Major Knitter: What I Did This Summer

I'm just back from my two-week U.S. Marine Corps Reserve annual training in the desert. We went for Javelin Thrust (located in Yuma, Arizona; Bridgeport, California; and Hawthorne, NV). I got the short straw and was at the most austere of the three locations - Hawthorne - and loved it. It's hard to explain. The conditions are severe. We live, work, eat, sleep, clean in the sand. It's hot, windy, sandy, and Marines just suck it up and pretend it's normal. I just kept telling myself it was only a two-week training exercise - not a seven-month deployment to a war zone.

Yes, this is where I lived and worked for two weeks. It sort of puts everything into perspective.

On the way out, only 5 Marines from my unit were sent to Hawthorne. We flew to Reno, Nevada, and were hosted by a makeshift USO (what AMAZING volunteers!) while we waited for our buses.

Some of us emailed on our smart phones. Most of us slept on the floor.

I staked out my little corner of the floor and knit, read and slept waiting for our bus. I finally asked about the estimated departure of our bus. The sergeant spoke to me for about 3 minutes before shaking his head as he realized I was a Marine. He apologized and said "Oh, I thought you were a USO volunteer." Apparently, that was a common misconception.

Finally, at 2:00 a.m., our bus departed Reno for Hawthorne. The good thing about the military is that we're very conscientious of the fact that we're spending taxpayers money, so the bus would not leave until it was completely full. We drove through the night and arrived at 5:00 a.m. - 31 hours after we began our journey from home.

Rather than reporting for duty at 7:00 a.m. (normal Marine Corps time), we were allowed to settle into our hooches (e.g. tents) for a few hours sleep. My tent is the green one - second from the left. I was the only female officer in Hawthorne. I shared the tent with three Staff Noncommissioned Officers - one Marine, one Navy dental SNCO, and one Navy medical SNCO. It was a cozy group.

This was my "Home, Sweet Home" for two weeks. Believe it or not, my cot was very comfortable after a long, tiring day.

This is the tent where I worked. We had the hilarious task of moving it 6 feet to the south before our "war" began. The Marines took it in stride, quickly emptied the contents of the tent, dug up the stakes, and moved the tent the two meters to the south before reassembling our workspace.

The austere conditions made me appreciate a shower, Kleenex, clean hair (I had sand in my hair for 2 weeks), fresh food, and my family. Stay tuned for more posts. You won't want to miss the hygiene posts. Trust me.