I just spent a week doing a Field Training Exercise, or FTX in Army speak. Basically, the FTX is like a week-long Army themed camping trip. We trained at Camp Bullis, which is inside a sort of wilderness area just north of San Antonio. We stayed in big tents, slept on Army cots, and ate MREs every day (much to the regret of my digestive system.)
The camp is actually quite comfortable. The tents are air conditioned, and there is hot chow for breakfast and dinner. However, there is one amenity that is very much missing: plumbing. No running water for showers, drinking water, or toilets. So we have to use wet-wipes to clean ourselves, portajohns to relieve ourselves, and water trailers to hydrate ourselves.
The training we did was largely interesting and enjoyable, but not always. Things like weapons training, casualty evacuation and care, and land navigation were a ton of fun. There were several simulators that we used to practice convoy movement, engaging the enemy, etc. There was also a simulator for practicing escaping a Humm-V in case of a roll over. That was hilarious.
The training that was less enjoyable was the gas chamber. After being instructed on the proper use of the gas mask, we all then entered a room where tear gas was being pumped into the room. The first thing I noticed was a sensation like an intense sunburn all around the exposed skin on my face and neck. But my mask was working fine, so I had no problems breathing. We had to do jumping jacks and stretches to get our hearts pumping, and then, to top it all off, we had to take our masks off and answer a series of questions to the best of our ability. That was awful. As soon as the mask comes off, the gas gets into your eyes and burns like madness. You can't breathe, but the pain makes you gasp, so you end up coughing, which brings even more of the painful stuff into your lungs. I was not fun. On the other hand, it was also nowhere near as bad as some of the prior service people were making it out to be.
We were lucky that the weather cooperated with us. Not too hot, not rainy. Just right. Even sleeping in a tent with 29 other guys wasn't too bad, since they were all pretty decent cats. We had a lot of fun.
