Day 1: Sunday

Midshipman Phillips, 2/c
Band Company
Marine Engineering Systems Major

Sunday mornings begin with something that is all too rare at Kings Point, a few extra hours of sleep. After rolling out of my rack around 0900 it is time to blindly fumble around my room and jump in the shower. Slowly, I grab my uniform out of the wardrobe, still half asleep as I fasten my shirt stays and give the winter blues a quick sweep with a lint roller. Still wondering why I am up before noon, I stumble down to Delano around 1015 and chow down on some brunch with friends.

Around 1045 it is time to head down to the Mariner’s Chapel for Sunday morning Protestant Services. Around 1215 the service is over and it is time to head back up the hill to my room in Cleveland Hall. Upon entering my room I don’t give a second thought to ditching my winter blues for the comfy sweats that were issued to me as PT gear my plebe year. After taking a few moments to joke with friends, it is back to the books to make up for all of the lost study hours from Friday night and Saturday.

Sunday afternoons are normally spent at my desk trying to catch up on any school work and, on rare occasion, get jump start on the next week’s assignments. Study breaks to joke with friends are an absolute must and break up the monotonous afternoon of Differential Equations and Electrical Circuits homework. Phone calls home are usually squeezed in between homework assignments, however unlike the plebes I have the privilege of chatting with my parents in the privacy of my own room.

Long hours of studying make the afternoon fly by and soon it is 1730 and time to venture down to Delano once more. Grabbing my uniform out of my wardrobe yet again, I routinely put it on and use a lint roller to remove any dirt. Sometimes the regiment is permitted to dine in PT gear on Sunday evenings, a luxury that almost everyone says a little Sunday prayer for. Regardless of what we are required to wear, my friends and I grab dinner in Delano and retreat to our rooms for a little rest and relaxation or to hit the books for a few more hours.

Although most of the second and third classmen will put on their uniform another time and walk to O’Hara Hall for 2100 accountability, I travel over to the EMS Squad Room in Patten Hall around 2030 to prepare for EMS Change of Watch. As Regimental Medical Liaison Petty Officer, I am required to be at all EMS Change of Watch sessions, regardless of whether I am being relieved of or assuming a watch. At Change of Watch, the on-coming and off-going EMS watch teams will muster. Each team consists of a Crew Chief, Rider, and Driver. The off-going team will sign in their radios and inform the on-coming watch team of any important issues. The on-coming team will sign out their radios and take accurate inventories of the crew chief and rider equipment bags as well as the ambulance. As RMLPO, I make sure that all of the paperwork is signed and pay attention in order to stay informed on any major issues with the squad. The Regimental Medical Liaison and Regimental Medical Training Officer can make any important announcements at change of watch and are ultimately responsible for over-seeing the changeover.

With change of watch over it is time for me to return to my room in Cleveland Hall. If all of the weekend’s studying is done and my uniform is prepared for the next week it is time to relax and hit the rack…after all, Monday morning is just a few hours away.