Blather

This is the hallway of my building in Fort Benning's CRC. Down at the end is the men's room aka "latrine." Next to that are the stackable washing machines that work pretty well. Not visible are the ants that plagued us. Half the time, the building smelled like Raid.




Part of the processing for working in Iraq involved training and processing at Fort Benning. There were a lot of regular soldiers deploying to Iraq with us. I noticed a few things different from the Army I recalled in 1968. There were many more females in the group. Not so many that it was half-and-half, but anything above zero is memorable.

I noticed that there was a lot less separation between officers and enlisted. And we contractors were a class among ourselves, neither officer nor enlisted. The strange part is that during the Vietnam era, when you needed more soldiers, you got more soldiers. These days, if you need more soldiers, you get some contractors. The majority of contractors are middle-aged guys, retired guys, though there are a few younger ones, too.

The training was good- it was intensive, and the first-aid parts had some gory videos. But the training was very thorough. I now carry a medical kit with two thoractic needles, with which to stab someone between the second and third rib to help a collapsed lung and an 8mm nasal tube to help with breathing. I also have this large clotting pad, but we shouldn't use it for traumatic abdominal wounds.

The cadre at the CRC's Charlie Company were great! Everyone knew what we were supposed to do, and they all helped us get the mandated processing done. Some people had problems with the paperwork for medical and dental, others needed to draw their equipment. And everyone needed to eat. Those soldiers whose jobs it was to get everyone processed were conscientious and friendly, helpful and efficient.

When we got to the air terminal, our routing was supposed to remain confidential. I guess I'll leave it so here, too. But the commander spoke to all of us, soldiers and contractors, when he paraphrased General Patton. "When you tell your grandchildren what you did in the war on terrorism, you won't say, 'I shoveled shit in Louisiana.'"