aadler | Day 8 at NTC

My orders for NTC call for twenty-four days. This is the eighth day I’ve been here, so I’m a third of the way through.

Something changed during the night. I had thought that I and our NCOIC would be doing a shift at the TOC from 11:00 PM to 6:00 AM, and that I’d get less than four hours sleep before that shift began. Instead we didn’t have to go in at all, and I slept for ten hours and change.

The day moved slowly, and yet things kept getting done. I was provided with supplies that had failed to make it into our truck when we had to move out unexpectedly three days ago. I had my ATL brief our specialist — and then me — on the principal equipment we use, since I hadn’t operated it since Iraq and had frankly forgotten how. We finally received our individual MILES gear (and none too soon; we’d already been challenged a dozen times for not having it on). We moved our truck from the motor pool to a more advantageous position next to the Civil Affairs tent (where I’ll have a space in their office, my NCOIC having arranged a working partnership with the CA people). Other things were taken care of and we’re making plans for tomorrow, and the FOB has showers available now and the rumor that a chow hall had opened turned out to be pleasantly true.

Because different things kept me going back and forth, I didn’t begin any further draft on “Queen’s Gambit” … but I turned out more than 800 words on the secondary story I mentioned a few days ago, which I’m calling “Zero-Sum Game”. I know approximately how the narrative will proceed, and given how it’s gone so far, I anticipate it totaling 3,500 to 4,000 words.

I made plans with my team for tomorrow (we’re doing lanes training, wherein you’re tested in various tasks; if you pass, you move to the next lane, and if you fail, you’re drilled and train until you pass, then move on), did some more writing, took a shower, wrote some more.

At the end of the day, I’ve managed 700 words on “Queen’s Gambit”, bringing it almost to 20,000 words.

And now I’m going to bed.