IRAQ..............finally!

Finally.  Arrived in Iraq a little over a week ago.  Obviously not first class seats on the flight over from Kuwait J!  (It was so hot without any air circulation that I was happy to be sitting next to one of my corpsmen who happened to be fanning herself.  Needless to say, I “joined in.”).  We arrived safely, however, and were glad to leave the oppressive heat in Kuwait.  It is actually much cooler here at our base in Iraq- similar to Phoenix but it actually cools off at night (allowing for my nice cool runs at 0430 every morning). 

 

We had a few days with the outgoing group to complete our turnover and orient us to the base and our tent hospital and our jobs.  Despite the outgoing group not being very busy the last few months, we were fortunate to actually have a real patient during our turnover which allowed us to learn how things worked here with a real patient and how to “dispo” (come up with a final disposition) our patients.  The outgoing group was very glad that we are here now, allowing them to return to their families after a long separation. 

 

Our accommodations, although certainly spartan, ended up better than I thought.  Although we were packed 3 and 4 to a room initially during turnover with the outgoing hospital group, we got to go down to 2 per room for a few of the senior officers and leadership, and 3 per room for most others.  As a senior officer, I got two to a room.  My roommate is one of the other 0-5’s here, an orthopedic surgeon.  We live in a large tent, about 150 feet by 35 feet, surrounded by 12 foot concrete walls (“T–walls”). There is a corridor going down the middle with 10 “rooms” on each side.  The “rooms” are created with plywood and 2x4’s reaching about 7 feet high.  The floors are plywood covered in carpet.  Definitely better than I expected with air conditioning and outlets for all of us.  I have a semi-private “bedroom” (that I share with the A/C unit) and a small “living room” that is large enough to do my Yoga-X in.  We have shower “trailers” outside and porta johns.  Although porta johns are never nice and ours are very hot after about 0700, they are definitely the cleanest ones I have ever used (the contractors clean them and stock the TP twice a day).  Overall, much better than expected.

 

 

 

I got to enjoy Father’s Day at the gym, which is where I spend over a third of my waking moments.  They actually have two gyms, one is a weight gym and the other is cardio, with bikes, ellipticals, treadmills, spin bikes, and room for fitness classes (more on the last two in the next installment).

 

 

I also got to enjoy our 28^th Anniversary back home with family for a lovely dinner.  Well……… at least “Flat Brad” did J.  More on life at Q-West in the next installment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MORE (training and travel, that is:)

So I made it to the Middle East, but still more travel and training was to be had before arriving at my final base/hospital in Iraq.  We had more than a week stopover in Kuwait.  Luckily, they have really built up our bases in Kuwait since the Gulf War and even since my last stop there in 2012 on my way back from Afghanistan.  Although we had to stay there over a week, we did very little paperwork and training (but the lecture by the Army Reserve Veterinarian on taking care of Military Working Dogs was excellent!)

We were able to celebrate a 50th birthday party (no, not mine YET) in the DFAC (aka dining facility) complete with candles on a (piece of) cake.  Probably not "technically allowed," in the DFAC but very fun and even the staff came over and helped us sing Happy Birthday (I think they thought it was like a TGI Friday restaurant or something).  They even served beer in the DFAC, although the non-alcoholic kind (O'douls- which I hate).   I had to have one, though, just to get a picture.  I was obviously the only one "drinking" at lunch and probably the only one who had even had an O'douls in the last 6 months in the DFAC!

They did, however, have beautiful sunrises (shown) and sunsets, although these were due to the ridiculous amount of dust in the air.  You could actually safely stare straight at the sun at sunrise and sunset without protective eyewear (at least I think it was safe :).

Most importantly, though, they had an amazing gym, a movie theater (that showed first run movies), and even a pool to help pass the time "productively."  I was able to do three-a-day workouts, including morning and evening run/swims with some elliptical, lifting, and P90X spaced out in between the two every day.  I even got to see four movies, including Ocean's 8, Adrift, Action Point, and Breaking In.  We left right before I got to try a spin class, though, which made me sad (it took me a while to find out where and when the classes were :(  The pool was AMAZING!  Now, off to Iraq!

 

TRAINING (and travel:)

I realize I have been a little "behind" in getting these out. Connectivity has been an issue.  Will get caught up once settled on base in Iraq at Q-West (we often lovingly refer to it as "Key West" :)

 

After my adventure began May 6th, we had paperwork and gear/uniform issue for a week on the east coast followed by training at Ft Bliss in beautiful El Paso, TX.  What sort of training you might ask?  In the words of Bill Murray in "Stripes"...………… ARMY TRAINING, SIR!!!!  I did get to become a licensed MRAP driver, though, as well as get "familiar" with the 50 caliber machine gun or "Ma Deuce." 

