30 Things Happening In A Military Base

1-Yes Sergeant!

A sergeant is busy drilling a platoon on the drill square. There is less shouting and screaming then one might expect as all the soldiers on the base have been fully trained before coming to it so know what to do and how to behave. Outside basic training and the noise of the battlefield, sergeants rarely need to shout- if they do, somebody is getting into serious trouble.

2-Sleeping Sentry 

A sentry is asleep on guard duty. If caught it depends on two things, the discipline of the army he is in, and if he is at a peacetime base or a base at war, on if he has a spell in the military brig in his future, if he has a painful future at the whipping post, or if his future is a short one and he faces the firing squad. Falling asleep in peacetime means a curious civilian or at worst an enemy spy might infiltrate the base. Falling asleep in wartime means enemy soldiers could infiltrate the base and capture or kill your comrades.

3-Grumbling soldiers 

Some off duty soldiers are grumbling to each other about low pay, strutting officers, unpleasant NCOs and the other minuses of the Army life. As long as it’s not found out about no one will get in trouble for it, but if overheard by an NCO or officer who doesn’t turn a deaf ear to it, it could technically count as incitement to mutiny, a very serious matter.

4-Visiting General 

Depending on the size of the base, anything from a company to a couple of regiments are lined up to greet a four star general on an inspection tour, perhaps with a military band present as well.

5-Firing range or equivalent 

Depending on the time period, soldiers are either shooting at targets with their guns and throwing grenades and doing bayonet charges, or firing arrows, throwing spears and training with wooden  swords.  Even after basic training, soldiers in peacetime still need training or their skills go rusty.

6-Gallows High 

A small number of soldiers are putting together a gallows. Either a spy or some other criminal is days or hours away from facing the death penalty, or it is just there as a warning to any soldiers who might be considering committing serious crimes in the future that this army is very serious about enforcing military discipline, including the ultimate punishment.

7-Fragger

One of the soldiers in this base has a really serious hatred of his officers. Maybe they are glory hunters and too cavalier with the lives of their soldiers, maybe one of them did something bad to him personally, or maybe he sympathises with the enemy, but whatever the reason, he is planning to throw a fragmentation grenade ( or the fantasy equivalent) into the officer’s tent, despite the fact that if he is caught in the act he will either be shot on the spot or hanged upon the gallows later.

8-Officers Tent

Here the base colonel and his officers meet to plan military operations in wartime and military training operations in peacetime. It has maps of the region and if in modern times, radio communications with the Ministry of Defence. The officers within are unaware that they are about to be fragged by one of their own men.

9-Exercising soldiers 

Soldiers need to be physically fit and remain physically fit, and a company of soldiers is busy climbing walls, doing press ups and burpees and other exercises to keep their muscles in good shape, under the beady eyes of their NCOs and a lieutenant.

10-Picket Guards

Unlike the previous sleeping sentry, these guards are very much awake and alert and, since no NCOs  or officers are nearby they are chatting to each other about various topics to keep boredom at bay. They are ready and willing if need be to shoot would be intruders if warnings or arrest attempts are unsuccessful but it is unlikely that they will need to do this.

11-Cookhouse 

The smells of roasted meat and boiled potatoes emanate from this building, where the cooks are preparing supper for the entire regiment. The food is good quality if rather plain, as a hungry army rapidly degrades as a fighting force and loses its discipline as well, becoming a plundering mob.

12-Secret postman.

A soldier is trying to sneak out of the base and past the sleeping sentry, but he is not a deserter and plans to sneak back in before the NCOs or officers know he is missing. He is being paid a lot of money by the men to sneak uncensored letters to their families without sending them through the normal military channels. If caught he could be in a lot of trouble but the amount of money that he is being paid makes it worth the risk.

13–Military Chaplain 

The chaplain for the base is praying at the grave of a soldier as other soldiers prepare to fire three volleys over the grave and a bugler waits to play The Last Post when the funeral is over.

