Dobie Training Day #3

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Oh my gosh! I made it through the morning! Yeah! I was nervous and excited at the same time, kind of like when you are at the fair and you look up and watch that giant roller coaster zoom by. You can feel the rush of the air, hear the people screaming and watch their arms flail out of control. Same thing with taser training.

The instructors were absolutely clear about what we were about to do. "Now ladies and gentlemen, this is a strictly volunteer training event. We want you to understand on a very small scale exactly the amount of pain you can inflict and how quickly you can immobilize a person." Military training is much like law enforcement training, try out the new techniques on each other so that you always understand the appropriate level of force.

The taser is a non-lethal weapon that can be used in civil disturbances. Boy, I hope I never see any of those. But man was training fun! We got to pair up with a buddy, sit down on the ground, lock elbows and legs, they hook up the taser and then ZOWEY! ZIP! They would give you a three second shock, your body straightens out, you flip backwards and then everybody laughs.

I sat and watched, and watched, and watched as my new soldiers friends volunteered to take their turn. What a rush, I could hardly wait until it was my turn.

As I stood there I wondered if I would be able to handle it, after all, I wasn't really one of these tough soldiers who was training hard for Kosovo. Then I kinda worried that maybe I might get so scared I'd wet my pants. Naw, it couldn't be that bad.

Finally... It was my turn. I sat down on the mat with my running buddy and we held our breathe and then the instructor said, "taser, taser, taser." BZZZZZ.... Woa! I can't believe I screamed so loud. I don't even remember flipping back onto the mat, and then the next thing I knew it was over and everybody was laughing with me! Yippee! I did it just like a real soldier!

I can hardly wait until tomorrow...

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