 

 

 

We got to see a couple of movies (Deadpool 2 and Solo) during our down time and even went golfing on Memorial Day!

 

 

 

In transit from Ft Bliss, we got a layover in Bangor, Maine, where my buddy Mark (a fellow Navy Reserve ER doc who lives there) picked us up at our hotel and drove by Stephen King's house on our way to an unbelievable view and seafood dinner! 

 

 

We also were treated to a layover in Greece, where two of the surgeons and myself had a great run and got to see sunrise near the Acropolis.  Amazing!  In addition to the beautiful vistas, were treated to a "sermon on the mount" by a local who was singing on top of a nearby hill when we happened upon him.  After our interruption, he introduced himself and proceeded to give a long, rambling dissertation on many topics, including Astrology (he analyzed our Zodiac signs), the relationship between your heart and mind, various other random topics, and ending with the proclamation that "the only people who cut their hair are criminals, (people with) lice, and soldiers."  After smiling to ourselves with our own shortly buzzed heads, we bid him farewell and continued our run around the Acropolis.  Next stop, the Middle East!

 

 

NAVAL ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD TIME.......... the beginning.

So......... I thought my deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan at the Role 3 hospital in 2011-12 would be my last.  Silly me!  As many of you know, I received my call up to deploy again with the Navy Reserve back in October of 2017.  Although there were many times Steph and I were not sure it would actually happen, I finally received my official

orders in March.  I had a great farewell party with many friends and family members on Cinco de Mayo!  Thank you all.  Here I am on May 6th, leaving home and family again, in the same pose as my return from AFG just over six years ago.  I will miss you all and look forward to seeing you all upon my return.

Kandahar Kronicles- The Konclusion!

I am done!  Finished.  HOME!  It is so good to be home.  Driving up to our house and just taking a shower in our bathroom and sleeping in our own bed made me realize just how fortunate we are in our lives and to be living in the United States of America.  This experience has made me so much more appreciative of the blessings in my life.  I will not take them for granted.  I am glad I got the opportunity to serve our country while taking care of our wounded warriors.  Thank God for such brave men and women.  Thanks to my family for "holding down the homefront" during my absence as well.  It is wonderful to be with them again.  And thanks to everyone who helped them make during my deployment.  God bless America!

Begining the Journey Home

My time in Afghanistan is finally up. I feel I have contributed to the care of our wounded warriors, and hope I have, though my teaching and leadership, increased that capability for when I am gone. I am grateful for the opportunity to have served, and have the utmost respect for those outside the wire that put their lives on the line every day.

I am on my long journey home, which is certainly not direct. I retired my running shoes (after 6 months) as well as my spin shoes (after 5 YEARS). They definitely served me well! My barracks looked rather spartan after I packed all my gear up. The first plane flight was, as is typical, not exactly "luxurious." It was nice finally turning in my weapon and "battle rattle." I was expecting nice hot, sunny weather in Kuwait, but it has actually been kind of dreary and rainy here. We did have a nice sunrise, though, over our tents that we were staying in. They also have a nice gym, a movie theater, and even a pool here at the base in Kuwait! Despite the dreary weather, I am trying to get at least a little "color" before I return to the t-shirts and shorts and flip flops of Phoenix.

I look forward to returning to "normalcy," while at the same time realizing that there are thousands of our service men and women still over in Afghanistan doing what they do every day. I look forward to the day when everyone returns home, as I am doing now.

HAPPY EASTER!

Happy Easter weekend. It has been a good one for me. Good Friday started off with my awards ceremony and our last trauma team pictures. I had to put two in as a couple of the people were missing from the first.

I had my last P90X workouts and took my final "after" pictures. Over 2 years of P90X has made a big difference in my fitness. Doing "3 a days" has not hurt, either.

Thanks to Paul and the Flatley 5 for sending me my annual "It's Friday" MP3. It still brings tears to my eyes and is a great way to start Easter weekend.

Sunday finished up with my delicious breakfast of Reece's Peanut Butter Cups and a chocolate bar dipped in Nutella! I had given up beer (easy here) and candy for Lent (harder but healthier:). I went to Mass, and got to see the re-make of "Footloose." Most in the audience were probably in diapers when the original came out.

I capped the day off with my third workout, with my friends the Easter "Spin" Bunnies! They made me wear the "Queen Bunny" ears during the 90 minute class. Needless to say, I was exhausted after the class and slept well.

I look forward to returning to my family and "civilian" life in the next couple of weeks.