Almost Like Home...

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If you have never been to Camp Atterbury before you have missed the simple beauties of Indiana. The trees are spectacular; green lush leafs cling to the branches providing shade and creating a sense that you are out in the wilderness camping with your family. The lawn is vibrant and full, caching the early morning dew and feeding off the moisture all day long. It stays wet because it is so dang humid here! Although the temperatures have only been in the 80’s (they have had record daytime lows since we arrived), those of us from North Dakota have felt the intense effects of what true humidity is really all about. Strength zapping, sweat provoking and hair flattening!

Camp Atterbury is a typical National Guard training post. There is a gym that is stocked with exercise equipment, a half mile track right out my door for physical training, complete will lights run by generators because it is dark here until about 6:30, which by the way feels weird because in North Dakota we seem to have longer daylight hours. There is a PX (post exchange) that stocks snacks, drinks, army trinkets and military PT gear. It also carries beer and alcohol but because we are a mobilizing unit we are forbidden by General Order #1 to consume any alcoholic beverages for the next year.

There are three large messhalls which provide fairly decent food that is served from large metal pans that sit under heat lamps for hours. They usually have a couple of choices for the main course. Last night it was pepperoni pizza or wings. Needless to say I chose the salad bar and a brownie! Figured that brownie had most of the food groups covered! For soldiers like me I never seem to have enough time to sit down more than once a day for a meal, so pop tarts do fine for breakfast, and a banana and sunflower seeds for lunch ensures that I am so hungry by dinner that I would eat just about anything the army wants to provide me!

Soldier training is the name of the game around here, so I think the army believes that if you train hard enough during the day that you will be so tired at night you could fall asleep anywhere and sleep like a rock, feeling rested and ready for the next day’s activities. I’m here to testify that whomever dreamed that hair brained theory up was from the world war I era and is long gone, which is a good thing because I surely would give him a few lessons about how to truly achieve restful sleep…

I’m not sure what the true definition of barracks is, but it must mention cement walls and cement floors that are designed to hold in the heat in the summer and cold in the winter. But do not worry, the army provides oscillating fans that stand five feet tall and are so loud that you would swear you were in a wind tunnel testing lab. What the fans really achieve is blowing all the dust bunnies into the corners of the room which does make it easier if you are on the sweeping crew for clean up!

I find it hard to believe that as I am completing year 20 in this profession; am on my third deployment that I will be receiving danger pay and that I have achieved the rank of major, and I still don't qualify for a two person room. Instead, I have been provided with a spectacular “cement” housing unit for my use. After all, what organization would provide me with 63 Roommates, 7 toilets and 6 showers (which trickle out to conserve water) all in one convenient building? But at the same time the interior designer of the building had some great ideas, simple things like bunk beds, complete with 2 inch foam mattresses and feather pillows that the government provides to both prisons and military installations for the same low price! He also thought to attach the entire bathroom water plumbing system to the inner walls so that they would be more available for the repairman should there be a leak, and of course those pipes also serve as a building morning alarm system because with every flush and the slightest turn on of any hot water, those pipes send out a high pitched scream that will jolt all soldiers from their top bunks and into action for the new day’s activities. I do have a wall locker and footlocker for storage of my covenanted military gear and essential needs. This is plenty of room because on deployment you really can’t wear civilian clothes unless you sneak a pair of pajamas in from home. The military has provided me with everything they feel I need, but I must admit that on the very first day all 14 of us made a quick trip to Walmart for a few creature comforts that will make the next couple of months a little more bareable. A small floor rug, sticky hooks to hang things on the cement walls, fitted sheets and a soft $3.00 pillow. Things like this provide us the opportunity to go in search of an adventure, and this small trip to Walmart provided a handful of soldiers lots of laughs as we moved as a herd through the aisles, filling up our carts with novelty items that don’t seem important until they are no longer there for our convenience.

As we navigate through these first few days, our new surroundings will slowly morph into “normal”. We will begin to call the barracks “home” and the dust bunnies will continue to fill the corners. Robbie the roach who scoots across the floor at the first sign of daybreak will soon go unnoticed, and the new noises that are so loud today will eventually only be noticed when they are turned off and then we will comment about the strange silence.

Welcome to Camp Atturbury!

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Photos

My home space!
I added a few touches to my little area.

All the essential in bed
Even storage above you under the top bunk!

Nice pipes!
Here are those screaming pipes

State of the art showers
If you bend forward to shave you hit your head on the wall and the shower curtain in the back is a bit close for comfort!