Friday, July 23, 2004
Personal - A year ago
I have finished my advanced training and began OJT at my unit's base. Since then, I'm not the youngest anymore, though I still have a lot to learn.
Yesterday, two girls from my class at school were discharged after doing their two years. It was also the anniversary of my future (planned) discharge, four years from now. I was a bit sad thinking about it (though not as sad as I suppose I'll be when the day I should've been discharged comes and goes and I'll still be in uniform, poor as a Weasley). I have willingly signed the contract and don't regret it for a moment, but this kind of angst is customary to people in my profession, so I indulge myself from time to time. In the following year I'll become more senior than most of the people I'll meet outside of the office, though I suspect nothing will really change.
On a happier note, I've been spotting flashier smallarms on people in public transport during my daily commutes. Why should I care? Because when the cool guys upgrade I might get to use their cast offs. I might get a CAR-15 when I'm NCO !
I hear you saying "boys" and I smile.
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1 comment:
In answer to Leslie at 0:41:11 (2004-07-24), asking:
"Won't carrying something like that around make people think you ARE a CO?" on the old, obsolete, comments system.
No. Israel is not Barrayar, but since most men and women have served in the army in one capacity or another, people know what an officer looks like (the elderly are a noted exception however. Sometimes I get this "no, son, sit down, you must be very tired" line when I let somebody sit in my place on a bus. I've seen guys on my bus who really were an hour or two out of Gaza, but they actually look the part). Though it hardly matters - the real difference is between combatants and the ones who go home every day at 17:30 (or 23:30, but people don't see that), not between enlisted and commissioned personnel. My CO, indeed my entire chain of command below the general staff, officers or no, are all non-combatants and don't need anything but the basics when firearms are concerned.
My rank is visible, and even to those who don't know what all the insignia mean and despite the crew-cut, it is plain to see I'm a geek. There are a few guys in the paratrooper regiment who have the same look, but they are the ones with the flashy small arms, and most people can spot those.
A few years ago, a carbine would make people think I'm of the "real soldier" minority - those who are trained for combat. Today, it might make people think I'm stationed near the war zone (like the couple in the picture) rather than the deep rear (the distance is 10 miles, but in Israel 10 miles are a lot). In the future, it might become standard issue in non-fighting units as well.
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