Hello again. Two weeks behind and it hasn't been too bad.
First couple days were quite hectic because everything was unclear etc.. but it settled down in few days.
We wake up at 6:15AM every morning, sometimes at 5:30AM and we've got a 3 to 5km of running before breakfast three times a week. Breakfast is at 6:45AM.
It has been basic training for now, formation drills, lessons about basic military practices, basic weapon training (our service rifle is the RK-62, 7.62mm fully automatic assault rifle), physichal tests, basic equipment training etc..
I'm assigned to the 2nd section of the 1st anti-aircraft battery at the Karelia Brigade. Luckily we got good group leaders (Corporals, serving 12 months) who do their duties right but aren't complete assholes..
Some platoons/sections got group leaders who think they're some kind of big bosses around and act like complete assholes, though in reality they're the lowest rank of non commissioned officers who just follow lieutenant's orders and haven't got anything to say about what happens.
Basic training season is same at all warfare areas and it lasts about eight weeks and after that you know if you serve six or twelve months. After the basic training season the specializing in your own warfare area begins.
We spent few nights at the woods near the shooting range at near the city of Hamina, we had our first shooting practices there. Of course we've got our own shooting ranges etc.. at the Karelia Brigade also, but we went to Hamina so we can practice the camping also. It was pouring sleet all the time..
Though when you heat the stove of the army tent red and hot it was warm and comfy inside. Tents can accomodate about 20 people, everyone takes turns on heating the stove, 1h per shift. I got the 4AM to 5AM shift.
I used a weapon for the first time in my life, (well if you don't count the BB gun) i'm quite surprised by the results, from the knee I shot 85 out of 100 with the RK-62 in single fire mode (10 shots, targets at the range of 150 meters)
I also put on the full combat kit for the first time, it consists of the combat kit and the field kit and together they weight around 40kg. At first you feel like a tin soldier with it because movement is quite limited with it.
We've got quite nice free time activites etc.. at the Karelia Brigade, there's a small shop, coffee house, pizza place, swimming hall, running track, computer room, band room and even a small arcade.
Free time starts usually around 6PM and lasts to 8:30PM if there's no evening service assigned.
Controlled evening activites start at 8:30PM which means you have to make your bed so that there's not a single wrinkle on your pillow or your blanket and your bedcover must be folded on the chair exactly so that the white and blue squares on the bedcover line up correctly in every side and there are no gaps between the folds.
Before that there are few minutes of time to go wash your teeth. Though controlled evening activities usually end at the 9:30PM so there's 30 minutes of time to do whatever you want before the silent hour (silent hour lasts from 10PM to 11PM, during that it's not allowed to walk in corridors) so there's enough time to take a shower etc.. after that. Same thing at the morning when you wake up but the bedcover is put on the bed and there must be no wrinkles on the bed.
Sounds stupid and crazy and it definately is, but they make us do it so there's something to do (because when it's service time, they say there should never be time when a soldier hasn't got anything to do
) and people settle down around the evening and morning hours.
They say it's because it teaches us the correct military precision but I think it's just there to annoy us and make sure we don't have too much free time before the silent hour or the breakfast.
Luckily after the basic traning season we don't have anymore controlled evening or morning activities.
I don't have any pics yet but I'm going to take my camera with me when I go back tomorrow.
