G.I. Barbie

G.I. Barbie
>
> Yup that's my call name. J I had to laugh when the guys first 
> christened me with it..but it's all in good fun. I guess it's a 
> compliment because apparently I am "cute" but way to hardcore to be 
> called regular Barbie. Lol..anyways..I lived in a tent city for the 
> past 3 days and it was actually really really fun. We treated it like 
> a TDY but more like a deployment than anything. I have to say that 
> being a tom-boy growing up and camping out all the time was great 
> preparation for all of this. None of it bothered me all that much. We 
> ate MRE's and I realized I have officially acclimated to the military 
> as I managed to actually enjoy a few of the MRE's I was given! I also 
> decided that they would make great Christmas presents for all of my 
> loved ones, so don't worry you'll all get your chance to enjoy. J It 
> was kind of fun to have all of the Alpha girls in one tent and I got 
> way more than four hours of sleep..(ironic that the best sleep we get 
> is in a tent). I was out cold and didn't even hear the planes taking 
> off every 15 minutes the first night...(wasn't so lucky the second
night).
>
> They took pity on us officers at dinner time though and provided us 
> with hot meals..which we thoroughly enjoyed. The whole event was 
> probably the most fun I've had the whole time here...we're done with
all
> of our official testing (both academic and athletic) and we were free 
> to kind of hang out a bit. WE also had a huge mass casualty and I was 
> one of the two triage nurses..what a thrill! It was actually 
> incredibly realistic and we all played it out like it was the real 
> deal. WE had an ER, OR, ICU, medsurg, pharmacy, etc...complete with 
> chains of command, bombs going off, security running around with 
> guns....etc etc etc. It was sooooooo much fun, and I realized how much
I
> like things fast paced and in your face. It was also a great 
> experience in triage, quick vital assessments, and reporting off to 
> the docs. In addition to the medical drills, we also did four person 
> carries on stretchers and I managed to be on the team with the 200 # 
> patient and the pathetic lifting partners..lets just say my triceps 
> don't like me very much today. Lastly, we did "confidence" and high 
> ropes courses. I love stuff like this and had a blast, but I do have 
> to say that my physical strength and trust was tested to the limit on 
> a few. Rapelling, and balancing on a log fifty feet in the air was a 
> definite thrill and a test of mind over matter. I am bruised from head

> to toe and feel like I was ran over by a truck but I had such a great 
> time. And drumroll please....i have a bit of free time before 
> dinner...AMAZING! The rest of this week is more leadership/physical 
> challenges and then all fun stuff. We have the "o" club orientation 
> (officers club) a 5k run on Saturday and we're painting a Montgomery 
> elementary school for a charity project. Next week is graduation week,

> so it's a wrap up of everything we've learned and a loosening of the 
> chain. I no longer feel like a poser in my uniforms and everything 
> just kind of comes naturally.
>
> I am really excited about my career and everything I'm getting 
> into...sooooo much cool stuff to look forward to! I have a ton of 
> pictures too..but it'll be a bit before I can get around to that....i 
> need to figure out my travel plans to florida in my free time. Love
y'all
>