Going back for reservist and hearing that next is Wallaby has brought back memories of my trip to the Australian outback 9 years ago. I was there 3 weeks and although I don't remember a lot of it, somethings are still vivid in my mind just because it was a horribly tough trip. It's always the toughest assignments that you remember best.
The Outfield Camp that was our Base Camp
There was a major Apache exercise the same time we were here for Wallaby. All the bunks in the Camps were taken up by the regulars. So they threw us to an outfield camp and we didn't see concrete walls for the whole 3 weeks we were there. There was no difference between being back at camp or going out on missions ... we were out in the wilderness. It was the most horrible condition they could leave us in ...
The Slitting Blade
I was shaving. And when I was done, somehow common sense left me for a moment. I ran my fingers against the shaving blade to clean off the tiny hairs. And the next thing I felt was utter pain and a steady stream of blood flowing down onto the sandy ground.
The image and pain still haunts me. I can feel it cut through my very veins whenever I think about it. To do this in such a harsh environment adds on to the anguish and despair I felt as I rushed to find bandage for my self-inflicted wounds.
Tearing Down a Triple Con in the Dead of Night
There was only eight of us in the RP section. One fella managed to get himself excused from going out on missions. Of the seven that went out, one decided that his life was far more important than anyone else and basically snaked through everything.
One of the key images I had was the team trying to tear down the triple con we had setup a couple of hours ago at 1am. The commanders decided on a dawn raid so we were packing up at 5am. Till this day, I'm still very proud that we managed to put up and tear down a full perimeter triple con with such efficiency and only six man. The snake sat it out because he thought it was too dangerous to be handling wires while maintaining light discipline.
The Doggy Poo
They added something to the combat rations that made our poop look like that of animals. Think of solid dog poo and you get the picture. The idea behind the doggy poo is that it was suppose to mask your presence. The enemy would mistaken a soldier's poo for an animal's.
I think the concept is good but sadly the execution missed a far more important practical aspect. No matter how much our poo is made to look like animal's, there is a one single dead giveaway that makes the whole scheme fail miserably.
They forget that unlike animals, we humans will use toilet paper to clean our butt after we have done our business. So the very sight of toilet paper will tell the enemy that 'hey though this poo looks like a dog's, it's actually from a person!"...
