowan. She runs the Costa Mesa office. Awesome girl. I've grabbed drinks with her and her husband a couple times. Coolest couple you'd ever meet. Good times.

[jinelson]

Poolee Szynal I checked out your website and bookmarked it and look forward to going back to it each day. I do agree you are one pumped poolee and I am glad that we have young men like you here in terminator land. I'm up north in the SF Bay area where guys like you are few and far between. Also glad to hear that we arent the only part of the state thats been dumped on we even got a few twisters. I wish you luck in your quest to become one of the few and my brother.

Jim :marine:

[JoeSzynal]

Jim thank you for the kind words. You have my word i'm gonna give this everything i've got.

[Sgtj]

Good to go! Just focus on coming back a US Marine!

[LivinSoFree]

Best of luck to ya. Come back a Marine, or don't come back at all.

On a side note... Gunny... d*mn... now that's a WM.

[yellowwing]

Never quit, never give up!

Follow Cpl Tim's example. That was a good tale of you and the Corporal going back to motivate the others on the 3 miler. That is who are, Never Leave One Behind!


(Tornados is CA? GWB better make it a point to send more aid to CA than earthquaked Iran!)

[JoeSzynal]

Thanks USMC, Livin & Yellowwing for the words. No doubt this is going to be the toughest thing I ever did but i'm one of those dudes who hears how daunting a task it actually is and wants to do it even more.

Glad you enjoyed the quick story. Ya Corporal Tim and I have been hanging out alot since last week. I'll have some more pics of him on the site this week. He is a machine this kid. I've got five years on him but it's like he's the older brother I never had. He loves to talk politics too which is one of my favorite pasttimes.

[Sgted]

Joe, Good Luck, and on the 7th you'll be making the first of many big steps to becoming a United States Marine.
I'll think of your shipping as I blow out the candles on my Birthday cake.

[JoeSzynal]

Thanks SgtEd. I'm going to try to enjoy every step of the journey. Everything's done for a reason. Nothing's personal. That's my mindset going in.

I wish I could say i'll be thinking of you blowing out your candles on the 7th but something's telling me my brain will be occupied with thoughts similiar to having the captain come on the PA mid-flight and telling us we've just lost all cabin pressure. :D

[lprkn]

Use your age and experience to your advantage. Don't be the old guy that's a big turd. Play your cards right, and you'll graduate guide or squad leader. (maybe scribe, considering you're the computer type.)

[hrscowboy]

just remember poolie this is your first rodeo and keep your mind in the middle and you will make that eight second ride for the rest of your life (UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS) stay sharp and listen and do what your told and you will earn the title UNITED STATES MARINE... orahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Semper Fi...

[JoeSzynal]

Lprkn thanks for the advice. Saw your comment on my blog. Thanks for stopping by.

To answer your question, i'm actually going active duty. Since college I've spent my time working in the software/dot com industry and I still love that. During the tech boom, I got lured away from graduating by a ridiculous salary; a year later I moved out to Sunnyvale, CA (from MA) for an even more ridiculous salary. Never got my CS degree and I do regret that but i've got enough credits to get the PFC promotion right now.

I know it probably sounds cliche at this point but 911 made me pause, Iraq made me start thinking about the Marines. I would have enlisted sooner (my mind was there a year and a half ago) but I wanted to wait till GWB got re-elected.

I've got the four year contract and I do plan on returning to the private sector afterwards, but anything can happenn.

I love the feeling that comes from deciding to do something totally out of your comfort zone ya know what I mean?

[hrscowboy]

damn i wanna wrestle with that female gunnery sgt, make my day....

[JoeSzynal]

Haaaaa.. ya you're not kidding. She's coming to pick me up in a bit actually. Gonna go for some sushi.

Thanks for checking out the blog cowboy, and for your last post.

Joe.

[SuNmAN]

Wow 28 years old ! You'll be the Grand Old Man of Recruit Training !

Haha...good luck though buddy. It honestly isn't as hard as you think it is, but still very mentally and physically demanding.

We all know you'll make it. "making it" is too low of a standard for a motivated one like you. Aim for Platoon Honorman, Series Honorman or even Company Honorman.

Come back a Lance Corporal for us, it is a very realistic goal for one like you.

Good luck and firever Semper Fidelis.

[SuNmAN]

Originally posted by hrscowboy
damn i wanna wrestle with that female gunnery sgt, make my day....


