11-21-09 update

June 6th Poolee Function "Final One"

Hello everyone. This Saturday June 6th 2009, was my last Poolee function before the real deal. This function, we had an IST and a BBQ. We did our usual pull-ups, crunches and 1.5 mile run. I was able to get 104 crunches in 2 min. , and a 1.5 mile run in 9:24. Which was the best time of the day with the 2nd best time at 10:04. Back at the top! After that we went to the park and did some competitions with teams. Sprint here, push ups, dizzy Izzy's were all fun times. But the best park was when we had tug of war competitions. After a few rounds we had a final round with 4 Marines vs. 4 Army Poolees. I was on the Marine team and we moved the rope in the sand volleyball pit and freakin dominated the Army not once but twice! It was funny because while our recruiter was telling us how much we would be screwed if we lost, the Army recruiter was telling his how he already expected them to lose! Very motivating win! Then we had our BBQ with burgers, brats, chips, and all of the good stuff. And to finish it all off we had a softball game with Recruiters vs. Poolees. Ill have to say, the Recruiters dominated us, but it was a lot of fun. I would like to close by saying I have had an amazing time in the DEP "Delayed Entry Program". When I ship on July 6th, I will have spent 32,227,200 seconds, 537,120 minute, 8952 hours, or 1 year, 8 days in the DEP. Every second of that time was spent preparing for this day. From school getting that diploma, working out preparing myself for the rigorous activities in Boot Camp, or mentally preparing myself for all the challenges ahead, I took every second, minute, hour, and day preparing myself. The DEP has formed me, and molded me for Boot Camp. There will be no quiting at Boot Camp, and On October 2nd I will finally walk across the Parade Deck earning my title MARINE! I have waited too long to give up or quit. Thank you to everyone that has helped me on my journey. From my Recruiters SSgt Sommer, Sgt Ebsen, MSgt Laufler, Sgt. Larson, GySgt Benson, SSgt Hanzlik, SSgt Kelly, Sgt. Andres, and the new SSgt, you have helped me prepare so much for this journey. Also my friends and fellow poolees supporting me in my decision and helping me prepare. But most importantly my parents. They are the ones that signed my papers when I was 17 allowing me to join early. Because they allowed me to sign early I have the job I wanted 0300 Security Forces. When I signed up, there was only 1 slot available. I know it was tough on them, but they are the greatest influence in my life and have taught me so much in life. Thanks for everything! I will take everything you have taught me and make you proud at Boot Camp, and in my future! Thanks!

Poolee Wollmann

Pictures from Mini Boot Camp

Poolee Function May 2nd

Hello! May's poolee function was amazing! We went to Palisades State Park near Garretson South Dakota, and rappelled down one of their 50 ft. cliffs! It was the first time I have ever done something like that so it was a blast. We didn't just do this for fun though. It was to prepare us for boot camp. At boot camp, recruits learn rappelling which prepares Marines for deployment from helicopters, for navigating difficult terrain, and for gaining access to buildings during raids. From the rappel tower, recruits learn the proper way to brake, regulate speed
and land safely. I was very glad that we did something like this before we left. I was surprised with my confidence when it was my turn. Usually I am not good with heights, but when I got up there, the instructor from the Army ROTC program guided me through the steps and I was so busy following them that before I knew it, I was down. It really gave me a boost of confidence for boot camp rappelling. After that we were pretty much done! We didn't run an IST "initial strength test" this function. One exciting thing that is in the process of happening is me getting two referrals! I have a young man waiting to sign the papers to sign up, and I was the one that brought him in. You might ask why this is important? In the Marine Corps DEP, if you get two referrals before you leave, you will automatically graduate with the rank of PFC, Private First Class. This is huge and I suggest all poolees to take advantage of this! You will be that much ahead of your peers. That's it for the month of May! Other than that I have many friends leaving for boot camp this month including, Palo, Spanz, Welgraven, Lokonobei, and 2 others. Its incredible how fast the time has gone and before I know it, it will be my turn to claim the title, United States Marine!

