Blood, Sweat and Tears

Our platoon has shed all three within the past 12 weeks.

I've sweat more during my time in the army than I have in the rest of my entire life thus far. Not that that is a bad thing. Its a sign that we are working hard, doing our best. Its a testament to reaching towards, arriving at and going beyond one's physical limits. In the words of one of my company's Staff warrant officers after the entire company had just run 5km within 23 minutes: "You really feel alive after a run like that." Not only was the run exhausting, but the outside temperature was averaging 27 degrees Celsius. In the end though, no matter how hot and sweaty one is, the shower afterward feels fantastic. After one has recovered there's a certain pride and sense of accomplishment that comes from having endured.

Blood, we've all shed it, some more than others but there isn't a week that goes by that we don't come home nursing bruises, cuts and other wounds. We give it our all and more often than not that results in cuts and bruises. We bear them with pride however, a peculiar badge of honor.

On the first of September, we unexpectedly lost one of our own. We mourned. We attended the funeral. There wasn't a dry eye in my entire platoon. The death of a friend and comrade puts life into a unique perspective. There's little that can be said to ease the pain and loss. One needs to work it out and come to terms with it and never forget his memory and the good times shared as well as the hardships endured together.

Tomorrow I return to Thun for Junior Officer School (Unteroffiziersschule). One thought that as continuously crossed my mind during the past 11 weeks is the concept of the guardians as outlined by Plato in his work "The Republic". I've seen some interesting comparisons between Plato's guardians and Switzerland's Militia system. Which brings be to another point of interest: I'm pleased to report that Switzerland has decided against changing with structure of the Armed Forces from a Militia system to a Voluntary/Professional system.