I thought right at the start that drill was very much like dance practice. This now… getting ready for the graduation ceremony… is like dance practice with props. Everyone's tired, everyone's just that little bit less attentive—and absolutely everyone is covered in bruises. You never realise how hard and unyielding a rifle is until you've whacked it a few times across your collarbones. Or hit yourself in the head with it switching arms. Or hit the guy next to you.

And we still look like a bunch of amateurs. Not at all in synch.

Clearly, more work needs to be done, and it'd be tough and tedious, but it feels different now than it did over the last few weeks. It's not longer a feeling of please let me get through the training. Now, there's something to look forward to. Graduation, and family visits and then the posting.

That one's laced with apprehension. Starting over with new people in a new place. This time as rookies alongside guys who've been there a while. And yeah, Triangle springs to mind… forcibly… and not just because my ing bruises hurt tonight.