Accepted

QM1 Reppe,

Congratulations! You have been screened and accepted for assignment as a RDC!

The rest is stuff for me but I am pretty excited at the news.

Here is an story from Navy News:

GREAT LAKES, Ill. (NNS) -- The Navy’s only boot camp is looking for motivated, career-minded Sailors to shape the future of the fleet by serving as Recruit Division Commanders, or RDCs.

RDCs are also known around the fleet as “red ropes” and are entrusted with the job of encouraging, training, molding, and teaching civilian men and women – and most importantly, transforming them into Sailors.

“We prepare Sailors for service in the fleet,” said RDC Cryptologic Technician (Technical) 1st Class (SW/AW) Thomas Dahlinghaus. “The job gives us the rare opportunity to have responsibility for and authority over 88 Sailors. We manage their training, their lives. By the time we go back to the fleet, we’re ready for anything. It’s a broadening experience, a time of real personal growth for RDCs.”

To be an RDC, a Sailor must be a warfare-qualified E-5 or above (E-5s must meet time-in-rate requirements) and be interviewed by a panel of one command master chief and two senior enlisted personnel.

The training of RDCs is extensive. RDCs in training take a second trip through boot camp during a demanding 13-week training program that includes indoctrination, drilling, administration, physical training and leadership training. During this time, prospective RDCs wear “blue ropes” which they will later exchange for the more familiar red aiguillette of a fully trained RDC.“

For the blue ropes, the training is critical,” said RDC Chief Hospital Corpsman Marsha Burmeister. “Those 13 weeks are giving them the tools they’ll need on that first push.”

Before donning the red rope, there is an important period when a blue rope shadows a red rope, watching what they do and gradually increasing their interaction with Recruits. A red rope is always with a blue rope during this phase, and there is a weekly performance and progress review.

Even after RDCs earn their red rope and the Recruit Division Commander badge, the training is not done. New RDCs are paired up with veteran RDCs, allowing time to fully learn what is expected before taking control of their first Recruit division.

It’s a job that comes with high standards and high rewards. One of the best rewards is the increased promotion opportunity. Last year, the Navywide average for eligible candidates being selected for chief was 20.4 percent. The average for eligible candidates serving as RDCs was 32.8 percent.

“These individuals are shaping our future force, and their demanding jobs are recognized by selection boards as developing senior enlisted leaders [who] can serve in the most challenging jobs in the Fleet,” said CNO-Directed Command Master Chief (SW/AW) Tony Driver, command master chief for Naval Service Training Command. Storekeeper 1st Class (AW) Jose Rodriguez said the job is extremely rewarding because RDCs get to see the result of their efforts.“

[Recruits] see the self respect they have gained,” Rodriguez said. “When they finish Battle Stations, they’re considered one of us. You see the tears and you know how much it means to them. After all the hours that you put in, it all comes together.”

Because Sailorization is a critical task and one that requires extensive preparation, RDCs can earn the Master Training Specialist (MTS) designator. This Naval Education Training Center-sponsored program recognizes outstanding instructors who demonstrate a high level of excellence in the field of education and training. Earning an MTS designation distinguishes Sailors in the fleet and can give Sailors an advantage in post-military career searches.

The Navy offers several types of compensation to RDCs for their efforts. RDCs receive Special Duty Assignment Pay of $375 per month and they receive a $225 clothing allowance on top of their regular clothing allowance. They get head-of-the-line privileges for housing and day care, free dry cleaning for three uniforms each week, and are offered “choice of coast” when negotiating for their follow-on orders.

Aviation Boatswain’s Mate First Class (SW/AW) Maguel Lashoun Brooks appreciates those tangible benefits but said the real payoff of being an RDC is seeing the impact they make on the lives of new Sailors.“They look at you as a hero, father and a role model,” he said. “I am proud to know I am giving back to the Navy. I’ve contributed something to my service, and I’d want to serve with any of the Sailors I’ve trained.”

20 more days/Awaiting Judgement

Well, I think the next 5 weeks will be some of the hardest 20 days of my tour onboard. There is alot of things going on. We will be conducted Sea Trials next week, with SMC (Supply Material Certification). After that, alot of stuff onboard doesn't really involve me until FCT (Final Contract Trials) gets done. After all of that gets done, I can finally breathe for a little bit. So, if I sound a little stressed out, I most likely am.

