Monster Thoughts

One thing about the infantry that they do not tell you before coming in is the countless hours of guard duty you have to pull especially on a deployment. You sit, stand, sing, think about the cosmos, anything really just to pass the time. But the truth of the fact is that everybody no matter what their demeanor is going up into the towers loses a bit of their mind at some point during the eight hours shifts. The towers themselves have a sort of power over whomever happens to occupy them at the time. It is as though whatever negative energy is carried into the tower stays there and continues to fester consuming the individual(s) pulling guard. I can attest to this theory because on some days when I was feeling as fine as one could being stuck in Iraq but as soon as I got up in the tower feelings of angry would wash over me instantly. It seems like the only thing that would make you feel better is just getting down immediately. But that is not the only thing preying on the guardsmen. You have the exhausting heat of the desert, the real chance of falling down the ladder, misquotes, gnats, unrelenting sandstorms, screeching cats, and last but not least, camel spiders. If you want to see grown men turn into a bunch of pansies throw a creepy looking camel spider into the mix. Besides all of that the real thing that gets me is the way time seems to come to a standstill while you pull guard. But its a part of what we do, it is what makes us who we are because if we did not do it others who had would dog us on how it "use" to be, even though they already find ways to do so anyhow. At least when I get old and I hear some whipper-snapper complain about having to wait in line I can remind him on how I use to have to pull guard with full body armor in 115 degree heat, misquotes, gnats, falling down the ladder, unrelenting sandstorms, screeching cats and nasty camel spiders.