25 September 2004
Regimental Formal
An odd week, indeed. The week following my trip to Switzerland and France was short — a 4-day weekend, Staff Duty, Training Days, and Payday Activities meant I spent a sum total of about 6 hours actually IN my office. This week was HORRIBLY long in comparison.
For Training, we did the NBC range — Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical. Most know of it as “the Gas Chamber.” We rode in the back of 5-ton trucks for over an hour over dirt roads. An Army 5-ton truck has no shock-absorbers — every last pebble the truck hits gets transmitted into the bed. Every pot-hole or rough ground sent us all flying about like so many dice in a cup.
The Gas Chamber was filled with CS Gas (Tear Gas). This time, it was below 70°F, and fully suited up in all the chemical gear, there was almost no problem — until the Cadre decided he was going to have a discussion with me before he let me leave. The gas interacted with the water around my eyes — painfully. My eyes had been transformed into burning cauldrons of searing pain. I was functionally blind, staggering down the gravel road from the chamber for almost a quarter mile before I could see enough to know I was no longer following anyone. It took me almost 20 minutes to get my eyes back to full function.
Saturday I met a couple friends in Heidelberg, and we went to the Schwetzingen Schloss Gardens — modeled after Versailles in Paris. We wandered along the southern edge of the gardens, finding hedges being sculpted into a high arch-way colonnade, numerous fountains and sculptures, and in one corner a neat little Greek shrine. Beyond that, we meandered through a maze of bushes and sculptures until we found ourselves at the Mosque — a little odd to encounter in Germany, especially one a few centuries old.
My unit had a Regimental Ball that evening at Heidelberg Castle. I took the stairs — 312 of them, steep, winding their way almost straight up the mountain, in my Dress Green uniform. The formal was supposed to start at 7pm (receiving line at 7:45). The toasts were everything one would expect from a Regimental Ball: a toast to the President, to the U.S. Army, and “To the best Air Force in the world: To Army Aviation.” The Punch Bowl Ceremony that followed was… memorable.
Dinner was slow in being served, and I was at the last table. I didn't get served my dinner until about 11pm. I decided to bail out as soon as the formal portion was over so I could attempt to mitigate the damage my stone-drunk roommate would do to my room on his return.
Charles.