On another note, I went and saw a play called "Awaiting Judgment." It was a conversation between Dietrich Bonheoffer (DB) and Martin Luther King, Jr. (MLK) One of the playwright's discovery when writing this play was the similarities of those two people. DB was born in January and MLK in February, separated by 23 years. DB was hung in a Nazi Prison in April 9, 1945 and MLK was assassinated on April 2, 1968, 23 years later, and they were both 39 years old. Both believed in practicing non-violent pacifism. They both believed in starting a grass-roots movement to stop their beliefs. They both believed in Gandhi’s policies concerning non-violent pacifism. The play expertly touched on DB's roll in trying to assassinate Adolf Hitler going against everything that the Bible and Gandhi believed in. It was a very moving play. At the end, it asked us what we need to do today. Where do we start?

I think the answer to that question is by starting out small and changing little things around us that we know are wrong: Gay/Lesbian Marriage, Israeli Palestine conflict, the War in Uganda, etc.

Exhausting Monday

I guess this is more of a prayer than anything. I guess if today is any news of the week, then this one is going to be hell. So, I just wanted to get to get some of my frustrations out right now, instead of bottling them up. So, if you read this, just pray for me at the end for patience, hope, love, strength and general well being. Thanks for all of the thoughts!

Shalom!

Sermon this morning.....

I really enjoyed Jim's sermon this morning. I guess I should bring a pen from now on when I go to "big" church. He mentions the best things. He had four good points for any Father and/or Graduate. He mentions the bulletin beginning, "The more a child becomes aware of a father's willingness to listen, the more a father will begin to hear." And, along with Jim, I think this is so true with alot of things. The more we hear what other people have to say, the more they will listen to us.

Shalom!

I always like this one.....

"But it's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you...."



I think that is so true.



Bonus points for if someone can name the movie (without goggling it)......

Some cool quotes I found......

Sometimes, when I look at my children, I say to myself,"Lillian, you
should have remained a virgin." - Lillian Carter (mother of Jimmy Carter)



I had a rose named after me and I was very flattered. But I was not
pleased to read the description in the catalog: - "No good in a bed, but
fine against a wall." - Eleanor Roosevelt



Last week, I stated this woman was the ugliest woman I had ever seen.
I have since been visited by her sister, and now wish to withdraw that
statement. - Mark Twain



The secret of a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good
ending; and to have the two as close together as possible. - George Burns



Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year. -
Victor Borge



Be careful about reading health books. You may die of a misprint. -
Mark Twain



By all means, marry. If you get a good wife, you'll become happy; if
you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher. - Socrates



I was married by a judge. I should have asked for a jury. - Groucho
Marx



My wife has a slight impediment in her speech. Every now and then she
stops to breathe. - Jimmy Durante



I have never hated a man enough to give his diamonds back. - Zsa Zsa
Gabor



Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food
groups: alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat. - Alex Levine



My luck is so bad that if I bought a cemetery, people would stop dying.
- Rodney Dangerfield



Money can't buy you happiness .. But it does bring you a more pleasant
form of misery. - Spike Milligan



Until I was thirteen, I thought my name was SHUT UP. - Joe Namath



I don't feel old. I don't feel anything until noon. Then it's time
for my nap. - Bob Hope



I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in
it. - W. C. Fields



We could certainly slow the aging process down if it had to work its
way through Congress. - Will Rogers



Don't worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older, it will
avoid you. - Winston Churchill



Maybe it's true that life begins at fifty .. But everything else starts
to wear out, fall out, or spread out. - Phyllis Diller



By the time a man is wise enough to watch his step, he's too old to go
anywhere. - Billy Crystal

Humanity

Well, as I am home from the Padres game, and I have had a couple of drinks during the Padres game and a couple of them after the Padres game and before/during the Lakers game. I turned on the TV, and after a couple of shows, the X-Men 2 came on . One of the quotes came on in the beginning intriged me. It says, "...Sharing the world has never been humanity's defining attribute." How very true, if you don't mind me saying. I agree with what they say, but in a different way. Let's take it from a Christian point of view. Sharing the word of God with someone who doesn't believe in the same things you do? Who doesn't think the way you do? Or, should people in the church have a right to determine who should be in the church and who shouldn't? Should people have a right to question wheter someone is good enough to be in the church? Should gay people, homeless people, racist people be exculded from the church for what they belive in? WWJD? Would the Man upstairs turn these people away from the church because what they believed in? Would he walk across the street to get away from these kinds of people? NO! He would glady stay on the same side of the street and "heal" them. Once the word got out, poeple would flock to his word and follow him. Just the same, it should be the church to help these people out as much as possilbe, I guess. I don't know. I guess I might be rambling to a point. Anyway, let me know what you think. I might dwell on this further later in the week.

After much back spacing to correct miss-spelled words, and hitting the "ABC" sign to see if I "missed" something. Guess what the only words it came up with? Tune in next time?