Groundhog's Day [edit]
literally.
i feel like i've done this all before, only in the exact opposite weather extremes. i'm pretty sure it was called plebe summer.
we started in formation at 5:30 on monday, in the 21 degree dark, in full battle gear (which at a minimum is 45 pounds), and carrying both our M16 rifles and our M9 pistols. i cannot even begin to count the number of accountability formations we've had since that point. aside from the flashbacks caused by formations and early mornings, there are the ones due to three minute meals, marching everywhere, endless waits, no cars or freedom, being treated as children... truly, plebe summer was infinitely better structured, not to mention executed. of course, some of my classmates are little better than children, so perhaps it's appropriate--and i may not necessarily be referring to the young corpsmen that are fresh out of high school. what, exactly, are the detailers looking for during promotion boards?
i've heard only one drill instructor ask someone his rifle's name (when that someone dropped the weapon, of course--hilariously enough, he'd named it a boy's name). i had already named mine in anticipation of that silliness: Shelly II. Shelly (I) was my weapon for freshman year. i thought the name was clever, especially since it also rhymed with that of my girlfriend at the time. not a single one of my detailers got the joke. ah, well. i have yet to come up with a clever name for my pistol.
the body armor and gear have yet to really bother me, as i learned my backpacking techniques from sean "the bull". he taught me to hump stuff for fun, no matter how much it weighs; of course, this is not to include snow-dampened logs that likely will not burn that evening (live and learn, right?). actually, the weight distribution is actually quite comfortable, and rides almost entirely on top of the shoulders, instead of biting into the hips.
i'm becoming more confident with my weapons... i can claim proficiency, at least, though i am far from adept, at breaking down and reassembling them. i am becoming accurate at shooting, as well... at ranges not in excess of 200 yards. luckily, (apparently) hajji's spray technique with a fully automatic weapon is less than effective outside that range.
i have watch tonight, so i'm going to crawl back into my hole. maybe when i wake up, time will have advanced a year...
remind me again... what service did i join?
3 comments:
Ha! Good luck with the time travel, Rip. So did you get issued the Interceptor body armor, or the much inferior F.S.B.E.? I was always in awe of the cleverness of whoever it was who designed those things, not only with the kevlar and the ballistic plates, but all of those convenient molle strips for to hang all kinds of heavy kit on, and it's all supported by two thin strips of canvas running right over the top of your shoulders. What elegance and economy of material!
If you're still searching for a name for your pistol, I have an idea for a rather more abstruse name (go figure). It may be a little of a stretch, but will serve to please any erstwhile-botanist drill instructors you run across.
My suggestion is: Carpel. In plants, the carpel (or sometimes more than one carpel) is what makes up the pistil. The three elements of the carpel are: stigma, style, and ovary [insert giggle]. The ovary [insert giggle] part especially meets the criteria that the name be feminine in gender. You can apply the other two elements to the parallel however you see fit.
i have the interceptor armor, and yes, it is fairly badass. sadly, it's only 100% effective against a round smaller than that i will be encountering over here.
more in the odd coincidence category: AK-47s shoot a 7.62mm round. the hull number of my last afloat command? SSN 762.
oh, and nelms..., again i apologize for not making use of your suggestions, but Sandy stills honors your family in a small way--and it's the name of kurt vonnegut's dog, too!
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