>>281147429 Palms is a dry oven, I'll never forget stepping out of the car and being blasted like I just opened the oven. Very different from stepping off the plane in GITMO, which was like being gripped by heat due to heat plus humidity. Your body will adapt in about 2 weeks, if you're in shape, considering you just commissioned you should be pretty close to your peak physical condition unless you were a tri-sport collegiate athlete. Give your body time to acclimitize before you start going ham.
You should already have some rudimentary fieldcraft skills at least, so be sure to apply it when you're out. Follow basic outdoor procedure, i.e. take buddy, have a comms plan, bring way more than you need. 29 Palms, and the desert in general, may seem flat, but it isn't. There are tons of elevation changes, dead space, cliff faces and drop offs, rock piles may shift and collapse. You still aren't quite in the middle of nowhere anywhere near 29 Palms, so the light pollution at night is probably better than what you're used to, but still isn't great.
If there's one thing I wish I would have invested in, its night vision. Its not necessary, but its still handy, because navigating during low illiumination nights sucks pretty hard when the moon isn't half full or more. Its California, so I doubt they allow hunting with NODs or thermals, but as an 0-1 or 0-2 its probably not a wise investment anyway, but I would have done it if I had the chance again.
Make a few trips out to Joshua Tree, and start exploring further from there. Don't waste much, if any, time in Vegas. You're still a good ways away from anything else in California, but you'll have plenty of 72's and 96's to explore, I would recommend Carlsbad Caverns, maybe the Chinese Theater if its still open and you're into movies. I wouldn't go back to California, but if you're there you might as well see some of the stuff. 1/2
