Exercise, Exercise, Exercise

If you live in the States, you'll think this is a post about exercising. Wrong! This is about the Giant Voice on base. Are you totally confused? Let me tell you a story about a boy, a beanstalk and a giant. Just kidding! On base we have a Giant Voice and that is literally what it is called. You can't make that up. I want to meet the genius that said, what the hell, let's just call it the Giant Voice because that's what it is. The Giant Voice, or GV from this point, is like the loud speaker on base. You can hear it anywhere on base and a lot of times off base. On normal days it will tell you the road conditions on base. We have three in case you were wondering: green, amber and red. We can have 'amber' road conditions, not yellow (like that is too common?), but we have a Giant Voice. The GV also plays the Korean National Anthem and the American National Anthem at 5:30pm every day and Taps at 10:00pm. On non-normal days the GV is on and loud at any time 24/7. I should also note that the GV is an actual person talking with the exception of the songs played or sirens blared. Yes, I said sirens, more on that in a minute.

Right now we are in the middle of an exercise on base. A non-normal week. The base is prepping for an inspection and other things and exercises are part of the process. Each one is different, apparently. I am on my second exercise. The GV is really something during the week. Typically everything it says starts with "Exercise. (pause for the echo) Exercise. (pause) Exercise." Then it will state some kind of message that has some importance to the Exercise. The GV will announce at all hours of the day and night. It will blast siren warnings at all hours of the day AND night. During our first exercise, Rachel looked at me on the last day and asked "Why is that man always telling us to exercise?"

The people involved in the Exercise work all kinds of hours. Adam could work for a good 12-16 hours on any given day. They aren't sitting at their desks working; I won't bore you with what they do. They have to wear all kinds of gear while working depending on what the GV has instructed. That gear can be very heavy and I am glad I don't have to wear it. After work, Adam has to stay in the apartment. He can't go to the gym, the commissary, the post office, or even walk the kids to school. He is at work or at home and so is everyone else participating in the exercise. Think of some of the single folks here that live in dorms and can't go to the chow hall to get meals. They stock up on what they can b/c they are stuck in the dorm or at work with no kitchen. It is a crazy, weird week. Everyone's exhausted whether you are active duty or not.

When the first exercise ended, the GV played the song "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood. It literally just blared out the song, not from the beginning, so you really only got the loud chorus parts. I was hanging pictures up in the living room thinking am I really listening to Lee Greenwood on the GV? That is so bizarre. I had to run across the hall and ask Leslie if she was hearing it too. When she first heard it, she thought maybe her phone was ringing and it had changed its own ringtone. (That, btw, would not be a surprise with Korean cell phones. You think you are doing one thing and it does another) I am wondering what the GV will play at the end of this exercise. Will it be Lee Greenwood? Could it be some other 4^th of July standard? I know you are all on the edge of your seat waiting to know. Until then I leave you with exercise, exercise, exercise……. Crazy loud annoying sirens ….. Exercise, exercise, exercise…… Why IS that man telling us to exercise???