Saturday, January 16, 2010 All beach, no water So here I am in the desert, living in a big tent with 200 of my closest friends. I've got a cot, with all my worldly goods piled underneath it, and a good two feet on either side to the cot next door. The army isn't big on privacy. What it is big on is training. We're doing different training events, and let me tell you this is the most realistic training I've ever experienced in my career. That might not be a good thing, since I've been shot twice and blown up once so far, but the good thing is that I'm learning to trust my judgement. Yes the suicide bomber blew me up, but I had him pegged before that, and I picked up the sniper too. It's amazing how quickly your brain learns to pick up subtle clues in environment and behavior to build a picture. Today's entertainment was a beach-picnic, of sorts. We marched out into the desert, like so many troops of Le Legion Etrangee, and climbed a hill. Body armour and helmet, pistol, rifle and machinegun, water, ammunition, gps and radio, my lunch in boil-in-the-bag form, combat gloves and ballistic goggles and sundry other gear. I'm not sure of the all-up weight, but it had to be in excess of ninety pounds. Once we'd conquered the hill we climbed back down and marched back. Today my back is sore. Tonight I will sleep well. Tomorrow we're going to do it again. Cheers all! Paul :: add a comment :: Latest five blogs: Bullwer-Lytton 7/17/2010 The unnofficial army watch 2/20/2010 Finding the water 2/3/2010 All beach, no water 1/16/2010 All beach and no water. 1/4/2010 Archives: 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 ________________________________________________________________