Brigit's Flame entry for December, Week 2: Blue Skittles & M&Ms

[thefaeway]

Well, getting into week two was pretty crazy. I tied for the last spot on the first poll, then on the second poll. Thanks to everyone who finally voted me into week 2!! As an odd sense of gratitude, I'm going to share something I've never shared with anyone outside the experience itself. I wish it could be better presented but I wrote the whole

Comments

so I'll respond to the editor :D

[thefaeway]

"and MRE sounds a tad weird :(" -- many things in the Army sound weird, though I could do without the long form. I debated whether or not to include it but ultimately figured I ought because I dunno how many people know what an MRE is.

I used "Fail" because that's pretty much my thought on the situation heh.

I like semicolons, thanks aplenty for suggesting a good one :D

"'them' packs more punch." -- I agree, though, since this particular piece is as faithfully from my POV as possible, I try to be more me and less not me. ;) I'm just far too much of a pacifist to be using isolationist language.

The phrasing, probably, is part of my rush to complete this piece. Thanks for the heads up. :)

Basic Training lasts between 9-10 weeks, depending on where it is. My "freedoms" were: one hour of free time in the evenings and cell phone usage for 4-6 hours on Sunday. Any kind of food outside of regulated "food hours" was considered stealing. Anything besides issued clothing and equipment, besides pen, paper & hygiene items were considered too "personal" to be kept during this time. As I noted in the story, we were taken to retrieve money from an ATM once every 2-3 weeks. All of this together, in addition to long boring/arduous/tedious working environments & close proximity to so many other individuals made a lot of things happen that otherwise wouldn't.

Since basic graduation, I've not experienced anything of the sort.

Re: so I'll respond to the editor :D

[thefaeway]

I don't recall outright inventing any slang during BCT. There were certainly a few inside jokes -- one pertaining to the 'hustler' of this particular piece. (Names are all made up, by the by.)

Sure we used slang... high speed, and later "high speeds" ie: a type of uniform for morning PT. Squared away, ate up, tracking, hooah etc. Nothing terribly new or entirely conceptualized within the Army, either.

The Army can be pretty fickle. There is a .. and I really don't know how to describe it .. but a part of the Army that is the purely training section. This is where basic and, for the most part if not all, advanced training is handled. Those within these units are kept to a much stricter set of rules. Some can't smoke, some can't drink, using "adult" language is punishable if you're in training and worth a counseling statement if you're a trainer (and get caught).

Regular units get a lot of 4 day weekends to go and do as you like. Evenings are also our own time, whereas in the training environment we may not be allowed to even leave the barracks area on a normal weekend.

Even within the 'regular' Army, it depends on the people in charge. Nobody ever says anything about reading books. Nobody said anything (besides a TON of joking) when I took leave for a Jonas Brothers concert (so I could see Wonder Girls & Jordin Sparks).

I suppose it's really like getting a job in one city for a corporation/franchise and hearing stories about the same corporation/franchise in another city.