Well, I’ve been away doing my annual training for the National Guard.
As usual, the military is inefficient (like all government agencies). The National Guard, being the lowest on the military totem pole, is probably the least efficient of the various armed services. We get the leftover equipment. For instance, I had to drive a Humvee across Georgia on a rainy day. The roof leaked and so I got to experience the feeling of being peed on even though that isn’t the sort of thing I enjoy. Military humvees are also extremely loud, so one has to wear earplugs during the entire trip to avoid hearing loss.
My two week sojourn into military life was punctuated by other fun events such as the required three pointless daily meetings, the requirement that we get up before 6 AM every day even if there is absolutely nothing going on at that time, and the pleasure of being a middle aged business professional yet being treated like a 12-year-old middle school student.
On the high side, I was in charge of the activities for the final week, and took full advantage. We played racquetball for physical training and tried to keep the bureaucracy to a minimal level. Military life can be very enjoyable if you manipulate who is in your unit carefully. It’s an art form.
One thing that irritates me greatly about military life is the lack of common sense displayed from the top down. For instance – I am trained to be a professional killer but I am not allowed to have any personal weapons on base and in my possession. Despite the fact that I can carry concealed weapons wherever I go in daily life and have been doing so in a responsible manner for years now and regardless of the fact that I am trusted to manage other soldiers, I am not allowed to carry my pistol around with me while on base. Why? It doesn’t make any sense and is merely another pointless control mechanism.
If terrorists ever do attack a U.S. military installation stateside, they will have plenty of time to attack our troops while the bureaucrats scramble around filling out paperwork so bullets and weapons can be issued out to troops who need to respond to the attack. It’s disheartening that we have such foolish restrictions placed on us. There should be a process in place for soldiers to be allowed to carry loaded weapons at all times.