Poolee Wollmann

Mini Boot Camp April 24th-26th

Hello all! Well I have a lot to tell you for the month of April. On April 24th I left Sioux Falls with the DEP "Delayed Entry Program" group, to go to a mini boot camp at South Camp Ripley Minnesota. It took about 6 hours to get there and on the way we talked with PFC "Private First Class" Wallace about boot camp and what to expect. It was cool because Wallace had been in the DEP with us before he left for boot camp. When we arrived, we were instructed to put our heads between our legs as they do in boot camp, to add to the effect. We had no idea where we were, or what the surroundings looked like. When the bus stopped and the doors opened, we heard a loud set of feet enter the bus. All of a sudden we heard," Sit up straight and get your eyes on me!!!," it was our Drill Instructor. He told us that the last words out of our mouth would be sir and if we understood that, we yelled back YES SIR! He also told us to get the heck off the bus haha. We all ran off and got into our formation. I was the squad leader of 1st squad so I was in the front right next to the guide, carrying the guidon, or flag. Then the 3 drill instructors let us have it. It was then a constant get on your feet now, aye sir, get on your face now, aye sir, get on your back now, aye sir... With a lot of push ups, crunches, and screaming in the middle. It was a quick 10 min. session just to get us broken in. After that, we went over to the pull-up station and competed against Fargo North Dakota. I was able to pull out 10 pull-ups which is the most I have been able to do. We still don't know who won out of that. After that, we went over to the sprint, where we sprinted about 50 meters. Then we moved on to the tug of war. We lost our first bout, but regained our composer for the 2nd. We won that one easy and moved on. During the 3rd one, right at the start about 3 of us fell down and we were inches from losing. But again, we fought it off and won. During the final round we picked our two toughest, and put them up against 2 from the opposing team. After about a 5 min. tug of war, Sioux Falls RSS "Recruiting Sub Station" won! After that motivating victory, we moved over to the house competition. This is where we picked 5 people, 5 small people, to all get in the push up position with their feet over the person beside them. When the whistle blew, the one on the end would low crawl through the tunnel, and get in the push up position on the other end. First RSS to the flags won. We also won that competition. Overall that first day, Sioux Falls dominated! We then had chow, a beautiful delicious MRE "Meal Ready to Eat" It was about 40 degrees out by now and we all still had shorts and T-shirts on. We were freezing. After that we went to sleep in our tents and sleeping bags.

The next morning, we were woken up at 4:00 AM had and MRE and marched a mile to our first activity. There we took apart M16's and learned our shooting positions, sitting, prone, crouching, and standing. From there we moved over to talk to Sergeant Major. He is a great guy and really knew his stuff. He is the man in charge of the Recruiting Station Twin Cities. So basically was the top dog of the weekend besides the Major and Captain we saw around. From there we had another beautiful MRE. After that we marched to do some MCMAP, Marine Corps martial arts. I learned 2 choke holds and more basic Ju Jitsu moves which were amazing! After that we moved to the medical class. There we learned how to treat people in shock, with burns, not breathing and much more. Next came the fun stuff, more Drill Instructors. We got there and instantly 3 people were taken off to get smoked. The rest of us tried to learn how to march. During that, the Drill Instructor noticed one of our poolee guests wearing a Navy shirt we told him to keep on. We wanted to see what the D.I would say. Well he noticed it and said quote," You gotta be friggen kidding me, Navy? Are we here to join the Navy? Hey Drill Instructor "saying it to the other D.I" This kid wants to join the Navy. D.I #2 ," You gotta be friggen kidding me!" Now at this point we are about to start laughing. But then we hear them both say show me how the Navy fly, show me. So he starts flapping his arms. But that wasn't good enough. So he started making jet noises and he flew all around the parking lot. This was hysterical. But of course, you couldn't dare laugh. After that, the Drill Instructor continued to teach how to march. But one kid screwed it up for us and we started to PT the rest of the time. More stand up, sit down, crawl, scream, scream, scream. The hardest part for myself was when we held our bodies in the push up position 5 inches off the ground. Not all the way up or down, 5 inches. Then the Drill Instructor would precede to countdown from 30 to 0 like this. 29 28 27 28 27 28 27 28 26, and make it to about 4 and then say, oh this kid wants to drop his/her knees, 30 29 28..... etc. So it was definitely a lot of fun! ha

