Warren AFB
6/27/17 Cheyenne, Wyoming
We're spending the night at Warren Air Force Base on the outskirts of Cheyenne. Because I'm retired military, we can use the RV facilities that most bases have. It's a pretty good deal; for 15-20 bucks you get power, water, sewer connections and a gated community with an armed guard.
Life is subtly different on a military base. Time is measured by bugle calls that can catch you by surprise. The Post Commander determines the schedule, so it can differ a little from base to base. At the sound of "To the Colors" everyone on base stops whatever they are doing and turns toward the music. It's like when you were 10 and somebody yelled "freeze". It is a moment of oneness when everybody is doing the same thing, privates and generals, bound by ritual and ceremony.
Military bases are cloistered societies. They evolve socially at a different rate than civilians. There are charming remnants of chauvinism. In the parking lot of the Base Commissary (grocery store), the parking spaces nearest the store have stork placards. Pregnant women get precedence over everyone. A reminder of what we lost during the feminist revolution.
We're spending the night at Warren Air Force Base on the outskirts of Cheyenne. Because I'm retired military, we can use the RV facilities that most bases have. It's a pretty good deal; for 15-20 bucks you get power, water, sewer connections and a gated community with an armed guard.
Life is subtly different on a military base. Time is measured by bugle calls that can catch you by surprise. The Post Commander determines the schedule, so it can differ a little from base to base. At the sound of "To the Colors" everyone on base stops whatever they are doing and turns toward the music. It's like when you were 10 and somebody yelled "freeze". It is a moment of oneness when everybody is doing the same thing, privates and generals, bound by ritual and ceremony.
Military bases are cloistered societies. They evolve socially at a different rate than civilians. There are charming remnants of chauvinism. In the parking lot of the Base Commissary (grocery store), the parking spaces nearest the store have stork placards. Pregnant women get precedence over everyone. A reminder of what we lost during the feminist revolution.
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