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Third week of military service is coming to an end. It’s been a difficult start, first mentally and now more and more physically. The routine becomes more natural as weeks go by but some things are hard to get used to. For example, waking up at 05:50 AM and knowing that in a couple of minutes a seargant will walk down the hallway yelling “Wake up!” on the top of his lungs is still as disturbing as it was on the first day.
Yet, as much as the experience is nasty, it is useful. Days are packed full and the drill is quite relentless. One military day feels like three days in normal life in terms of productivity and learned information. The people here are different: some of my comrades are great guys, some are morons that deserve to be punched in the face. Luckily, I live in the same room with a guy from my school and surprisingly, a guy I went to kindergarten with. Here we are 16 years later - life works in funny circles. The seargants and higher officers are mostly good, hard-working and funny guys. On my first days here, I was particularly frightened by one seargant, but now he’s one of the most likeable ones - every sentence he says is comedy gold.
There’s not much leisure time here but the time I do have I use mostly to let my fantasy run free and write down some ideas. A film idea I’ve had for a long time is finally starting to form into a tangible shape. Some days, I listen to music (Pink Floyd has been best at relieving stress). It’s interesting how much more information your ears pick up from songs once you’ve stopped listening to music every day and given your ears a restart, so to say.
There are moments when I want to damn this place to hell, and wonder why I need to be here. Such moments include waking up shivering in a damp forest after 3 hours of sleep, or getting your food last and having virtually no time to eat, or being yelled at for something that an idiot from your group has done. But most of the time here is bearable, and even enjoyable. At least there is a meaning to my actions, a greater good that was lacking before I came here. Being in the military makes me realise how poorly I was dealing with certain aspects of my life and helps to understand why I was feeling down most of the time. But it also makes me realise that there’s no fighting against who I am inside. Living in a room with 22 guys teaches you to choose which kind of people you want to deal with, and that in the end nothing is going to (and doesn’t need to) change the core of my personality.
 
I appreciate your change of perspective. You'll also start feeling more and more good about yourself because you're exposed to the 'generation key' in the army - now you see what kind of a moron the average person of your age is.
 
Have had the most active week of aerobatics training since I completed the rating in late April. This week I've flown five training flights. Two with instructor and three solo. Yesterday and today I practiced the competition sequence and the next training flight will be at the airfield where the competition will be held.

I don't expect to be best in my class, but I expect to learn a lot and, of course, have fun.
 
Saapanael said:
Third week of military service is coming to an end. It’s been a difficult start, first mentally and now more and more physically. The routine becomes more natural as weeks go by but some things are hard to get used to. For example, waking up at 05:50 AM and knowing that in a couple of minutes a seargant will walk down the hallway yelling “Wake up!” on the top of his lungs is still as disturbing as it was on the first day.
Yet, as much as the experience is nasty, it is useful. Days are packed full and the drill is quite relentless. One military day feels like three days in normal life in terms of productivity and learned information. The people here are different: some of my comrades are great guys, some are morons that deserve to be punched in the face. Luckily, I live in the same room with a guy from my school and surprisingly, a guy I went to kindergarten with. Here we are 16 years later - life works in funny circles. The seargants and higher officers are mostly good, hard-working and funny guys. On my first days here, I was particularly frightened by one seargant, but now he’s one of the most likeable ones - every sentence he says is comedy gold.
There’s not much leisure time here but the time I do have I use mostly to let my fantasy run free and write down some ideas. A film idea I’ve had for a long time is finally starting to form into a tangible shape. Some days, I listen to music (Pink Floyd has been best at relieving stress). It’s interesting how much more information your ears pick up from songs once you’ve stopped listening to music every day and given your ears a restart, so to say.
There are moments when I want to damn this place to hell, and wonder why I need to be here. Such moments include waking up shivering in a damp forest after 3 hours of sleep, or getting your food last and having virtually no time to eat, or being yelled at for something that an idiot from your group has done. But most of the time here is bearable, and even enjoyable. At least there is a meaning to my actions, a greater good that was lacking before I came here. Being in the military makes me realise how poorly I was dealing with certain aspects of my life and helps to understand why I was feeling down most of the time. But it also makes me realise that there’s no fighting against who I am inside. Living in a room with 22 guys teaches you to choose which kind of people you want to deal with, and that in the end nothing is going to (and doesn’t need to) change the core of my personality.
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With any luck, everyone being in the same situation acts as a bit of a leveller too. People who consistently act like dickheads will just cause trouble for everyone else and become a pain, instead of being funny and popular.
 
