Once we were settled back into the Army way of life, it was back to business as usual. We had one week to prepare for what would become the worst week in my life, FTX (Field Training Exercise). FTX is a weeklong training exercise that takes place in the woods out in the middle of nowhere (don’t worry though, these aren’t the same woods infested with wild emus). The object of FTX is to test the t and simulate a situation that utilizes every skill that we had learned over that past 13 weeks.
For the exercise, we would sleep only in our sleeping bags on the open ground covered solely by a thin sheet of canvas known as a shelter half. It is called a shelter half because the idea is to get with a battle buddy and use their shelter half with yours to create a tent you both could sleep in. This was a downfall to start with, be it that 4th platoon had an odd number of people. Everyone else had a tent, I had a shelter half and the bitter cold wind and snow to sleep with.
Fortunately, sleep depravation is another part of FTX so there was little time that I spent under my half-a-home.
Had this been any other time of the year, I probably would have had a great time at FTX, I’m sure everyone would have. It wasn’t any other time of year though - it was winter, the dead of winter. To start it off, we were delayed starting FTX for one day because the day we had been schedule to leave more than a foot of snow had fallen on the ground and all the roads leading to the field were shut down. After the snow storm came what had to have been the coldest week in Kentucky’s history. The entire week was plagued with bitter cold and snow flurries.
We were miserable. I recall back, many weeks before our FTX, when we had gone to the field for a day to play as the Op-For (opposing force) for Charlie Company during their FTX. We were all geared up with MILES* gear and blanks for our M-4s and would engage Charlie Company through a series of ambushes and direct assaults on their base. We did incredibly well against Charlie Company during our Op-For operations and assumed that we had to have been better soldiers. It wasn’t until we were out in the bitter cold field, lacking sleep and warm meals, that we realized that in fact Charlie Company had just be demoralized. It wasn’t about us being better soldiers; it was about them not giving a crap about FTX anymore. It was about them just wanting to be back at the barracks eating a hot meal, taking a hot shower, and sleeping in a warm bed. That’s how all of us felt during FTX, and that’s why Echo Company kicked our asses when they came to our FTX to play Op-For.
The week at FTX became a long and tedious affair filled with near hypothermia and multiple occasions of drifting to sleep while standing up. The only thought that went through my head was a countdown to when it would be over. It was so cold that all the capillaries in my nose had suffered frost-bite. I then suffered chronic nosebleeds for several months, making me waking up in literal pools of blood and mucus. That’s all I remember from FTX.
We road-marched 18 Kilometers back to our barracks after FTX had completed. It was the longest distance I have walked with a smile on my face every step of the way. After all, I was only 18 Kilometers away from a hot meal and a hot shower.
Once we got back, there was a ceremony awaiting us. It is Army tradition that when an IET soldier completes their FTX they are to walk past a fire to be officially confirmed as soldiers of the United States Army. It is the Rights of Passage. There was not one of us that did not hold our heads high for the ceremony. We had made it.
After Rights of Passage, we headed to the barracks where FTX got one last laugh at us. In the Army’s ever disciplined way to pinch money, the water heaters in our barracks had been turned off for the past week and someone had dropped the ball on turning them back on. After not showering for a week and being out in the bitter cold, there is no worse punishment than to have to take a cold shower.
The next morning the shower was hot and I woke up extra early to spend just 5 minutes in there. It the longest shower I had at basic training*.
* MILES is an acronym for Multiple Integrated Laser Engagement System. It consists of several sensors that attach to your helmet and body, and a laser that attaches to your rifle. When you are hit by a laser, an ear deafening alarm sounds on your body and you are presumed dead. Basically laser tag, Army style. The faulty issue with MILES gear is that every soldier requires 10 AA batteries, 2 for laser, 4 for helmet sensors, and 4 for body sensors. We were often shorted batteries, and the batteries that we were issued, seldom had a charge. Miles gear rarely worked effectively.
* The maximum amount of time we were allowed in the shower is 60 seconds. When Drill Sergeant is in a hurry, it drops down to just 30.
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