Well, a quick update from basic training!
To any of you who ever might be under the impression that the staff at basic training will ever take it easy on you because you're in this to become an officer, think again.
Between the Officer Candidates, and the Recruits, the Officer Candidates generally get treated with a bit more respect, but their training is both more intensive, and 5 weeks longer. Personally, I'd rather be getting yelled at.
Impressions after the first week. There are a few qualities they are definitely trying to drill into us. The most important of these I would say is a sense of urgency, followed closely by attention to detail.
Now most people would say that these are two qualities that contradict each other. You can hurry your ass off somewhere and get there on time, but have everything disorganzied as a result, or you can take your time to check over everything, ensuring that everything's in it's place before you go. Here, they expect us to do both. It's definitely... an interesting learning experience.
All the stuff they're throwing at us in week 1 was compounded by the fact that I, as well as a number of other members of my 42 person platoon have developed a case of bronchitis. This is not fun. Haven't been able to get nearly as much sleep as I could be getting, which is already a lot less than I should be getting.
That having been said, things aren't going too bad so far, they've issued us all our stuff, and we're in the process now of getting ready for our first room inspection on Tuesday. I've got a lot of stuff to iron tonight and tomorrow night, so I can't write quite as much as I wish I could.
They're also having fun with the running and the pushups and making us march in place and all the other good stuff that supposedly makes better soldiers. All in all, I could probably use a nap or two.
The first 4 weeks will be the worst, as it is our so called indoctrination period. We're confined to the barracks, and required to wear our combat fatigues all the time. This is of course just our platoon only, as the other 3 platoons who started the same course at the same time do not have to do this. Our Warrant Officer's just a little tighter on the discipline than theirs I suppose. It'll probably work out better for us in the long run however.
That having been said, one week down, three to go before I can head out and have some fun in Montreal. Quite looking forward to it. And then only another ten weeks (assuming I don't screw up somewhere along the line or get injured) until I recieve my Commission.
I'm sure I can deal with another ten weeks of whatever it is they want to throw at us. But you can already tell that some of the other guys and gals are getting discouraged. I guess we'll just see how it goes. Anyhoo, I probably gotta run. Catch you folks when I can!
- Love Palpz
Palpz's Basic Training Adventure!
Farewell, Bronchitis, Inspections, Montreal, Tear Gas, and Guns, Camping, Canadian Infantry Style, Broken Teeth, A Brand New Tooth, A Fall From Grace, and Redemption