Into the Military

What would have been our biggest hurdle had we actually ended up together in high school? The Army. I signed up for the military because I didn't know what else to do. I had no real direction, despite my skills in music and computing, and I had taken the recruiter up on his offer to go into the Army, find myself, and walk out with $30,000 for college. What did the geeky music guy go in for? Inventory Control Specialist? Seriously. That was my original Military Occupational Specialty (MOS -- you might want to get used to the acronyms). Yup, I was going to be an Inventory Control Specialist (a job phased out within a couple years after I went in).

But wait, anyone who knows me knows full well I never did that job. No, I asked the recruiter once about going into the band. I was very skilled. I made first chair, top band at All District. I was in the All-State jazz band. I was quite good. He allowed me to audition, and when I made it, he said what they would do is place my original paperwork in with those who failed to graduate and start me over at the beginning of the process, since that would be far easier than trying to change MOS's. I was okay with that.

So, immediately after high school, two days before my eighteenth birthday, I left home and went to Basic training at Fort Leonardwood, MO. At the time, it felt like hell, but in retrospect, it was really cool. Climbing all over everything, playing with more gadgets and tools than you can imagine, and firing and handling all kinds of different weapons. I got Sharpshooter on the M16, expert on M60, and sharpshooter on grenades (geeks don't throw well). I despised Physical Training (PT), and I only barely passed the 2 mile run since I had a tendency to wear myself out too fast instead of pacing myself. (the Queen probably just giggled).

What was the most interesting thing I learned at Basic? Well, they had us drinking water all the time. It was summer and hot, so that's understandable. They wanted us to drink a quart an hour to make sure we didn't get dehydrated. Got ourselves some basic medical info on identifying dehydration and everything. Well, one guy said he was going through Basic for the second time, and the last time he'd had so much water over the course of the day, that when he'd been peeing clear for some time. At one juncture, he decided to pee into his canteen and taste it. (queue the "eeewwwsss!" -- done? ok.) He said it was water. He'd had so much to drink that his body was no longer processing the liquid and passing it straight through. It's a little sick, but when you think about it, very interesting. Moving on...

It was eight weeks at Leonardwood, and following that graduation, I went to the School of Music at the Littlecreek Naval Amphibious Base in Norfolk, VA. What's that, you say? Back the truck up? What's an Army guy doing at a Naval Base? Really? Stop typing what I think you're saying? Fine.

Yes, the School of Music which provides some advanced instruction for those people who are entering the military bands in a one stop shop for the Navy, Army, and Marine Corps. I don't know where the Air Force goes. So that experience required me to learn the rank and customs of the Navy and Marines as well as furthering my knowledge of the Army. It was interesting, to say the least, and really, Navy chow is not as bad as people say it is. Had me a ham and cheese omelette every morning and it was good.

Really, this training period went too fast. After a few weeks, we were allowed to wear civilian clothes off duty for the first time since Basic. My bag was actually stolen while I was at Basic, so I was literally starting completely fresh with new stuff all around. Ok, it probably wasn't exactly stolen; not everyone made it through Basic training, and the bag that was left over after everyone got theirs back belonged to a guy who left early and undoubtedly took my bag by mistake.

Nothing of real significance happened while I was at the School of Music when applied to the big picture. I did develop a love of musicals while there to the point that I wanted to use my skill at writing music and skill of writing stories and combine them to writing a musical. Trouble was, I had no lyrical skill at the time, though bless my little heart, I tried. I expressed an attraction for one girl while there, who turned from me to marry someone about twice her age who was also going there in the Army. I expressed an attraction for someone else, who said she was engaged at the time, but subsequently broke off the engagement to date a black soldier she'd met there. I suppose I wasn't worth breaking up for, and besides, the School of Music had four rules that they recommend:

1. Don't buy a radio
2. Don't buy a car
3. Don't fall in love
4. Don't get married

Apparently, these things were prevalent at the SOM to the point that newcomers are often treated to these rules unofficially while hanging around the barracks. We were on a Navy base, and I know they called them something different, but I don't care. I broke rule 1, but obviously, none of the others.

I saved those (well, all but 4) for my permanent duty station at Fort Carson, CO, where my life actually changed, and I began to find people that fit parts of what I truly looked for in a person. I say parts because only the Queen satisfied what I was looking for. Everyone else just served to show me something I wanted to find, but never everything in one neat package.

(and the Queen just giggled again...)