Morning colors

I never thought I would see a beautiful sun rise in Quantico. I remember only seeing it rise in exhaustion and under duress while at Officer Candidate School. But here at The Basics School, it was a different feeling all together.


The ground was still wet from the storm the night before. The orange sun peered out over the edge of the woods and shone on a long one story steel structure. New Lieutenants walked out of the two door entrance with a red sign in yellow lettering saying “supply issue.” Our boots sloshed in the field surrounding the building as we set our newly issued gear out for counting.

I spread out my green tarp and placed all my issued equipment on the ground; helmet, hiking pack, camp stool, goggles, winter fleece, bullet proof vest, load bearing vest and other forms of gear that would be used for the period of instruction for the next 6 months. Once finished, I took a seat on my black wooden camp stool and tilted the brim of my hat down just a bit to shield my eyes from the rising sun.

Humidity had not set in yet, and I was thankful for it. The smell of wet grass accompanied by the sounds of early morning birds in the near forest made it feel like I was home. I sat there with a paper check list in hand, waiting for the rest of the officers to get their gear and spread it out on the small field surrounding the storage building.

A lance corporal shouted out commands to us to check our gear. Other officers went back up to exchange broken gear. Others talked to one another, asking what was coming next after the gear issue, and if the physical fitness tests the next day was going to be in the morning or the afternoon.

My watch beeped as the hour changed, and without fail, a recorded sound of a trumpet call came from the distance originating from the base. Without command and under instinct, all 300 officers and enlisted men on that field, including myself, stopped talking mid sentence and turned toward the music. We all rendered a salute and stood at the position of attention. Time stopped on the base as I imagined the flag of the United States being raised on a flag pole somewhere in the distance. The wind itself paused and silenced the birds among the trees for just the moment. The sound of the recorded trumpet on the loud speaker echoed in the morning and commanded the entire base from the trees, the wind, the birds, and to the marines who stood rigid, to attention. All was still

The music ended with a quick and direct melody, telling us to carry on. Conversations that stopped mid sentence resumed as if they were never interrupted. Officers continued the debate about the Physical fitness test and concluded that it would be in the morning. The birds sang again and moved among the trees. The sun persisted over the tree line. And I continued to check off gear as the lance corporal continued to list what we needed.

I do not need to reiterate the difference between military life on a base and civilian life in the city. Not much beauty that can be seen in training for war from a civilian perspective. It is only something a warrior can understand. But I believe that all of us can appreciate the sun rise, whether standing at attention, or in the comfort of our own beds.

Thanks for reading