A Day in the Life...

At one time, the Army motto was "Be All You Can Be" and has changed within the last couple of years to "An Army of One". No matter what polish and propaganda you use to motivate people toward the Army, the blunt, no kidding reality of the Army's motto is"Hurry Up and Wait...and then wait some more". It's been cold here in the Carolinas over the last couple of days with highs around 38 F. Today we spent from 7:30am until 1:00p.m. doing nothing much of anything. All 4 platoons were to have range and computer simulation time today. We didn't get ours...we just stood around waiting for our turn. Finally at 1230, we marched over to the rally point for the buses to take us to the medical facility where we repeated a bunch of our previously accomplished medical appointments. Enough whining. Hooah!

Beyond the training, there is the personal side of each day. I live with 41 of my closest friends in a Korea War era open barracks. By the time I checked in last Sunday, all of the bottom bunks were taken. The top bunk mattress sits at a height of about 5 ft (up to the top of my shoulders). I didn't realize the gymnastic and Herculean effort it would take to catapult my 257 pounds of rock solid love to the top bunk! Needless to say it's a sight...one that my bunk mates all enjoy watching as if it were a spectator sport. :) From the top bunk I have a view of the world and the auditorium seat of the Century for the snore fest that occurs every night. Not quite a symphony, but a synchopated rythem similar to a pasture of happy cows mooing. I find the more tired I am each night, the easier it is to ignore the chorus. Chow still remains tasty.

Our friendships are forming and we are becoming a cohesive group of Officers and Enlisted interested in helping each other and getting through the day with mutual support. I lend my casual style of dry, sarcastic humor which goes a distance to keep folks smiling in uncertain and physically burdensome times. I will take my camera out tomorrow and hopefully have some pictures to add to this site tomorrow.