A short military experience…

One day, I received a letter which contained a paper concerning my military day (a sort of military service reduced to its smallest expression ) .The first thing that impressed me, was the title given to this document « CONVOCATION ORDER » .

Two months later, at nine o’clock AM, I arrived in Montargis for the best experience in my life !

The barracks were quite impressive, and the group composed of 50 people (boys and girls ) of my age, that is 18, started with the presentation and the administrative formalities .Then, we took a breakfast at the canteen where the ambiance was not the best we could wish .

Later, we were separated into three different classrooms (in order to reduce the number of people in each class), and the lessons started .

The first part of the day dealt with the objects of the defence :

Why should we have an army to protect ourselves ?

The second part answered to the question : How can we protect ourselves ?

After a short break, we had a test about our knowledge concerning the reading .This test was organised by the National Education minister. It was the end of the first part , then we had a lunch with the reserve officers who arrived dressed in a line and stood at attention .They probably felt a bit nervous because of our presence .

After lunch, which was not better than at school, we finished the second part of the test and started a film about the French Republic and its history .

The last part concerned the means of our defence :

Tanks , warships, submarines , and nuclear bombs ! ! !

This day was horrible for me, I never felt so bored and I didn’t learn many things .

Jonathan