15357
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- Joined
- Jan 11, 2005
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Said the banner hanging from the front of our barracks.
I've gone and completed 6 weeks of preliminary and basic military education, and I just got out today. I was afraid I might wash out, and didn't mention it, but here I am.
One thing I've found out about the military is that a lot of things are ritualistic, some to the degree of being almost religious. For example, roll call is considered 'sacred' and they focus more on the form of the nightly and morning reports rather than what is actually reported. Every night, we would scream the Army Service Creed before going to sleep; "We are the loyal defenders of the Fatherland and the People", "We will defend Liberal Democracy and reunite the Fatherland" etc. etc. Focus is all on form rather than function -- I suppose that's meant to discipline us.
I had imagined the Army to be like in Full Metal Jacket; with the screaming drill sergeants and beatings. But the drill instructors never touched us (except on the firing ground). They simply ordered us to get on the ground and do push-ups or some other kind of regulation-friendly punishment. I suppose that's progress for you. Everyone was a volunteer, so everyone did what they were told to do. The ones that didn't want to dropped out, which I thought was stupid, since they were going to be conscripted anyway (although I suppose the enlisted man had less to worry about than officer candidates).
It was extremely cold -- it was the coldest winter in 55 years, and being in a mountainous region temperatures dropped more than 20 degrees below freezing in the night. The buildings were well heated, but that didn't matter if you had sentry duty outside. One time on sentry duty, I couldn't make the half-hour temperature report because the thermometer had broken due to the cold.
Rifle training was rather fun, but I had never expected military grade rifles to be this loud. It took some time getting used to the huge sounds they made every time I fired a shot. I got 80% accuracy at 250 meters in my test, so I suppose I did rather well. I hated the fact that we had to march for an hour with 35kg worth of gear (including packs that we never opened!) to get to the firing range every time we had to use our rifles.
The 30km march in full gear on my last day was what worried me the most. I didn't know if I could complete it, the packs being extremely heavy and the path mountainous and full of hills. It even snowed that day. But it was easier than I expected and the thought that I can get out the next day kept me marching without much complaint. I even boasted to the regiment commander that I could march all the way to Pyongyang if I got my hands on a Big Mac.
I suppose the GOP defense training was the most fun part of my training. We climbed in the trenches and wire defenses that were an exact model of the border in the DMZ and set claymores and threw grenades at imaginary communist invaders, firing blanks with our rifles at imaginary enemies coming over the wire.
I also learned that Army doctors aren't doctors. One time, I twisted my ankle and went to the infirmary. The doc took a look at it and told me that "All this foot needs is a lot of rest. But you can't get rest here, can you? So you have two choices -- keep a stiff upper lip and bear the pain, or get out." I ended up bearing the pain with some help from 3 pills of Tylenol a day. I was also told off by an instructor for limping; an officer should never appear weak, or so he claimed.
It was hell, these past few weeks. The cold, the fatigue, and the pain. I've learned a lot about pain -- all that you could ever want from it is for it to stop, that it doesn't make you stronger but only make things harder for you. My pain tolerance did go up a bit, and I'm in much better physical shape than I started out with. I now know how to utilize the rifle and bayonet in defense of my country. I'm more confident, and I've sobered up a bit about all the hogwash that is the eternal glory of the infantry -- war is something that should not happen, mostly because I'm not gonna carry a ****ing 40kg pack with rifle, ammunition, and gas mask and walk all the way to Pyongyang or maybe even Beijing. I'd rather die along the way, because that shit is so ****ing heavy.
In all, I've finally started on the path to becoming an officer. I have university stuff to worry about until the summer now (which now includes military science), and I won't go into the field until I graduate.
TL;DR: I now know how to defeat communists with a rifle and bayonet and throw grenades.
I've gone and completed 6 weeks of preliminary and basic military education, and I just got out today. I was afraid I might wash out, and didn't mention it, but here I am.
One thing I've found out about the military is that a lot of things are ritualistic, some to the degree of being almost religious. For example, roll call is considered 'sacred' and they focus more on the form of the nightly and morning reports rather than what is actually reported. Every night, we would scream the Army Service Creed before going to sleep; "We are the loyal defenders of the Fatherland and the People", "We will defend Liberal Democracy and reunite the Fatherland" etc. etc. Focus is all on form rather than function -- I suppose that's meant to discipline us.
I had imagined the Army to be like in Full Metal Jacket; with the screaming drill sergeants and beatings. But the drill instructors never touched us (except on the firing ground). They simply ordered us to get on the ground and do push-ups or some other kind of regulation-friendly punishment. I suppose that's progress for you. Everyone was a volunteer, so everyone did what they were told to do. The ones that didn't want to dropped out, which I thought was stupid, since they were going to be conscripted anyway (although I suppose the enlisted man had less to worry about than officer candidates).
It was extremely cold -- it was the coldest winter in 55 years, and being in a mountainous region temperatures dropped more than 20 degrees below freezing in the night. The buildings were well heated, but that didn't matter if you had sentry duty outside. One time on sentry duty, I couldn't make the half-hour temperature report because the thermometer had broken due to the cold.
Rifle training was rather fun, but I had never expected military grade rifles to be this loud. It took some time getting used to the huge sounds they made every time I fired a shot. I got 80% accuracy at 250 meters in my test, so I suppose I did rather well. I hated the fact that we had to march for an hour with 35kg worth of gear (including packs that we never opened!) to get to the firing range every time we had to use our rifles.
The 30km march in full gear on my last day was what worried me the most. I didn't know if I could complete it, the packs being extremely heavy and the path mountainous and full of hills. It even snowed that day. But it was easier than I expected and the thought that I can get out the next day kept me marching without much complaint. I even boasted to the regiment commander that I could march all the way to Pyongyang if I got my hands on a Big Mac.
I suppose the GOP defense training was the most fun part of my training. We climbed in the trenches and wire defenses that were an exact model of the border in the DMZ and set claymores and threw grenades at imaginary communist invaders, firing blanks with our rifles at imaginary enemies coming over the wire.
I also learned that Army doctors aren't doctors. One time, I twisted my ankle and went to the infirmary. The doc took a look at it and told me that "All this foot needs is a lot of rest. But you can't get rest here, can you? So you have two choices -- keep a stiff upper lip and bear the pain, or get out." I ended up bearing the pain with some help from 3 pills of Tylenol a day. I was also told off by an instructor for limping; an officer should never appear weak, or so he claimed.
It was hell, these past few weeks. The cold, the fatigue, and the pain. I've learned a lot about pain -- all that you could ever want from it is for it to stop, that it doesn't make you stronger but only make things harder for you. My pain tolerance did go up a bit, and I'm in much better physical shape than I started out with. I now know how to utilize the rifle and bayonet in defense of my country. I'm more confident, and I've sobered up a bit about all the hogwash that is the eternal glory of the infantry -- war is something that should not happen, mostly because I'm not gonna carry a ****ing 40kg pack with rifle, ammunition, and gas mask and walk all the way to Pyongyang or maybe even Beijing. I'd rather die along the way, because that shit is so ****ing heavy.
In all, I've finally started on the path to becoming an officer. I have university stuff to worry about until the summer now (which now includes military science), and I won't go into the field until I graduate.
TL;DR: I now know how to defeat communists with a rifle and bayonet and throw grenades.
