christmas leave

at long last, christmas leave has finally arrived! after what seemed like an enternity, i flew in from ft. jackson, south carolina. there is a saying at basic training, depending how long you have left; "[number of days left] days and a wake up". this is because on graduation day all you have to do is wake up and make it to formation to march to the graduation. because we were all so excited to see our families for christmas, sometime last week we started counting down the days; "5 days and a wake up", "4 days and a wake up", etc.

well, as we all are slowly learning, the army hardly ever does things as expected. the day before we left, we all woke up for P.T. (physical training), went on a five mile slow paced run (i did not go on the run because of issues with my knee. i went to profile- what they call when you have a doctor's note excusing you from physical activity- P.T. held in a pale yellow room populated by exercise mats, lifecycles, pilates balls, and limping people. it reminded me a lot of the film "one flew over the cuckoo's nest"...). after the run, or in my case, a round with nurse ratchet, we had chow, were given back our cell phones, finished packing, inventoried and lock-sealed our lockers, and were ORDERED to go to sleep by 14:00. a few hours later, we were woken up for chow again, and once again sent back to a darkened barracks. a few hours later we were again woken up and sent downstairs to form up in order to be marched to a different company, as they were consolidating all the soldiers by how and where they were going (all the soldiers leaving from this airport were sent here, soldiers leaving from that airport sent there, soldiers taking a bus sent there, etc.). and we were sent to the barracks of that particular company to stand down (i.e. go back to sleep). several hours later we were sent down to form up with our bags, and then sent back to the barracks sans bags, whereupon every one curled up on the cold linoleum floor and went back to sleep. were were woken again at midnight to sign out, were given something to eat, and left in a large classroom to wait for the shuttles. after eating, some watched the basketball game on the large screen t.v., while the rest of us tried to sleep with our head in our hands. within 2 hours we were all loaded into buses and being shipped to charlotte airport some 2 hours away. and we went back to sleep. we arrived at the airport at 05:30, and woken up one last time. so instead of "two days and a wake up", it was "one really long day and 7 wake-ups".

after arriving at charlotte airport, were given a briefing on what we could and could not take on the plane, and herded through security. luckily they did not make us remove our boots, as that would have added about 10 minutes per soldier. there were about 8 to 10 buses filled with 55 soldiers each that dropped off at charlotte airport, you do the math.... for most of the soldiers, their flights weren't for several hours, so we were directed up to the USO. i'd heard of the USO mainly through movies about world war II, and never really thought they did all that much anymore. i was happily proven wrong. they had a room completely laid out with food that we could eat as much as we wanted. they had about six computers set up with the internet, another 4 or 5 computers with playstation and all kinds of games, a huge t.v. with some 10 comfy recliners that we could watch t.v./sleep. when i mentioned i needed to find a restroom to shave, there was a slight flurry of activity and i was escorted to a bathroom just a few feet away and even given new shaving cream and i had to throw mine away at security. and what really got me was with the exception of the USO director, all the people there were volunteers. they hauled themselves to the airport at 03:00 just so they could serve us food and wish us a merry christmas. and every ten minutes, have someone walk up to the soldiers and thank them for their service. a very humbling experience.

but i have to say the best part was while i was talking with some friends from my platoon, and elderly gentleman walked up to us to make sure we were all doing ok and if we needed anything. i stood up and shook his hand to thank him for his concern, and he introduced himself as congressman david price from north carolina. when he commented on how i looked a little older than most of the recruits, i proudly stated i was 42, most likely the oldest recruit in the whole u.s. army. before i know it, congressman price calls over the producer of a talk radio show being broadcast from the USO, and they schedule me for a short on-the-air interview!

after enjoying some more of the USO bounty, i finally head down to the gate, enjoy some more conversation with some soldiers from my platoon, and get on the plane bound for atlanta. upon landing in atlanta, the stewardess makes a little comment about thanking the troops for their service, and the entire back of the plane erupts in applause.

but as nice and truly thankful i am for all the support given by everyone, nothing beats the small welcoming committee i had waiting for me at the dayton airport; La Taureau and La Cognilia. seeing them for the first time in nearly three months was the best christmas present ever.

ever.

for the next two weeks, i get to sleep as late as i want, take a HOT shower for as long as i want, eat junk food, drink coffee, and have no one yell at me!


because of time and space constraints, i can't go into the minutae of my experience at basic training, suffice it to say, some things i've learned are:

1. i am not an attractive bald man.


2. keep the drill sergeants from learning your name for as long as possible. if they know your name it means you've made their radar, and that usually happens because you've screwed up...repeatedly. (i was lucky to have it stretch out for a few weeks. as a matter of fact, one of my drill sergeants still asks how to pronounce my name.)


3. whatever you do, never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, touch a drill sergeant's hat (a.k.a. "headgear")


4. drill sergeants do not understand sardonic wit.


5. the M16A2 fires a 5.56 mm sized round, is a magazine fed, gas operated, air cooled, semi-automatic or 3-round burst, hand-held, shoulder fired weapon. and i can hit 3 of 5 shots at 300 meters (that's a little more than 3 football fields) in a prone supported position. just a little tidbit of information i intend to toss out there on La Cognilia's first date....

i will write more in the next few days, so until then, enjoy this time with friends and family, and have a wonderful holiday!