A guy recently shared with us a story of how his facial complexion got so bad after enlistment due to the constant camouflage that he has to put on his face while in training and as the company that he is in has crazy camouflage requirements.
Here is the story
“I enlisted almost ten years ago, did okay in BMT and then went on to Specialist Cadet School or like the old birds will say, SISPEC.
I was posted to Infantry (Advanced Term) after the basic Infantry course where all cadets have to go through prior to being posted out to their different vocations.
The company I was in was considered quite notorious in my time, with stringent rules and instructors of crazy personalities.
I was okay with all the rules but one thing which I could not take, was the constant amount of camouflage cream where we have to put on our faces.
Before you comment saying that camouflage is part and parcel of Army life, please hear me out.
A bit of background of my skin, my skin condition has been good all the while since young, I did not even have to use facial wash to wash my face and I still have perfect and clear skin, much to the jealousy of my friends.
I was not proud of any of my features, except my flawless skin.
When BMT began and as time progressed, I started to use facial wash to aid the removing of my camouflage cream whenever we were given time to shower.
Even during outfield, we were allowed to clean our faces with wet wipes every night and just have to apply back the camouflage cream by morning.
Even though that seemed a little dirty, it still helped to keep my face clean and flawless.
However, things changed when I went into the Advanced Infantry term.
We were not allowed to remove our camouflage even at night during outfield and in fact if it is fading away even before sleeping, we will have to apply it nicely again before we were allowed to sleep.
Sometimes, our outfield goes for as long as a week and throughout the week, with the constant application of camouflage cream to the face as well as perspiration, you can imagine how clogged up the face will become.
This made my complexion real bad, from flawless to full of acne and scars.
Even after I finished my service, the condition still did not improve and now it has been almost 10 years.
I’m saying this not to blame anyone or anything, but maybe just myself for not trying to find a way out to keep my face clean during that period of time.”
Image source: Carousell, Unsplash.com