Current location:	`Malkishua`
Current mood:	bored
Entry tags:	diary, rants

Bending the rules
Out of all the people on my airforce base, I must be one of the few who managed to break nearly every single rule of guarding, not only at their base, but also at the two-week remote guard in another base. Throughout these years in the army, I've broken so many of these rules in all sorts of unique ways that I simply lost track!

These two weeks' rules and violations include without limitation:

Arrival 5 minutes before the shift time for preparations.

• Arrived 5 minutes after shift time due to lengthy equipment packing.

Water containers [2] in the vest must be full.

• Both were empty for overall weight reduction

Must be awake throughout the entire shift.

• Fell asleep while on-duty, intensionally to pass the time and unintensionally.

No media players of other means of distraction allowed.

• Brought an iPAQ, 2 cellphones, laptop, minidiscman, digital camera and a clipboard to the tower and used them while on-duty.
• Listened to music, radio, and talked on the phone.
• Watched movies on the iPAQ throughout the entire shift.
• Surfing the web with cellphone/iPAQ/laptop.
• Teaching 3rd beekin class during the shift (~2+ hours).
• Drawing in the clipboard during the shift.
• Playing solitaire and other games on the iPAQ.

No books, newspapers or other reading material.

• Read RGR stories on the PDA.

Must always look outside the base.

• Turned the back towards the other area while operating the laptop.
• Assumed sitting positions that don't allow clear view outside, but are more comfortable

All equipment must be worn/equipped.

• M-16 left standing by the chair during every shift.
• Vest sometimes left on the bench instead of being worn.

Periodic use of the light projector to scan the area at night.

• Light projector used only for internal lighting in the tower or not at all.

Hourly comm check against Operations.

• Used the comm only when queried by Ops or felt like throwing a comment in.

Guard swapping only to be done on the tower.

• Left the tower before the other guardians reached the place.

Perform a patrol at the end of each shift.

• Sometimes went straight to the dorms instead.
• Used shortcuts - against regulations.

I have to admit that it's not a nice thing to do, of course - the more I bend the rules, the bigger are the chances for hostile parties to get in, but with all due respect, guarding 8 hours a day (4 day, 4 night) for two weeks straight and go strictly by the book can make even the most sane person a nutcrack! People who wrote such rules and think that they can be followed for 3 years need a serious reality check.

At the digital age, it's a tad bit hard to sit in a tower, do absolutely nothing for nearly half a day and have no methods of communication or passing the time for as long. A human needs to get busy - to do something as long as he is awake - he can't just stare at the static view where nothing changes for so long and it's also inhuman to demand that of him!..