How long does the service last, @Saapanael?

Glad to hear you're doing well, and that you're keeping a positive attitude.

For me this sounds like a nightmare from hell, particularly stuff like:

Saapanael said:
waking up at 05:50 AM and knowing that in a couple of minutes a seargant will walk down the hallway yelling “Wake up!”
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Saapanael said:
waking up shivering in a damp forest after 3 hours of sleep, or getting your food last and having virtually no time to eat, or being yelled at for something that an idiot from your group has done
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Saapanael said:
Living in a room with 22 guys
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Luckily they cancelled mandatory military service here right before I reached the age where I would've had to take it, and even then, it probably would've been something like guarding a school or a hospital. They are planning to bring it back soon, but luckily I'll be too old for that. Even if they raised the age limit, I have way too much anxiety in my system to be eligible for that.
 
Night Prowler said:
How long does the service last, @Saapanael?

Glad to hear you're doing well, and that you're keeping a positive attitude.

For me this sounds like a nightmare from hell, particularly stuff like:





Luckily they cancelled mandatory military service here right before I reached the age where I would've had to take it, and even then, it probably would've been something like guarding a school or a hospital. They are planning to bring it back soon, but luckily I'll be too old for that. Even if they raised the age limit, I have way too much anxiety in my system to be eligible for that.
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11 months. Since I didn’t have any future plans, I figured I should get it over with. And I needed some discipline in my life.

Estonia is such a small country that we need to show initiative if we want to cooperate with larger nations, I guess that’s one of the main motives for mandatory military service.
 
@Saapanael I agree about Pink Floyd, it's one of the best things to listen there. I feel you.

Saapanael said:
Living in a room with 22 guys teaches you to choose which kind of people you want to deal with, and that in the end nothing is going to (and doesn’t need to) change the core of my personality.
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Go with the flow. Bend so you don't break. It's difficult to stay completely unchanged in such environment.
When this all is finished it will be like it almost never happened. And frankly it may be even a good chapter (or parts at least) of your story book.
All these people that now are a big part of your life and maybe even break your balls, you'll most probably never see again.
 
Zare said:
Completely against conscription, voluntary military service is fine.
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I used to think conscription was kinda a cool concept, but I'm far less OK with it now. I think I still prefer the idea of a year or two of youth work in programs of local interest - working at a local farm, a library, other areas of public good - but with the payoff being a four year ride to university/college or a bond that can be used to put towards a house or something. (this is not well thought out public policy, just me riffing). And if you want, you could do the military too, but I'd prefer to see that not be the default.
 
Saapanael said:
11 months. Since I didn’t have any future plans, I figured I should get it over with. And I needed some discipline in my life.

Estonia is such a small country that we need to show initiative if we want to cooperate with larger nations, I guess that’s one of the main motives for mandatory military service.
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LooseCannon said:
I used to think conscription was kinda a cool concept, but I'm far less OK with it now. I think I still prefer the idea of a year or two of youth work in programs of local interest - working at a local farm, a library, other areas of public good - but with the payoff being a four year ride to university/college or a bond that can be used to put towards a house or something. (this is not well thought out public policy, just me riffing). And if you want, you could do the military too, but I'd prefer to see that not be the default.
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I'd be up for it if it was used to teach useful skills, like shooting guns and military tactics and shit, not menial cruel stuff like waking up at 5 am with someone screaming at you and sharing a room with gazillion people.
 
Night Prowler said:
I'd be up for it if it was used to teach useful skills, like shooting guns and military tactics and shit, not menial cruel stuff like waking up at 5 am with someone screaming at you and sharing a room with gazillion people.
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Yeah they are, actually, related in a way.
 
Night Prowler said:
I'd be up for it if it was used to teach useful skills, like shooting guns and military tactics and shit, not menial cruel stuff like waking up at 5 am with someone screaming at you and sharing a room with gazillion people.
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1. They don't teach you military tactics if you're just a private.
2. If they have to teach you shit (useful skill, admittedly) at that stage of your life, tough.
 
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