Sunday 3 May 2009

Basic Training

Technically I was sent to OSUT, but the first 2 months of it were the basic training portion and the final 2 months considered the AIT portion. In Basic we learned the fundamentals of soldiering. We were broken down by the drill sergeants into lost, tired, hopeless privates, and then slowly rebuilt into confident soldiers. It is a very interesting process, a psychologists wet dream, for sure. Somehow, through the yelling and screaming, the push ups and sit ups, the cold and the wet, I had fun. We learned to shoot our M4 Carbines, throw hand grenades, clear rooms, look for IEDs, detain suspects, move tactically through a woodland environment using a map and compass. It was all very cool "guy" stuff, playing Army man, but for real.
After the first 2 months we began transitioning into the AIT part of training, the MOS specific lessons. We jumped right into driving our tank on a simulator that was supposed to cost a couple million dollars. That was fun, but driving the real thing was even cooler. It's hard to explain the feeling of 70 tons and 1500 horsepower at your control, but "humbling" is a good place to start.