2 Apr 08 - Language Training

Today the absurd happened.

Last night we had our daily review of the following day's plans. At the meeting we were told that today we would be participating in the second part of our two-part language training. (Language training is where we learn a bit of the language of the country that we'll be visiting.) Several soldiers, including myself were a bit disconcerted about this training. You see, we'd already been to both parts of the training and were not excited about repeating the same boring thing twice. We mentioned that we'd already received day 2 of language training but were quickly shot down. We were told that this was totally different than the training we'd received and that we'd go.

Well we went. And as soon as roll was called we discovered that we were not on the roll and were not supposed to be in attendance (we'd already received that training, you see). A bit upset, but not to distraught, we attempted to arrange transportation back to the barracks. We called the commander, who, oddly enough, told us that we were not to return. He said that since we were scheduled for the training, even if we had already received it and were not allowed to attend, we still had to be there, and therefore denied us transportation the 10 miles or so back to the barracks. Now I know this makes no sense to the average civilian, but it makes perfect army logic. So, my comrades and I just sat outside (since we couldn't attend the class that we were ordered to attend). Eventually a high ranking individual showed up and asked us why we were sitting on his lawn. After we explained the situation to him he exclaimed, "Why that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard!" and ordered us to leave. So we embarked on a 10 mile walk back to the barracks.

Luckily only 1/2 mile into the journey we spotted a van that was driven by a guy from our company. We flagged him down, explained the situation and got a ride back to the barracks.

Typical day in army training.