I have so many thoughts running around in my head. Each time I want to write I find myself in the car, at work or in dire need of a good night’s sleep.
I returned a few days ago from my Army annual training. You know, that one weekend a month, two weeks a year thing. This time I was much luckier in my draw and I ended up at Fort Dix, New Jersey for Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical School.
For those of you in the Army, if you ever get the chance to go to NBC School, get there. Up until this course, I all but despised anything to do with NBC. It was nothing except sweating in my MOPP suit and pro-mask.
The “Confidence Chamber†otherwise known as the gas chamber, is a rite of passage for members of the Army. Each soldier goes through, nervous, after hearing stories of torture, puking, and snot that reaches their knees. The chamber sucks. That is the only way to put it. It sucked even more for me because my mask never once had a good seal.
I have been in and around the military for over 10 years. It took until this course for someone to tell me that my face is one of the very few that does not fit a standard M-40 protective mask. (I am #2 in 10,000) Hmmmm maybe that is why I have snorted more than my fair share of CS, and subsequently do not trust that any of the NBC gear works.
So, as I am off to start the long process for my specialty mask, I will once again encourage you Army types to get to the NBC course. When you get there, check the walls for my class plaque. It is the one with the orange practice golf ball and the mini bottle of Jack Daniels.
Don’t ask.
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