Finally a day off and fight night

28November - Finally we have day off, 13 days straight. I got to sleep in. Went to Heros DFAC for lunch. There is three dining facilites on post, Heros, Warriors, and Coialation. They are closing heros this Tuesday for some reason. Then we went to the MWR (morale, welfare, and recreation) to watch a movie. Watched 39 Case, some suspense movie with Renee Zellwiger. It was pretty creepy. There is no USO here like at some other bases. We got spoiled in Kuwait. I got another package from Miss Diane. If I eat all the stuff I get, I will be morbidly obese. I will spread the goodies with my battle buddies. Then we went to Fight night. Its like ultimate fighting. It was pretty intense but people who went before said it was pretty mild. The first pic is one of the main streets on post. The second is more t-wall art. They usually paint their units patch on them or other art. Pretty cool. I think concrete wall cost like $7000 and is like 20' high, 6' wide. The last pic is something they caught on post. Pretty crazy.

Thanksgiving at Camp Adder

25November2010 - I can't believe its thanksgiving already! Well, my day started out interesting. Whenever there is an incoming attack they annouce it on these loud speakers. Well, when I was getting dressed I heard something over the loud speaker, "ATTENTION ON CAMP ADDER.." then something muffled. I think I went into tachycardia and maybe even atrial fibrillatioin or irregular heart beat. But then when they said it the second time, I heard they said "controlled detonation". Which means, somewhere they blew something up. Then I went to work and we worked a half day. At lunch they dressed up the outside, with a tepee and had people dressed up like Indians. (not like me Indian, but the ones with hatchets, corn, and bow and arrows). Food was pretty good, all the normal thanksgiving day food. There was some VIP in one room, the room was blocked off by armed guards. They had their weapons amber, meaning weapon loaded with magazine loaded. Most of time, our weapons are green, magazine and weapon seperate. Then went back to office and got another carepackage! Thanks to Emma, Chris, Jimmy, Laura, Rob, and Ang. Also, want to thank Melanie for a package last week. Made a bunch of phone calls at the Air Force MWR. All in all, good day in Iraq. Out here...

Iraqi bazzare and 10K race

21November - This morning we provided medical support for a 10K run on camp. When we got up at 5am it was 45 degrees out, coldest yet. I was stationed at the first water cooler and then moved over to the finish line. There was only one minor injury, sprained ankle. Then we went to the Iraqi Bazzarre that was on camp. We bought some local crafts but on the bottom of the box its said "Made in China". We also had some tea and desserts. They had some local food there but we did not have any. We also took some pics of the local Iraqi forces. It was cool and good to show friendly relationations with the locals. We also went to the Oasis market and bought some dvds and other stuff. Overall, good day and didn't have to go Amber.

I am switching to the Air Force

19November2010. It feels like I been here forever but really I just got here. Work is not bad so far. We have sick call in the morning and appoitments in the afternoons. But now we are doing this post deployment screenings. One unit is going home next month and we have to do this basic screening. We went over to the Air Force side of the base and its a total different world. Its clean, nicer MWR(lounge are), dust-free, swimming pools, beer.. (being a little sarcastic). There was some Air Force band who were pretty good cover band. They were stationed in Germany, I forget their name. And their MWR area was awesome, free wi-fi, big screen tvs, dvds, DSN calls home. DSN is basically, you can call a base in the US and then they transfer the call to any US number. So, basically i can call home for free, its called a morale call. Aaron Tippin is coming monday for a concert, some country dude that sings and stripes. Tomorrow we are having a BBQ and volleyball after work. And then sunday we doing the first aid for a 10K run then a Iraqi fair. Where they will have local crafts and foods. Don't ask me what Iraqi crafts are. I will report more on Sunday. Oh, yesterday for lunch we had fancy sandwiches and wednesday dinner was lobster but we had pizza hut. The first pic is on the roof of my clinic and the second is my chu, where I live.

first day off...

14November, well its been a month since I left home and about 9 days in theatre. Today is my first day off. Did some laundry, tried to go buy some bootleg dvds but the bus running to the Oasis market was not running. I will try again later this week. I weighed mysel in the gym, 181 lbs. Write that down, I will do another weigh in December 1. I figured I would go to gym 4 days a week. I need some time to recoup. Today was little warmer once the sun came up. At night it was probably in the 50s. Its weird you need AC in the day and heat at night.. pretty big temperature difference. Not much else to report. Suppose to be a busy week, there is a unit heading home and we have to see like 50 per day for the next 10 days and sickcall. Stay tuned...