Yea, she's a very beautiful woman, but as for me -

E-3 and a Married E-7 = no chance + violation of many articles of the UCMJ...

[USMC-FO]

I was so struck by Gunny McGowan's appearance--she is stunning--that I copied her pic and sent it off to several of my other Marine buddies to see if they had EVER seen a Gunny who looked even slightly as good as she does !

I would guess she gets hit on reqularly...I wonder if her husband is also a Marine...if not then I hope he and she can manage that stress.

[hrscowboy]

yep that what i was talkin about never seen a gunnery sgt look that good thats for sure. although i did see a LT woman marine at cherry point once in the PX man was she a knock out...

[USMC-FO]

"....woman marine at cherry point ...."

Hmmmm.....did not think that was possible.....

:-)

[Namvet67]

hrscowboy...were is the pic of the FM Gunny?

[USMC-FO]

gbudd...go to the first page of this thread and you'll see that there is a "blog" link that Joe S. set up. Click on the blog and you'll see there are several pics there. She is gorgeous so I hope you're sitting down...

[Namvet67]

I am...thanks FO...I'll check this out!

[Namvet67]

Ok I'm back....Wow! Thanks again!

[Welbaum]

Good luck fellow Poolee, sounds like you're gonna do just fine, old man!

...Haha, no disrespect intended:D

btw, your female Gunny is rather pretty, but seeing I'm 18, I'll let you old salts fight over her.

Put her on a poster, applications for the Corps would double in a month.

Poolee Welbaum

[Deviousfred]

Damn, I thought I was gonna be the old timer. I ship on the 7th too. Maybe we'll run into each other. I should be up for a PFC promotion too with my college credits. Good luck!

Poolee Macias

[yellowwing]

You'll know for sure on the stripe in three months. What is for sure now is that you will be pushed and tested beyond anything you have experienced.

Get Some!

[JoeSzynal]

What's happennin Welbaum & Macias. Welbaum when do you ship?

Macias, four days to go brotha!!! See you on the inside.

[yellowwing]

Goodspeed to Joe Szynal and Alfredo Macias! Today, 7 March, is the day they will be heading to those yellow foot prints.

Keep the faith, little brothers, never quit! See you back in June.

[jinelson]

Let me echo yellowwings words, you both have everything it takes and are fit for the challenge, so make us proud and return to us in three months as United States Marines and our brothers.

[Sgtj]

Semper Fi.. Good luck...Nothing like getting three months of love and attention.

[drillinstructor]

just looked him up he is in 2077 haha

[drillinstructor]

OK recruit szynal...you may remember this day it is april 17th and I just had your DI bring you to the DI table at the chow hall up north and we were giving you a ration of **** for your blog you have started....no pun intended and quit talking like a lil b-----. Have some confidence recruit.....I was the GySgt asking you the questins and told your DI that you had pictures of wrestling on your site and he started with the gay jokes..ahhh it was funny and I know you are going to get slayed today..hey no worries in 1 1/2 months I will call you my bro but right now you are still nothing......

[LivinSoFree]

He's got a new post up as of last week...

Man... this is beautiful to watch :marine:

[drillinstructor]

yea I read it and he and his DI were on their way back to the house from the chow hall to read it also and he is getting slayed today.....I think I may just pop over their and slay him myself. You know I want to give him something to write about in his blog...haha

[CHOPPER7199]

DON'T FORGET TO TUCK HIM IN GUNNY. LMAO

[yellowwing]

Do not forget our proud swimmer, Alfredo Macias! I'm sure he has come to realize by now that it takes more than a few swimming lessons to join the Few! yuk-yuk

[Welbaum]

haha, i guess having an online blog is fair game...come to think of it using your last name on a public website is too....:o

'
...myself, haha....

[drillinstructor]

macias? is he here? let me go look him up and see if there is a recruit by that name in SD

[drillinstructor]

Originally posted by yellowwing
Do not forget our proud swimmer, Alfredo Macias! I'm sure he has come to realize by now that it takes more than a few swimming lessons to join the Few! yuk-yuk

We have an Edgar and a Michael Macias...is one of these recruits the Macias you are talking about?

[jgorosco]

Since when could a recruit use a computer during bootcamp. If I am understanding this correctly this guy is using a computer during bootcamp. Please say it isn't so.


