Mike Dunford was a graduate student in the Department of Zoology at the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where he studied evolution. Life as an army spouse has since moved him on to Pensacola, where he's currently trying to figure out what to do next. While he's doing that, he writes stuff here, although not usually in the third person. He's also a contributer to 
Don't get me wrong. Living on base has some huge advantages for military families. The kids are around other kids who also move a lot. My wife can bike to work (on days when she doesn't walk). There are good recreational facilities available close to the house, both for us and the kids. On the whole, it's a good deal - especially for the price.
But there are also some disadvantages. There are a lot of training programs here, and quite a few of the classes get to do their physical training together, as a unit, under the gentle direction of their instructors. Early this morning, a couple of those instructors decided that it would be a good idea to not only run one through our housing area, but also to stop their unit for some remedial instruction in the art of running together and following orders.
My morning wake-up today came in the form of, "HALT MEANS STOP!! STOP MOVING NOW!!!" WE CAN DO THIS ALL DAY!!! FALL IN!!!
Comments
Being woken up by them is still infinitely better than being one of them.
;-)
Posted by: John Pieret | August 7, 2008 1:16 PM
The sound of freedom!
Posted by: Jim Thomerson | August 7, 2008 8:29 PM
You need to move to a Navy or Air Force base. No one marches in these branches after boot camp. Hell, I didn't even have to march in boot camp.
Posted by: Qwerty (former Navy cook) | August 11, 2008 6:54 PM
We live at NAS Pensacola.
Posted by: Mike Dunford | August 11, 2008 6:59 PM
I took my first basic (reservist) at a small base in tourist country. I doubt there were enough roads on base to do a five-k run. So we usually ran off-base (and down a hill with an 8% grade) to the homes, hotels, and on one occasion the golf course, below.
Many mornings our training seargeant and master-corporals (both recent graduates of the Airborne school) would address the assembled platoon with:
"Okay! It's a beautiful #^$%ing day. Let's go wake up some citizens! ... Atthedub-BUL ... HARCH!"
Posted by: Metro | August 12, 2008 1:06 PM