Andrew was assigned to the first squad of the second platoon of the second company of the third training battalion and directed to barracks B23. Fortunately, the buildings were laid out fairly logically, and he quickly found the correct room and walked in the door. There were rows of two-story bunks with a footlocker at either end.

“Pick whichever is empty.” A voice said from almost behind him, surprising the hell out of Andrew.

He kicked himself for not trying to sense if anybody was already here as he turned to find a soldier with two stripes on his arm standing beside a single bunk to the right of the doorway. With the door opening that way, Andrew hadn’t noticed him as he’d walked in, which he kicked himself about once he realized. Andrew looked around the room, and the bunks all looked like they were empty. He glared at the soldier, who he decided was a Corporal from the stripes.

“Am I the first man here?” he asked.

“I’m here.” The Corporal offered, grinning at him.

Andrew was tempted to show him how unamused he was but refrained. Being hazed upon arrival might well be some form of test. He was still upset with himself for not sensing ahead as he’d walked in, thereby preventing himself from being surprised by the Corporal as he entered the barracks.

“There are four blokes here already. They’re over at the mess getting something to eat. But other than that, pick a bunk. The locker nearest the door is the bottom bunk’s.”

“Righto,” Andrew replied and looked around.

He settled on a bunk that was one row of bunks in from the door and to the left because the latrines were on the right-hand side of the barracks. Ha, he thought he’d used the correct military term for the toilets. He quickly emptied his possessions into the locker, politely inquired where the mess was, and headed off with what he hoped were accurate directions to get some dinner.

He didn’t know anybody else, apart from the Captain on the train, but he found a seat at a table once he’d filled his tray, and the table turned out to contain people from the third company of the third training battalion. They’d all arrived the previous day and were all from Norwest and what used to be New South Wales. They all assured him that the first day would be mostly taken up with getting issued uniforms and a tour of the base so that the newbies wouldn’t get lost. Apparently, the real training didn’t start until the second day, and it appeared none of them were looking forward to it, well, apart from one bloke. The others all agreed that the fellow was a gym junkie and a bit strange, although the guy they were referring to seemed to be taking their comments in good part. Eyeing him, he certainly seemed to be fairly ripped!

The food was better than he had been expecting, with a choice of roast beef or sausages, lots of vegetables, and a thick gravy. There were vegetarian alternatives, and most of it was gluten-free as well. The gravy was really tasty! The other four men were already back in the barracks when he returned. Another six men turned up over the next half an hour, each having arrived and gone searching for food just as Andrew had. The ten other recruits were all typical young Ossies. About half were tradies; a couple were off farms, and the others were uni students. Andrew didn’t feel comfortable with any of them. Besides being the youngest, being volunteers meant they leaned to the macho end of the scale, and they all reminded him too much of the bullies at school to feel relaxed around them.