Is this anyway for a beauty queen to live? well I guess it is if she just happens to be a Major in the United States Army, like me. So here I am spending another summer at Fort Lewis, Washington. Living in old World War II Barracks, that need to be, that should be and some have been condemned. the photos are not actually from Fort Lewis, but they may as well be, the "temporary" WWII barracks looks the same at Military bases all across the United States. So how did I get so lucky as to spend thirty plus days at this vacation spot? It is all a part of being an Army ROTC instructor, we all get our chance to each summer to train ROTC Cadets at Fort Lewis. Don't get me wrong the rest of Fort Lewis is just beautiful, they just stick us temporary folks in these temporary buildings. I've tried to explain that I have this beauty regime that just does not go along with living in a room that is smaller than my college dorm room, that living in the 80 degree heat without air conditioning is doing nothing for my complexion, that only having a community microwave oven to cook my food in is doing nothing for my strict Weight-Watchers diet, the one thing that I am getting plenty of is exercise, running here, walking there, riding my bike over there etc. I complain only because I can laugh at it all, after 21 years in the Army, I've seen plenty and lived in worse, besides that, I say that there are worse places I could be, I think about my brothers and sisters who are "living" in Iraq and Afghanistan, in tents in 120 degree heat, sucking the sand into there lungs day in and day out, and worrying if they will be the next ones to drive by that IED. Then I sit back and say"this just isn't that bad". Beauty Queen? sometimes; Soldier?

Always.