Battle Rhythm

A term that is used a lot in the Army, and as I discovered just a couple of years ago, with the Air Force is Battle Rhythm. Just saying the phrase brings a bit of excitement into your mind. However, the phrase is just a trumped up way of saying. . . your routine. Talk about a let down, I am a bit sour over that, but I will live, as always, with my disappointment.

Since arriving in Afghanistan, my Battle Rhythm has not really changed. I get up around 7 to start training around 8. The showers here are interesting, to say the best. They are affectionately refered to as the cell block. The building is two stories, eight conex boxes wide and two connex boxes deep. The bottom level is just tanks for the potable water and the resultant grey water. The upper level contains the showers - as you walk in the doors the entire right hand sie is open, with a few benches. Meanwhile the entire left hand side are "showers in a box." The single wide conex cells contain four sinks and six shower stalls. The floors are metal covered with a wood grate system. I prefer cell 7, because it has normal shower heads, as opposed to the military, dare I say boat-style shower heads.

The training is always overscheduled, so I am done by 10-1030 just in time for my nearly three hour lunch and nap period. The afternoon training starts about 1330 and continues, less a short period for dinner, until around 2000. I could only wich that the rest of the time here would be so easy. The training is interesting, but leaves me wondering how I am supposed to be the expert they want me to be.

After class I will usually got to the USO. The Pat Tillman USO center was named for the football player who died in combat in Afghanistan a few years ago. Because of this the NFL donated $250,000 for the building and amenaties. It is one of the better USOs that I have ever visited. It has a lodge feel to it, with an loft level set up with small cafe style tables. So far it is the only wireless place that I have been to.

The MWRs are good, they have DSN phones and desktop computers hooked up to the internet. They also have movie rooms where they play movies on a large screen almost continuously all day long.

From the USO I will go to back to my double wide conex box, with six of my closest friends and sleep for the night.