On this day, July 14th, 2003, twenty years ago, I started my first day as an infantry recruit. I remember this day as if it was yesterday. It was a really hot day. I woke up early, checked all my packings, breakfasted, and waited to drive to the barracks while watching Bastille Day Military Parade on French television. My mum took me there because I did not have a driving license yet. I said her goodbye and followed a queue of guys wearing shorts to register in my new platoon. We received our camo clothes and our assault rifle. Then basic training started right away: how to talk, how to walk, how to behave, how to assemble a rifle, how to shoot.
15 weeks later, I was no longer a recruit, but a rifleman. One thing that I remember the most was the last words of an NCO before leaving the barracks: "you are now prepared to give your life for your country if it is needed". At that moment, I suddenly realized that all this training would mean that, as a rifleman, I would have to be fighting real enemies if a defense scenario of Switzerland would happen, and thus, potentially die with high probability.
Over the years, I chose not to stay as a simple soldier and tried NCO's school and then officer's school. It was hard, really hard, but it was one of the best times in my life. After a couple of years as a platoon leader, I finally became a staff officer, and there I finally reached my best fit in the army. Being able to bring engineering and soft skills to help commanding officers make the best decisions, while following state of the art crisis management processes.
Today, I am a lead staff officer in Swiss Air Force Drone Command, and I enjoy every moment serving my country. I provide valuable feedbacks to professional officers and help improving overall efficiency. I can definitively say that I consider my fellow military comrades as a second family.
I am supposed to serve for around 10 more years and I can't wait to see in which unit and with which position I will be at the time...