Boot Camp: week 3
I’ve been a zombie this weekend. I still have a light headache – it was torturous yesterday – probably from lack of sleep. I actually don’t know if I have ever pushed myself this hard mentally and physically at the same time before.
By now, I’ve gotten used to the constant feeling of tiredness. Hence feeling like a zombie but strangely acting like a professional athlete! Or a Duracell bunny...
My body is definitely under stress and is producing a high amount of adrenaline and cortisone at the moment. The hormones is a response to the stressful training and drilling in the army, and it’s making it hard to wind down at weekends as well as getting a restful night’s sleep – also during the weeks.
What’s nice is that we’re all in the same boat – all of us attending the military programme. Most of us are doctors and nurses getting ready to go to Afghanistan. That’s why we’re drilled this way. To act like soldiers, think and behave like soldiers – and blend in with the rest. An outsider is a hot target and you don’t want to reveal your purpose.
We’ve spent this week on the shooting field and fighting in the woods. It’s crazy what my new skills are actually about. Not sure how to express I can now quickly take out the target standing up, kneeing or laying down from 30, 50 and 100 meters.
We have also done our first walking session with full equipment, including helmets, backpack and the AK5 hanging off our necks. It was a beautiful evening, the sun low and the green fields completely still. Swedish summers are magic. We sang all the way back to the base – repeating the First Sergeant’s verse.
Although I hardly have time for my own thoughts, several realizations run through my mind, usually before falling asleep or in the middle of the night.
To be honest – the army is pretty uncomfortable. I don’t like wearing warm and heavy gear in the middle of summer, or equipment that hurt, throwing myself to the ground, getting bruised arms and knees, becoming dirty and tired and being bitten by hostile swarms of mosquitoes every time I sit down to pee! It’s tough. It’s uncomfortable and I rather do something else.
However, I have quickly gotten used to it all, and I am also learning something new every single day. And learning is the antidote to stagnation. There is no growth, or expansion of possibilities even within a comfort zone – that’s probably why I am secretly enjoying the challenge of Boot Camp.
Another big reason is the people; I’ve made a lot of new friends. Life in the army is all about the group and never an individual initiative alone. It’s definitely a unique experience and we’re also training and learning for a real reason. Although the situations we practise may feel surreal now - it’s life as usual in a war zone, and it’s where most of us are going.
