Mungadai Part 1

It all started out so simple. It was supposed to be a staff ride to the Hurtgen Forest which consisted of every officer within the battalion, if only it were that simple. The original intent was to educate us (the battalion’s officers) on a historic WWII battle since we are stationed in a country where a large majority of fighting took place. However, about two weeks before the beginning of the staff ride things did not make sense, in particular, clarity, guidance, and the specifics of the trip. There were so many unknowns about the “staff ride” (Yes. It officially earned quotation symbols!) that practically every officer in the battalion began questioning what exactly we would be doing. The rumor mill was in full force as the days ticked away with a few details being leaked here and there, but the majority of the trip was virtually unknown. With all of the secrecy among our battalion’s top officers and NCO’s, even up to the minute we boarded the bus (Nov. 18), the full timeline of the next 48 hours were a mystery.

Upon boarding the bus, our battalion commander, LTC Oeschger, was still holding true to the belief we were taking a “staff ride” to the Hurtgen Forest. Individuals approached the front of the bus and gave a brief five minute presentation about various areas of the battle. Around midnight or so the presentation had concluded with everybody on the bus being told to get in what little sleep possible. I don’t know if any of you have tried getting a good night’s sleep on a bus, but if you can do so then you are a much better sleeper than I.

I believe it was a little before 4:00 a.m. when the bus had finally reached its final destination. Before exiting the bus, the silhouette of a man wearing a Drill Sergeant had presented itself; it would soon become clear that the rumor mill held more truth than fiction. Once everybody was consolidated and in formation, our battalion commander felt it was time to tell us the truth, or at least part of it. He proceeded to tell the formation that while we were asleep we had indeed driven by the Hurtgen Forest and had already conducted our “staff ride.” The entire trip time was approximately 5-6 hours, and when we had reached our final destination, we were a mere 15 kilometers away from Baumholder. What we were about to embark on was known as “Mungadai”, and to be perfectly honest I had never heard of the word before.

LTC Oeschger went on to briefly explain that the term "Mungadai's" began with Genghis Khan and military units of the Mongolian Empire during his exploits throughout central and northeast Asia. Khan used the "Mungadai" as a tool to test potential leaders by linking physical and combat readiness forcing them to perform under extreme duress. Khan's Mungadai-tested warriors were rumored to be the elite military units within the Mongolian Empire's army. Over time military units have held training exercises in which the subject Soldiers to extreme conditions to see how they respond. Our Mungadai was to be no different and the only thing our Commander requested is “nobody quits.”

It was 4:00 a.m. when we were broken up into four different groups and told to change into our PT uniform because we had to conduct a PT test. I didn’t view this as a big deal as most other people didn’t either. After the PT test I changed back into my uniform and prepared myself for what would turn into a very, very long day. I called Celia at 7:30 a.m. and to let her know that I wouldn’t have her cell phone on me (Remember from my previous blog that I do not have a cell phone) and gave her an emergency contact number of who I would be with. “Better than you than me” is what Celia told me, I paraphrased that of course. Shortly after I got off the phone with Celia a bus came to transport us to our next destination. It’s important to note that after the PT test we did not eat breakfast. I should also note that on a normal day, after I conclude my morning workout, I have an enormous appetite. That morning was no different, I was hungry and the day had just begun.

Following a 25 minute bus ride we stopped at one of the many training areas in the Baumholder area where we received further briefings. It was here where weapons were drawn for a qualification range that was to take place later in the day. The briefing that I, along with everybody else received, informed us that the first part of our day would be a road march to a weapons qualification range. Without wasting any of the daylight, we strapped our ruck sacks on and began walking to the range which was, I believe, at least 15 kilometers away. The first two hours of the walk were not that bad. I had decided to wear a pair of boots I used the majority of the time I was in Iraq, which were thoroughly broken in. I wanted to be for certain that I took care of my feet as well as I could. I knew if my feet fell apart, developed blisters early, or started bleeding from the excessive walking there would be no way I could complete the event. That is not a secret to anybody in the Army, in fact it’s common knowledge – take care of your feet. To take it a step further, there were medics embedded whose sole purpose was to check everybody’s feet.

It was roughly around the two and a half hour mark that there was a hill even a car would have a hard time climbing. Remember, in Germany, the hills are never-ending. Looking up, as far as the eye could see was a hill which made me want to cry. After about 15 minutes of walking I approached a curve in the road in which I believed to be the end of the hill, if only I were so lucky. The hill continued on and on. It took so long to get to the top of that hill a part of me believes I’m still walking up it but blacked out and am dreaming writing about it. It took that long to get to the top. What was even worse than going up was going down. That was when my body started ache and my hunger began to grow. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill I would have bet a dollar I needed hip surgery. An hour into the ruck march I felt like a strong, strapping 20 year old boy; by the bottom of that hill I felt like the recipient of a head on collision with a bus.

What lie waiting at the weapons range presented the biggest psychological test of the day, even surpassing the never-ending hill. It was roughly 1400 hrs (2:00 p.m. to you civilians) when we arrived at the range and my stomach began pestering me like Jadon does in the morning for Cinnamon Oatmeal. “Yo! Andrew! How ‘bout getting a little food down here, eh buddy?” While I was in the midst of negotiations with my belly we walked by the lunch which was still left out for the members running the weapons range. I’m not exaggerating when I say I saw an orange and began salivating like a dog. After everybody qualified their M4 the food discussions were being held by the vast majority of people. The “would you. . . for food” game was in full effect. Everybody knows that game. When really tired, hungry, thirsty, cold, etc. people get together and begin talking about ridiculous hypothetical’s in order to receive what they feel they desperately need. “Would you kiss a man right now if it meant you could eat?” “I absolutely hate bananas but I would eat a banana right now, and the peel!” The time we left the range was approximately 3:45 p.m. and other than a Power Bar I had eaten much earlier in the morning, the last time I had anything to eat was the previous day, around 5:30 p.m.

The Mungadai was still a long way from being complete with the worst still yet to come. Stay tuned.