Paintball Observational Essay

Playing War

It’s early on a chilly Saturday morning, the grass is still drenched with morning dew and the blinding sunlight is doing nothing for the sake warmth. A group of men of don their gear and make sure they have everything they need. They sit alone, paying meticulous attention in the process of cleaning their guns to ensure no problems arise in the heat of battle.

The time has come to take to the field, a hill with a thick forest on one side and a small creek on the other. The hill is dotted with swaths of tall grass, a tree here and there and ruined makeshift barriers from many long hard fought battles before. We gather at the bottom of the hill, some pray to their respective gods while others pump themselves to get into the right frame of mind, we all steel ourselves for what is about to come.

SSgt White comes over to me and chit chats for a bit, we talk about random things and a bit of strategy for our ascent up the treacherous hill. I had always liked the man from the first time I met him; straight forward, sarcastic and funny as could be. He hated losing and had a saying which I had always loved; “It’s not that I need to win, it’s that you need to lose so badly you never bother again” and he sure aimed to prove it every time he was in a fire fight.

Up we went, sprinting as hard and as fast as our legs would take us. SSgt White ahead by a good bit, you could have sworn any minute he was bound to take flight and simply circle the enemy from above. We got about half way up the hill to the enemy position in an old bombed out bunker and all was deathly quiet. We surveil the enemy position but see nothing, no movements, no sign that the enemy is even there.

SSgt White yells cat calls as he is prone to due, hoping to enrage the opposition into revealing themselves; no response. “Well, looks like we’re doing this the hard way boys”, We slowly and carefully creep up the hill making sure to stay in cover when possible and keeping eyes on the windows the...