After that we moved over to the Motor T portion where they showed us a 7 ton truck, and a Humvee. During this time one of our poolees started talking like the D.I. This would come back to haunt him. Then we noticed a boy scout troop come over with about 9 to 12 year olds. They were asking where the, 3 mean guys were, and our recruiters said we will find them and show them to you, yes you guessed it, on us again. So here we go again, marching into the Drill Instructors pit. Right when we got there, Navy T-shirt boy got picked out even though he had his shirt inside out, and then the D.I turned and said, oh you wanna be a Drill instructor don't you, to the kid that talked like him, so he got taken away. During the whole time the boy scout troop was laughing at us. They stayed and watched for about 5 min. but when they left, we continued to get hammered for about another 10 min. During the beginning of that time, we heard the one kid say, I wanna be a drill instructor, I wanna be a drill instructor at the top of his lungs. Then at the end we heard him screaming I don't wanna be a drill instructor, I don't wanna be a Drill Instructor... Ha good times.

After that we moved to the Combat fitness test, and Ammo can lift. I broke records in both with 81 ammo can lifts, and a 1:58 Combat fitness test. I was the first to break the 2:00 barrier. But you can't stay at the top for long, 3 others broke my record that day. After that we went to the pugil sticks. There we fought and beat whatever we had left out of each other. It was definitely a blast! After that the day was over and we went to sleep.

During the night I had fire watch from 3:00 to 4:00 AM and we woke up at 5:00 AM. We went for our final 1.5 mile jog and were set to go home. Then our SSgt asked for our squad leaders and guide. So we went over and he said," you see those guys getting hammered by the Drill Instructors," YES SIR," well one of ours is in there, I don't know how or why but he is, so you are going to go over there to support him,"........yes sir..... So there we went, going to get hammered again, we get over there and start doing our push ups while looking for this Sioux Falls kid. We then find out there was none, and we were doing this for pure enjoyment haa.. But soon as we know it the rest of our platoon was over supporting us, and we made through it. After that we got on the bus and headed home for a warm shower, and warm meal.

It was all in all and awesome time and I loved every second of it! This is my last mini boot camp until the real thing, and it really gives an eye opener. Thank you for reading and have a great day!

Poolee Wollmann

March Poolee Function

Hey everyone, I'm a little late with this post but a little late is better then never right? March's poolee function was a lot of fun! We did our normal IST "Initial Strength Test" which consisted of pull-ups, crunches and 1.5 mile run. I was able to get 8 almost 9 pull-ups this month, with 110 crunches in 2 min, and a 1.5 mile run at 9 min 43 seconds. I am sad to announce that I did not post the best run time out of everyone this month. We now have a running stud in our DEP group that posted an 8 min 43 second 1.5 mile which is very very good! But hey I am very happy with my run time. After doing the IST, we drove to the Army Reserve building which is by the Flying J exit. There we had a lot of fun taking apart M16's and putting them back together 100 times. This was the first time that I have touched/taken apart an M16 so I enjoyed it a lot! After practicing, we had a relay race to see which team could do this the fastest. Of course no one wins, because we are only as strong as our weakest link. But all in all it was a lot of fun. After that, we had Marine HP 165 from the highway patrol come in and show us what he is capable of doing. He is one of the scout sniper Highway Patrol units in the state, and he definatly is packing heat wherever he goes. He showed us his M4 with aimpoint sights and his scoped rifle that could pretty much see through you ha. It was very interesting listening to him, and even more interesting that he had the same last name as me. Probably a long lost relative somewhere down the line. But after that, our March Poolee function was complete! It was a lot of fun and I loved every second of it! Next month is gonna be even more fun. We go to Camp Ripley for a Mini Boot camp. Here they will fly in about 10 D.I's from San Diego and they will show us a good time! The only bad part about this is that I am missing my senior prom, but oh well I guess. I'm sure I'll have plenty to post about next month! Thanks and have a great day!

