"Army training, sir!"

As the title (stolen from a line in the movie "Stripes") says, I'm getting Army training now. So far, not too bad, I have to admit.

There are quite a few of us here and so there is necessarily a lot of waiting for your turn, but considering that the Army is trying to pack "Boot Camp" equivalent training into two weeks, I think they are doing a remarkable job. The Drill Sergeants are all very dedicated to this mission and they really do have our best interests at heart. Fortunately (at least so far) they understand they are not training recruit privates but that many of us here are relatively senior officers and enlisted. Their mantra is "We respect you, and expect the same in return." Like I said, so far so good.

Now, that's not to say this is all summer camp! We are out in formation wayyyyy too early (before 5:30AM most mornings) and we march where ever we need to go most of the time. The first day was all gear issue where we managed to pack the proverbial 10 pounds of "stuff" into a 5 pound bag. Seriously, I received a complete seabag at my first stop and here I got three more! The range of equipment I've received is truly boggling, everything from silk long-johns, to complete ballistic armor, to boots and socks, and of course, weapons. I am one of the "lucky" ones who have two weapons, an M-16 and a pistol. I say "lucky" because having an extra weapon means extra gear, and more importantly for someone who now walks everywhere like the infantry, more weight! I have a new appreciation for the average soldier who goes on patrol day in and day out - and I've only been at this for a couple of days.

All in all, I have to say, this is pretty good training. Sure getting used to the Army has been a little challenging (things as simple as commands can be different - in the Navy "Secure" means "put away" - in the Army "Secure" means "go get" - stuff like that) but all in all, they've kept us busy and the only wasted time has more to do with getting so many of us through than anything on their part. Tomorrow we begin weapon qualifications and it will be our first day in complete battle gear (helmets, armor, elbow and knee pads, weapons, the works) so I'll let you know how it goes. I have to say, today we wore all of the above over gym clothes (some folks uniforms weren't ready until this evening) and it was uncomfortable. With a normal uniform, I can hardly wait.

I wonder if the Army knows that South Carolina gets HOT in the summer? But then again, Iraq isn't exactly known for its moderate summers either! There has been one casualty of Army training though: my hair! It is too dang hot here for a normal haricut so I got the barber to give me the fuzz-ball look. It's short on style but long on comfort!

Cheers, Pearl

PS - I'm going to see if I can figure out posting pictures as well. Hopefully soon you'll be able to see a little of what I'm experiencing as well as hear my witty narrative.