#2 - Basic, round one

In the first post, I stated that I had been in the Army previously.

Somehow I was able to get away with having a disposable camera towards the end of basic training, so I will post a few pics of my prior BCT experience.

In the above photo, I am the grinning idiot on the left wearing the Kevlar. The person on the right is my battle buddy, Pvt. Harris. Some people don't like their battle buddies very much in basic. Imagine being forced to spend nearly 24 hours a day paired with a stranger for 8 or 9 weeks. If you are lucky like me, you will have a good battle buddy. I liked Harris, and we ended up becoming friends. We were a little different than most of the folks in our platoon. Harris and I would often sneak away to meditate if we got any (rare) free time. I believe the other girls in our platoon thought we were New Age freaks. On fireguard duty, sometimes we'd have time to talk, albeit in whispers, while everyone else was sleeping... We'd often wax philosophic and enter into deep discussions on God, religion, existence, reincarnation, and the human condition... just about anything but the Army. On Sundays, rather than staying and cleaning the barracks, we "got religion" and made the rounds, going to a new church service each week... Christian, Spanish-speaking Catholic, Baptist, Fundamentalist, Mormon, Native American, Wiccan services... it was like a great religious sampler that offered a few moments of calm away from the BCT storm. After I got out of the Army, I ended up living in California. Harris also got out on a medical discharge. At one point I even crashed at her house for awhile.

Reception is a period of time about a week long before basic officially starts where you fill out reams of paperwork, receive shots and exams, are issued uniforms, etc. In reception I had a battle buddy who was rather unpleasant to be around. She was a chronic complainer, constantly whined, and was reluctant to follow orders. You are ultimately responsible for your battle buddy, so I was always getting in trouble. The worst, though, was that she had some serious personal hygiene deficiencies. It's tough to get up close and personal 24/7 with someone who absolutely refuses to brush their teeth or shower. It got so bad that finally the Captain had to intervene and order her to take care of business, if not for herself, for us poor saps around her. Thankfully I was paired with Harris through basic and didn't have to stay with the other girl.

I suppose that I'm already thinking ahead to my next shot at completing basic training. How will the drill sergeants be? Who will I have for a battle buddy? Will I make friends in my platoon? Am I going to get a lot of flack for being old (34 or 35) compared to most of the kids in training who are 17 or 18? Last time I was in basic, I was assigned the nickname "the college professor". Maybe this time it will be "Grandma"...?