A Basic Training Flashback

It was towards the end of basic training and this was our last big exercise. It culminated just about everything we had learned so far. I was very nervous about it because I knew in the course of this exercise we were going to be gassed --I hated getting gassed.

We had to complete a course that was set up as a war-time operation. It consisted of marching through woods, looking for the enemy, basic map reading, getting attacked by chemical warfare (tear gas, in this case), crawling through an obstacle while live fire was going on over head. Drill Sergeants were lurking in the woods --making sure we were staying on task but also acting as the enemy, so to speak. At the end of the course, we had to low crawl under some barbed wire all the while drill sergeants were in a bunk and firing over head. At the same time, a recording was playing with war sounds like helicopters, gun fire, bombs, yelling . . .it was very loud.

It was night time and as my luck would have it, also raining. This made visibility more difficult, the grounds muddy and more difficult to walk through & general wet miserableness. The worst factor of the rain is the tear gas --when it hits your wet skin it sticks to it more, so to speak, and burns like crazy. I wanted to get this gas business done and over with.

We were sent into the woods as a squad in full gear (TA-50) and with our M16 rifles. At the first sight, smell or sound of gas, you had to secure your weapon (you can't just lay it on the ground), take your helmet off, grab your gas mask out of its pouch, put the mask on, clear it, put your helmet back on and grab your weapon. Sounds easy? Well, consider also during which tears are pouring down your face from the gas, your lungs burn and feel like they're going to explode; you can't see or breath. Your first instinct, which you must fight, it to flea but you HAVE to get that mask on first. Your other initial instinct is to chuck that weapon and go for the gas mask.

I was terrified. I thought for certain I'd not be able to get my mask on or I'd loose my weapon or --something horrific would happen to me. Keep in mind, we had already been to the gas chamber and had to endure being gassed while stating our name, rank and social security number. Sounds easy? Aside from the burning painful physical aspect of it, you can't remember much of anything, including your own name. I knew how wretched the gas was. I KNEW it was going to burn. I KNEW getting my mask on quickly was my only saving grace. So *whispers* I decided to cheat. THAT'S RIGHT, I said it. I'm a cheater!

I hooked my weapon to my pistol belt so this way, I could drop it and immediately free my hands to grab my mask and not loose my weapon. Was I supposed to do that? No! Did I do that anyway? Yes. I'm so ashamed.

The time finally came. We were walking along in the cold, dark wet woods and the gas hit. Some people couldn't fight their instinct and they took off running. Some panicked and couldn't get their masks on. Others were vomiting from the gas. It was chaos. I had learned earlier the best thing to do was to remain calm. I dropped my weapon, grabbed my mask, got it on, cleared it then got myself back together. My skin was on fire! My neck and arms were especially affected. I looked around and saw that most of us had gotten our masks on but some were still struggling. The ones that took off running, drill sergeant had brought them back. Did you ever see a soldier in full gear with a gas mask on? It's kind of scary. This whole scene was scary.

There were several reasons for me to hate the gas mask; it constricts your line of vision, it smells like nasty plastic rubber sweaty nastiness inside, it pulls your hair down (for females), makes it difficult to hear people talk, you can't tell one another apart, hot inside (like being in a rubber suit) and just generally uncomfortable. We had to continue on for a short while in our masks until we got the "All Clear" sign.

The next big thing I had to overcome on this obstacle was to low-crawl under the barbed wire and not get shot. No big surprise that I also hated low crawling because the gritty sandy dirt would grind against your knees and elbows. I hated that feeling --and I knew tonight was going to be even worse since that was going to be WET gritty sandy dirt. Having survived the gassing incident, I was ready for the low crawl which was, thankfully, also the end of the course.

In the midst of it all I got confused and ended up running across the range during LIVE FIRE.

We'll pick up the story there tomorrow.