14-Torturer’s tent

This tent is out of earshot of the other tents, for it is here that a torturer plys his foul trade to extract useful military information from enemy officers that have been taken as POWs, before they are extrajudicially executed to keep the torture a secret so that reprisals are not taken against the POWs belonging to the army that is secretly meting out torture.

15-Soldiers cleaning weapons 

Some soldiers are busy cleaning their weapons until they gleam. Either this is for a parade and to prevent the weapons from getting rusty , or, if this is in the era of firearms, it is so they don’t jam up at the worst possible time, on the battlefield.

16-Construction troops

Under the watchful eyes of an NCO a couple of platoons are busy building a new trench and palisade to keep out spies, enemy soldiers and curious civilians and to give cover from snipers as well. They are too closely watched to dare to grumble about having to do the hard work.

17-Latrines

As far away from the other parts of the base as possible, this is where the soldiers have to go to the toilet so they don’t foul up the rest of the base and risk spreading disease.

18-Promotion Ceremony

A private is being presented with the double stripes of a corporal by his captain. He feels very proud, but he will miss hanging around and joking with his fellow soldiers, as now he will have to give them orders instead and punish them if they mess up.

19-Joking soldiers 

Life in the army is not all getting shouted at or getting shot at. There are fun moments as well, and these soldiers are joking around and having good natured fun with each other without it getting out of hand and turning into a fist fight.

20-Deserter

Either this man is an unwilling conscript who was forced into the army or he has deep regrets about volunteering but either way he has decided to desert and worse, from the point of view of military justice, he has decided to take his weapon/s with him. If recaptured he is likely to end his life hanging on the gallows at the base.

21-Bullying 

One of the soldiers is unpopular with his fellow troops, and three of them have decided to beat him up, hitting him where it won’t show, and when as far as they know no NCOs or officers are around to see it. One of the NCOs has decided to punish the platoon every time that soldier messes up, which is why they are bullying him now.

22-POW tent

If the base is at war, half a dozen POWs are under guard in this tent awaiting either being formally sent to a Prisoner of War camp, being exchanged for POWs, or being secretly tortured for military intelligence and then murdered.

23-Secret military inspector 

Pretending to be a First Sergeant, which effectively gives him access to the entire base, this lieutenant has been sent from the capital to find out what problems there are in the base and how serious they are. Whilst he has found things mostly satisfactory there are a few problems with bullying and slackness, so the base commander will get in a bit of trouble for it when his report reaches the right desk in the government.

24-Military Punishment

A soldier who was found stealing within the base from a fellow comrade has been sentenced to twenty five lashes in front of his platoon, as it is his first offence and up until now he has been a good soldier. Not only is he being whipped, but his fellow soldiers no longer trust him much anymore.

25-Drones or equivalent 

If in a modern army, drones are being sent out for reconnaissance. They have guns attached to them as well, so they can be effective weapons too. If in a fantasy army, here is where the scrying wizards are. Otherwise, it is where the scouts and any spies wait to be used.

26-Returning scouts 

Scouts wear military uniforms, so if captured they are legally entitled to the rights of a prisoner of war. They cannot be executed, unlike spies, who are those who are caught in civilian clothes or in the uniform of the armed forces that they are spying on. These particular scouts have evaded being killed or captured to bring back their military information.

27-Feeding the mounts

If the regiment is a cavalry one, there will be a lot of horses to feed and look after but even in an infantry regiment there are likely to be a few horses belonging to high ranking officers. Either way, some soldiers are giving them a meal of oats.

28-Spies

A couple of spies are preparing to set out on their top secret missions. Unlike the scouts, if captured they will almost certainly be shot, unless they either switch sides, successfully escape, or are swapped for captured spies of the enemy.

29-Military band practice 

A military band is practicing its music, with varying degrees of proficiency. Whilst some of the members can play well, others need a lot more drilling before they can play in front of a visiting general or politician without embarrassing the conductor and the base commander.

30-Gambling 

Some off duty soldiers are illegally gambling at cards, something that probably started in the first ever army far back in the mists of time.