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NBC and Pass In Review

I would have to say that during my first week of real basic the to main things I remember the most are going to the gas chamber as part of NBC training and learning about our masks and learning drill for the Pass In Review at the HQ building with the General there watching. There is also some minor stuff where since we were last to arrive at BCT the girls that were there ahead of us were put in charge of taking us to our bunks and showing us how to do all the things they learned already from the Drills. They basically showed us our bunks and then the sheet in the wall locker that had the drawer layout as for what went where in our wall lockers etc. Then they left to us to do it alone and never showed us how to roll our socks or towels or anything. After about 15 minutes of frustration and the growing desire not to get yelled at by the Drill I went and yelled at the squad leader and let her know what was what. After that they showed us what to do and nobody ever really messed with me after that so that worked out.
After they issued us our masks we trained all week on how to don and clear them. I knew that the gas chamber was coming up so I was super paranoid that I wouldn't do mine right and was hellishly afraid of breathing that gas. Finally the day came for us to go into the chamber. I tested and retested the seal on my mask about 20 times while we were all waiting in line to go in. I was towards the front of the line and part of the first group to go in. As they let us in I ended up being the first person in the second row and was about 3 feet from the door. The place was so filled with gas it was crazy. You could hardly even see. I saw the Senior Field Leader in there and he was in MOPP gear and screaming from the second we entered. The other Drill in there with him was Drill Sargent Smalls, the meanest Drill in the company. The second we entered the building all the people who were not paranoid and failed to check their masks a thousand times began coughing and gagging even with their masks on it was an instant Drill magnet which turned out to be good for me. After we were in there for a couple of minutes they made us take our helmets off and put them between our legs, which is what you are supposed to do when there is a gas attack and you have to put your mask on so that it doesn't touch the ground and get contaminated. We did this so that we could take our masks off and put them back on and clear the gas out. The second the masks came off all I hear are steel pots hitting the floor and more coughing and then more Drill screaming. Meanwhile, I'm still good!! Next thing I know they are yelling to take them off and leave them off so I did the worst possible thing you could do, I took a deep breath and took off my mask and then tried to hold it as long as I could. I was getting away with it too because of all the other mayhem in the room with everybody else gasping and choking and all the screaming and what not. The Senior Field saw me and ran over to me and even though I wasn't coughing because I still wasn't breathing, I played it up the best I could and since my eyes were stinging like crazy he saw my tears and told me to head for the door and I was suddenly the first one out. I ran over to the door and Drill Sgt Smalls screamed "What are you doing here?" and I said "The Senior Field Leader told me to leave Drill Sgt!" with all the air left in my lungs and with that, much to my surprise, Drill Sgt Smalls flung the door open and told me to go. A few more people came out right after me, but those where were in the 7th layer of hell got to stay in the longest of all. I totally lucked out and I knew it!

Since Pass In Review was at the end of the week the other main thing we did was march, march, march. I'm sure it was just their way of training us up to march as a unit as soon as possible but the thing they used to scare us with was the fact that we would be doing it at the Headquarters building in front of the Commanding General. Mostly we learned how to march, properly do eyes right and so forth. I remember when we marched over, the whole thing happened pretty quickly. I don't remember seeing the General at all but there was a fair amount of officer types standing there saluting back as we passed. The whole thing was over in like 5 minutes. I remember thinking that this is just something they do every Friday and not really the huge deal they had been making it out to be. It was the day I learned how to read when things were going to be crazy crucial or if they were going to be just part of the way things were done. Figuring out how things went like that helped me alot in basic. I figured out right away that if we had an extra 15 or 20 minutes to kill before a class or chow that the best way that could fill that gap was to drop dimes on us. If it were going to be 30 or 40 minutes they would just have us study our smart books or polish boots or something but anything shorter and they just decided to fill that time punishing us with some impromptu PT for something they thought up that we had done wrong. It didn't take me to long to pick up on that and that as soon as it was time to head out to chow or class it would all come to a sudden halt and off we would go. Learning that really helped me make it though sessions where they smoked us out. I just told myself, this will be ending in about 10 mins or so because we got chow, so I can hang for 10 more minutes, and I did. That mind set helped me through all the really tough times in basic.

Women are Soldiers too.

Some MPs with their dogs in country.

Army Girls: Bad Ass!