6 Kids, 3 cats, 1 dog, Mom, and Dad

Winter Basic Training or Ain't never been that cold.

I attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood (List in the Woods), Missouri. I entered the service 5 Dec 1983 and got out 4 Dec 1987. The Army does something called Exodus and basically shuts down over Christmas and New Years. I was only in for a couple of weeks before being paid and sent home for Christmas.

Before they sent us home they told us all of the horrible things that could happen to you if you didn't come back, had us get haircuts so that we were bald again, and sent us on our way.

I got on an airplane and when I mentioned to the flight attendant that I was going home to see my wife she said, "But you ain't nothing but an itty-bitty baby!" I guess being bald made me look about 10 years old instead of 20.

As for being cold...We did something called bivouac. We got paired with a buddy and between the two of you your packs contained the stuff needed to make a small, two-man tent. The tent didn't make it to the ground, and all we had for the bottom of it was our waterproof ponchos that we laid on the ground. The ground, since it was the dead of winter, was covered with a solid base of snow and ice.

The tent had to be snapped together and it was so cold that we could only do one snap at a time, taking turns, before our hands were so numb that we couldn't feel them. We were supposed to be out for five days but they had to bring us back in two of the days when the temperature fell below 20 degrees below zero (not counting the wind chill).

The sleeping bags were rated for Arctic use and were plenty warm. In fact, you had to strip down to your underwear or you'd end up sweating and then that would make you cold. In the mummy-style sleeping bag you had yourself and your M16 because God help the trainee that had their weapon stolen at night.

The absolute worst part was stripping down before getting into the sleeping bag, and getting dressed when you woke up. Oh, and one other time...when you woke up at night and had to pee. You had to decide if it was worth getting dressed again, or if you'd rather throw on your boots, frozen solid by this time, and run to the nearest tree instead.

The drill sergeants all slept in a big tent, with cots, and a stove fueled by the dead branches that we all had to gather as part of the area beautification project.

I can't remember being colder before those days, or since.

Posted by bbarton at May 6, 2005 03:00 PM