SEMPER FI
IYAOYAS

[drillinstructor]

no you didn't read it correctly, he sends the message in a letter to his brother and his brother post it for him.............

[jgorosco]

OH ok Gunny. I was getting ready to worry. Guess I need to stop reading from the ass end. Thrash him for GP just for letting people know what CORPS training is like. Giving away secrets of training WARRIORS!!

SEMPER FI
IYAOYAS

[yellowwing]

This Macias aka Deviousfred from http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=18962

[drillinstructor]

hmm I do nt see an alfredo Macias here in SD...let me see if he has been dropped

[drillinstructor]

Macias is not in SD.........he must of got the booooot

[yellowwing]

Well at least blogger and pro-wrestler Syznal is still in circulation.

I can't believe no one told him that making a blog during training would brand him as trying to be a dreaded individual! :banana:

[drillinstructor]

yes Syznal is here and is paying for his blog...he is a good recruit though and will probably end up a squad leader after it is all said and done.........

[eddief]

Originally posted by jgorosco
OH ok Gunny. I was getting ready to worry. Guess I need to stop reading from the ass end. Thrash him for GP just for letting people know what CORPS training is like. Giving away secrets of training WARRIORS!!

SEMPER FI
IYAOYAS

It can't be much of a secret when I see a show about boot camp on the Military Channel. But he does deserve a thrashing for being a blogger. What a nerd! (LOL!)

[CHOPPER7199]

I think this guy has guts to do what he is doing, knowing that there could be reprocusions on it.Let alone the fact he is older by, at least 9-10yrs. than most going thru boot. Yes, mocho type, make a hell of a good grunt. He good have been in my squad any time, or a fire team leader.

[JoeSzynal]

http://www.thelife.la/media/grad/grad10_m.jpg

Wow. What a trip that was. Do not know where to start so I will address the good Gunnery Sgt.

OK recruit szynal...you may remember this day it is april 17th and I just had your DI bring you to the DI table at the chow hall up north and we were giving you a ration of **** for your blog you have started....no pun intended and quit talking like a lil b-----. Have some confidence recruit.....I was the GySgt asking you the questins and told your DI that you had pictures of wrestling on your site and he started with the gay jokes..ahhh it was funny and I know you are going to get slayed today..hey no worries in 1 1/2 months I will call you my bro but right now you are still nothing......

Yes Sir I do remember this day like it was yesterday. One minute I'm sitting there at my table in the chowhall, ferociously scarfing down my chow when I hear "SZYNALLL!!" screamed across the room. There was no mistake, I was being summoned and there was definately an "oh ****" bell ringing in my head. The next thing I know i'm being marched over to the Drill Instructor table. Packed. That's when I think I actually verbalized an inaudible "oh ****". If it wasn't that moment it was the next when I heard someone say the word "blog". I knew then it was going to be a long day.

Allow me to specifiy that the blog started as an effort to keep family and friends posted on what was going on with my journey through boot camp and beyond. There was no way I was going to write everyone back that sent me letters so the blog served as more of a catch-all for those who never got a letter from me.

Then one day, before shipping, I discovered this site and shared the URL in this thread, probably getting a bit ahead of myself, but maybe not.

Yes I did get slayed but strangely enough not that same afternoon if my memory serves me correctly. I'm laughing about it now becuase I'm assuming I can but what I remember is Drill Instructor Staff Sgt. T, after the verbal onslaught at the Drill Instructor table, marching me back to the duty hut and standing at attention while he read out loud many of the posts on the site.

I was not slayed immediately however becuase I believe Drill Instructor Staff Sgt. T, after dismissing me from the duty hut, wanted to take the time to carefully comb through all the material and gather whatever ammo he could on me. He did.

I'll just say this. Everytime I got slayed after April 17th, the word "blog" was always tossed around.

The post about "From Chow to Chow" was my last but not because any fear existed through continuing with it. Matter of fact I was approached later by my Senior Drill Instructor who encouraged me to maintain it when I had time, expressing that he enjoyed my writing.