Poolee
Wollmann

Valentines Day Pool Function

Hey everyone, yesterday was my Marines monthly pool function. As always we took our IST, Initial Strength Test. First we did our pull ups. I have been working a lot on them lately and was pumped to see where I was at from my last months 6. I was able to pull out 8, which was 2 under my goal of 10. Oh well, there is always next month. My recruiter gave me some tips on how to increase them. My goal by July is to pump out 20 of those bad boys, which is the MAX. Next came the crunches. We test on how many we can do in 2 min. Right when I joined I was only able to do 44. Yesterday I achieved an all time best of 100, which was my goal and is the MAX. Next came my favorite test, the 1.5 mile run. The last two pool functions I have gotten the best time out of everyone, and this was my goal for today. It was 25 degrees out which I thought was going to kill my run time, but I was able to post a 9:50 1.5 mile, which again was the best, and the best time I have posted. The minimum time that you need to post is 13:30. I had 2 new guys right behind me when we finished, but was able to beat them out at the end. After that we did some formation running and chanted our beautiful cadences. After the 1 mile cool down jog, we did some exercises. Side-Straddle-Hops, Marine Corps push-ups, flutter kicks, and hello dollies were some of them we did. After that we were free to go. All in all it was a very fun pool function. It is nice to have them monthly and be able to test how much you have improved. Next month, we are going to tear down M16s, M249's, 50 Cal's, rocket launchers, and all that fun stuff. Can't wait to blog about that! See you next month!

Wollmann

Skyforce Game

Hey everyone! The latest function that I have had with the Marines was the Sioux Falls Skyforce game on Feb. 6th. It was military appreciation night and every branch brought their poolees in for the halftime show. We all got in free and during the halftime show we marched out, Marines leading of course, and did a mock oath of enlistment. It was one of the most fun things that I have done with the Marines that didn't include physical fitness. So many people came up to us after and congratulated all of us for joining. I was able to throw some t-shirts in the crowed so that was fun. The best part was seeing how many people came up to our recruiters in their dress blues thanking them, just made me want mine even more. Next Poolee function is this coming Saturday the 13th, valentines day, looks like I will be with my one true love for valentines after all! :)

Family Night

Hey everyone! The poolee function for Jan. was cancelled due to the winter storm we had. With poolees travelling from as far as Mitchell and Pierre, it was a choice with regards to safety. But we defiantly had our share of fun during the month of Jan. We had a family night on Jan. 25th. This was a great time! Our recruiters were dressed in their blues, and every poolee there had family members. It was a great opportunity for families to mingle and discuss the Marines, and also a great time for parents to talk to Recruiters. They also had a great meal prepared for us. But the greatest part of the night was the D.I's. They flew in 3 Drill Instructors straight from MCRDSD, Marine Corps Recruiting Depot San Diego. We got into formation and called them in by yelling Drill Instructor 3 times at the top of our lungs. They came in, Drilled us for about 12 min. and put on a great show for our families. The first time I met the Drill Instructors I was very nervous and didn't want them by me. But now I understand that every second I can spend with them now, will make it easier when my day finally comes. After the drilling, we took our seats and parents were able to ask questions to the Drill Instructors. All in all it was a very very fun night! It is always a pleasure to see the Drill Instructors, my idols of the Marine Corps.