Just finished my pre-workup workup. We trained for 18 days far away from Internet, phones, and laundry facilities. Days started at 0400 and ended around 2000. Training took place about 30 minutes from anything.
Chow was continuous. Usually MREs (Meals Ready to Eat). I wanted my troops to eat first, which meant I was left with whatever they didn't eat. This usually ended up being the vegetable omelet. The first time I tried to eat one, I nearly puked at the feel of the cold slimyness on the tongue. But I managed to get used to it. Any MREs with Reeses Pieces or M&Ms disappeared fast. In fact, I found a box of main meals from opened MREs in my hooch. My troops decided to take out all the candy, pound cake, and other goodies out of the MREs and leave what they didn't like. This was shut down pretty quick. I needed chocolate!
Our base camp was set up to replicate the "austere" environment we are expected to go into.
The racks (beds) were set up bootcamp style in a hooch very much like a squad bay.
Cleaned and organized. I could be dressed and ready for the day in minutes.
My M4 never left my side.
The squad bay. This housed all ranks from PFC through officer.
The head (bathroom). I didn't realize until talking to a civilian friend today how strange it must seem to shower with others. A few of us would shower together each night and just relax and discuss the day's events for a few minutes in the lukewarm shower. It was the highlight of the day. We also did laundry in here.
This was a designated a female head. However, all heads are engineered to meet the needs of the majority populous.
These stalls made it easy to hold a long conversation while "dropping a duece." Eating two MREs a day made this a common event.
Training was almost like a Narnia experiance. After a few days, I felt as if I had always been there and would always be there. There was no contact with the outside world. Then, we came out of the treeline and there was life as I had always known it. And it felt as if I had never left.
