boom-shaka-laka

this past weekend i went to weekend drill with my army reserve unit. i was one of about 5 or 6 individuals who had no uniform. me, along with about 3 others, are all "pre-basic", which means we have not gone to basic training yet. the others are "prior service", meaning they have already served in the military in some capacity, either with the army, or another branch of service. as silly as i felt wearing my oxford button-down, khakis, and doc martin wingtips standing in formation, it was lessened somewhat by the fact i was not the only one who was attending for the first time, nor was i the only one who didn't understand all the commands. to be quite honest, i felt a little like i was in the movie "stripes". aren't these people supposed to already know all of this....?

after we were addressed by the sergeant major (the head enlisted person in charge of the battalion) and the lieutenant colonel, i discovered the battalion isn't even an official unit yet. it's still in the process of forming, getting all the personnel and equipment, and preparing to "stand up" (becoming a fully integrated unit). as such, it turned out this weekend was the weekend they had all the soldiers go through SRP. i'm not sure what it stands for, but it's getting all of our paperwork in order from medical records, to supply records, to maintenance requirements, to personnel records straight. most of the stations i went to couldn't do anything for me, such as supply, where we put in orders for new uniforms which i will be receiving in basic training. my medical updates, such as immunization shots, i will get at basic training as well. but i did get a dental exam and x-rays done, which wouldn't be so bad except for the fact i just had a full set done with my private dentist the day before!! some of the more obvious benefits; i will most likely be "put on orders" (be activated) for about a week to get my military driver's license, and i had a nice, long chat with the battalion S-1, the sergeant first class in charge of in-processing and personnel paperwork.

the S-1 turned out to be a very pleasant woman who was very friendly and helped me out tremendously getting paperwork in order for La Taureau and La Cognilia. what was supposed to be a 15 minute review of my paperwork, became an hour-long full-fledged conversation when we began discussing my age (she feels the older recruits seem to be much more excited and ambitious than the younger kids joining up), why i joined, my father's past service, her husband's soon-to-be-service (he enlisted as a truck driver, and will be stationed to this unit). i got the biggest laugh out of her when she asked if i knew my phonetic alphabet, and i said i knew what "whiskey- alpha" was since i was 13 years old.

all in all, the weekend was really enlightening, and dare i say, actually fun! the beauty of living close to the unit is i get to go home at night. well, it would be a beauty if the next day didn't start at 0630 (that's 6:30am!). but i did learn some key words and phrases;

• "dress right"- to turn your head to the right, and place your left arm akimbo. you should move as close to the person on your right until you are touching their extended left elbow.
• "front to back, even numbered ranks uncover"- to "uncover" is to take a half step to your left so you are standing in front of the gap between the two individuals in front of you. with every other row doing this, the formation should look like a checkerboard from the air.
• "extend to the left"- to hold both arms extended, and shift to the left until you are arm's length distance from the extended arms of person on your right and left. for some reason, this is done while while yelling "aaaahhhhhhh!". i have no idea why.
• "battle assembly"- the correct term for the weekend drill
• "hooah"- i'm not certain of the exact meaning, but it's used as an affirmative confirmation. [ex. statement: "we're going to be the best unit in the army!" response: "hooah!"] La Taureau said she is going throw this in future conversations to make sure i'm paying attention

we had a platoon meeting late on the second day, when i got to meet the first sergeant (not to be confused with a sergeant first class), who is the head enlisted soldier in charge of the company, and the lieutenant, the officer in charge of the platoon. i walked away from that meeting very happy with the unit i was assigned to, and a little depressed that i won't be able to spend that much time with them. La Taureau asked if i would feel comfortable being deployed with this unit, and i think i would. i already know who i would stick with, and more importantly, who i would get far, far away from.

i can't wait until next month's battle assembly! hooah!