Soldier for a Day

On Friday, I participated in the annual Fort Bragg spouses' "Soldier for a Day".  At 0800 we had formation and got down to business with a half hour of PT (physical training). Our platoon's Sergeant was... how do I put this... very into the spirit of things and after the first 45 mins of arriving we were already sweaty and covered in dirt. It was awesome.
This is our "before" pic.






One of the main reasons why I wanted to participate in this day was that we were given the opportunity to jump out of the 34 foot jump tower, simulating jumping out of an airplane. The reason the tower is 34 feet, and not 31 or 56 is that, studies show, a person's fear of heights kicks in at 34 feet. It is the "magic number" to make sure you get the full effect of being so high.
So here is the pic of me in the middle of my jump.











It was so much fun that I just can not wait to go skydiving!



We also got to "shoot" weapons. A simulated computer screen with modified M16s. Very loud and very real feeling. Oh, and even though it was my very first time "shooting", apparently I am an expert. Lethal me, watch out.






Here is a little video of how loud and "real" our range shooting was.








Any respectable soldier cannot come home from the day without a little dirt on their uniform. I knew Brandon would not let me live it down if I didn't really get into the spirit. So here I am crawling about 40 feet in North Carolina's clay dirt, under rusty barbed wire.






It really was much harder than it looked. I even got some "battle wounds".














At the end of the day, all of the ladies and I were beat up, sweaty and smiling. Good times.







We even received "coins" and a little certificate for our efforts. All in all the ladies and I had a great time, and I can say that I did more push ups than I had ever done in my life! Great time, very sore after. I will definitely do it again next year ( if we are still here).