Sunday, May 9, 2010

Life at boot camp...at the age of 43

As you may have noticed this blog has more or less gone silent, those who've kept tabs know its because I've joined the Canadian Forces, a buck private recruit at the age of 43.

I didn't come to this decision lightly, and I have found it even more challenging than I anticipated. Obviously the physical component is very taxing, but frankly I'm not doing too bad at all keeping up with the twenty somethings on my platoon. More difficult for this soldier is the adjustment to military life, realizing that you are at the beck and call of your superiors 24/7/365. That is of course as it should be, military service inherently means that you put yourself second and your country first.

Basic training is 13 weeks long and on Monday I'll be embarking on week 8. Everything is designed to see how the individual copes with stress, be it physical, mental or emotional. Being in my forties is in many ways an advantage, although I do miss my children incredibly. That's something that has to be dealt with though, once fully trained if I'm sent on a humanitarian mission to say Haiti, well missing family is part and parcel of the job.

I won't have many oppourtunities to update this space but if I do I'll jot down a few lines.


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