No I stopped becuase I developed an attitude of excessive letter writing was a sign of weakness. I'm not sure if this attitude was widespread amoung other platoons but in 2077, recruits who used all their square away time writing letters were perceived as being homesick mama's boys who couldn't cut the cord. I adopted these feelings and the letter writing/blogging dropped off without regret. After all, why write letters when you could attack the nights mini-missions. Why spend Sunday morning burried in your notepaper when you could be prepping for field day or go to religious services and reflect etc. I remember towards the end of second phase and third phase whenever we'd gather for mail call, i'd subtly shake my head at those recruits who were consistantly receiving 5 to 10 pieces of mail every call. I couldn't help thinking "****, who is going through boot camp? you? or those ten relatives who won't let you get after it?"

Those feelings may change when I'm on long deployments and I am TRUELY cut off, but seriously, we're in the states here gents. Try going without the stupid mail for a week.

Anyhow, thank you Gunnery Sgt. It took April 17 to show me the light. This was my journey. There will be plenty of time to bull**** and tell war stories after i've actually done some **** overseas. I'm sure you agree Sir.

I'll be active here on this board during my leave for sure.

I'll also be blogging (http://neocongonemarine.blogspot.com)! I've been working on something I think you'll enjoy that i'm going to post tomorrow if time allows. I'm still entertaining family members who are in town so it may be later on.

Thank you for the kind words Sir. You were correct. I was able to finish strong as 1st squad leader. If you attended the graduation today you would have also seen me marching with the follow series guidon.

Thank again to you Sir and your staff for everything. I truely believe we had the toughest and most disciplined Drill Instructors in all of Hotel Company. Looking back I would not have traded them for anybody else. Feels good to be a Marine!

oooRaaaaa!!!!!!

Pfc. Szynal.

[jinelson]

Congratulations and welcome to the brotherhood Pfc.

Semper Fi Marine

Jim :marine:

[CplCrotty]

Congratulations PFC! Now when are you going to update your blog? I'd have to agree with your Senior, you have some good writing skills.

[drillinstructor]

Yes I did see you marching proudly yesterday......Good Job Marine....

[yellowwing]

Oustanding job, PFC Szynal! Semper Fidelis Marine :marine:

[christine_06]

great job, marine, you are now among the few!

[THATFEMALE]

Congrats PFC. Welcome to the family Marine. Stay moto. Semper FI. :marine:

[drillinstructor]

an oh by the way April 17th was kinda funny....

[JoeSzynal]

Absolutely Sir. There were some clever zingers tossed at me in the chowhall that day. I can laugh now but i'd be lying if I said there were no sweat beads on my brow as I made my way to the Drill Instructor Table. Good Times.

[Master Sephiroth]

Good job, Pfc. Syznall. Congratulations. Btw, you might wanna make some changes in your profile, since you are a Marine.

[yellowwing]

Why spend Sunday morning burried in your notepaper when you could be prepping for field day or go to religious services and reflect etc.
Welcome to Marine Corps Leadership! :marine:

The First Squad Leader has alot less time for notes to home. Only the Platoon Guide had less time for this than you.

Part of any Marine Corps Leader's "mini missions" is to see to the welfare of those Marines that he is responsible.

Very soon you will again be responsible for these same post office schmucks. You will have to ensure that are properly trained to close with and destroy the enemy. And you will lead them.

And you WILL do an Outstanding Job! :marine:

[MelloYello]

Drill Instructor when do you pick up your new set of Recurits? Please do not tell me that it could be June 11th. 3rd Herd Lima Company.

[Master Sephiroth]

MelloYello: He's stationed at MCRDSD. You said you were going to PI.

[drillinstructor]

July 1st is my next pick up we grad next Friday (Mighty Mike)

[MelloYello]

Ahh didn't know he was at SD, but he is in 3rd Herd. Well Guys I will see yall in about 3 months.

[drillinstructor]

oh he ? You think I do not know Drill Instructors in Pi....I have email...I will take care of your HE problem........

kill kill kill em all!!!!!

[Master Sephiroth]

Sorry sir. I meant no disrespect Sir.

[MelloYello]

Drill Instructor thats ok for me Sir. I already have the DIs looking for me. I shall now return in 3 months with the Title. Good luck to all you Poolees.

[Master Sephiroth]

Good luck, Mello.

[CHOPPER7199]

I SAID IT, WAY BACK WHEN, SQUAD LEADER MATERIAL. WELCOME TO THE BROTHER HOOD. ENJOY THE JOURNEY OF A LIFE TIME.

[OLE SARG]

Good lock Mello and I know you will come out of bootcamp with a promotion.

God bless and have a good time.

OLE SARG