Welcome to Camp Adder

11Nov2010 - Travel to Camp Adder sucked! We arrived to the airport 10 hours before showtime because the other part of our group was leaving at 7am. Our exact flight time was kept under wraps for security reasons. We then boarded a C-130 military plane. If we took a picture of the plane, they said they would cancel the flight. The plane ride itself was loud and uncomfortable, running on like 3 hours nights sleep but was 1 hour flight then 30 minute flight. We arrived to Camp Adder and we greeted by our staff at the clinic. Got a little tour and checked into our Chu's or apartment. They are trailers divided into 3 different rooms. I would says each is 10 x 10'. I hae a roommate and he is in charge of security for the base. So he knows whats happening around base. I crapped out early. The latrene and shower trailers are about 3-4 minute walk away and we are surrounded by t-walls. Which are reinforced concrete walls about 20 feet tall. Today, we reported to work around 9am and had some orientation, paperwork and meet the clinic staff. I will be working in urgent care clinic. Walk-in is in the AM and appoitments in the PM. There is one doc and one PA. We work monday to saturday, 0800 to 1600. We wear army scrub tops and regular army pants. If there is a bombing we go into these bunkers and then have to report to work, since we are first responders we then have to go to the clinic fo furhter intstructions. They do some fun stuff like saturday night poker and movie night, there is also a softball league. Oh, I can't remmeber if talked about the internet but its a rip. $88 a month for this dialup-esique speed. I took 5 minutes to upload 5 pics on facebook. I am from Ellicott City, what?!?

last day of training

t 9nov: today we got up at 0500 to test fire our weapons. It was a little dysfunctional, there were m16 and m9s shooting at the same time and the range officer was not clear on his directions. But it was quick and we only shoot 10 rounds in the sand basically. Then we had computer classes the rest of the day. Kind of overwhelming but they say once you start to do it normally it will come to you. But I was so sleep deprived due to jetlag I was getting nauseous. I had to go back and take a nap. We found out we leave for Iraq tomorrow and the bus will pick us up at 2am, which is actually a few hours from now. Overall the training in Kuwait was pretty organized. Now the 11 of us will split up and go to our respective camps. There is not much scenery here.. all sand. But we do see birds in the morning. Also on base was one cat and dog. Well, i need to go pack and get some sleep. I think 176 more days! (but who is counting)

8Nov2010, last nights sleep was horrible. I guess the jetlag caught up with everyone. I think we all got up around 1am (local time) and tossed and turned all night. We had class at 6am. We did more training on IEDs, humvee and MRAP rollover. They basically had a humvee and MRAP (up armored multipurpose vehicle) on a skewer and turned us upside down or 90 degree turn on the side and we had to get out. Of course we had IOTV (body armor), helmet, eye protection, and seat belted in. It was more tricky than you think. The doors weigh about 400 lbs. Then we exchanged our body armor for the new design, not too sure what the difference was. Tomorrow we go to the range to test fire our weapons. Then computer training on the healthcare EMR we will be using. Out here...

Kuwait and etc

We arrived to kuwait around 1600 on 6Nov and unloaded the plane. We then went to another staging hour for about 2 hours. Then traveled by bus to another camp. We were told to close the curtains on the bus for our protection. Two people on the bus were given ammo for force protection but none was needed. There we had a briefing and unloaded the 1200 duffel bags. Luckily, I easily found my bags. Then the medical providers split from the rest. The Iraqi provders went to another camp. We set our stuff down in the barracks and had a little tour. We finally ate dinner at midnight but we were wide awake due to the time difference. I think I had the best nights sleep in two weeks but thought it was 4am when I woke up. Today, we only have one scheduled briefing. Its bright as heck here. On camp, we have a Starbucks, KFC, Nathans hot dogs, and 2 other dinning facilities. The starbucks is the most heavily fortified building on camp and was instructed to go there if we have any problems. Out here...

6Nov2010.. We left Ft Benning with a lot of unknown. We left on some unmarked plane and couldnt take pics. We had two scheduled layovers in Maine and Germany and had to leave our weapons on the plane. We flew to Bangor, Maine and meet Senator McCain and bunch of other people when we got off the plane. I guess its the first place planes stop to refuel. There were other Armed services there and people taking photos, media, and supports in general. On the plane they showed Inception, G-Force, and Sherlock Holmes. They feed us good food. Currently, in Germany waiting for the plane to be refueled and cleaned.

4Nov2010, today we qualified on our weapons. The officers had 9mm and it was pretty smooth. Actually the whole process of pre-deployment was not bad. I heard a bunch of horror stories but overall not too bad. The healthcare providers were excluded from doing some training. And I packed my bags and ended up shipping a Duffel bag home. I will have to get my mom to ship it back to me when I get back in May so I can return the equipment.

5Nov2010, today we returned our linens, picked up our weapons and checked out of the barracks. We sat on a bus for awhile. Right now, we are sitting in Freedom hall. We have no idea where we are going, since we are going to several different countries, kosovo, Germany, Iraq and Afghanistan. We are not allowed to take pictures. I guess these are all security practices.

CIF and weapon draw...

ok, so today we went through finance, JAG, security, and like 10 other briefings. I found out how much I will make with all my speciality pay, housing, credits, etc. Then we got our ACU, combat gear, and body armour. Then we went to get all our other gear. Apparently, if you got a letter from a 0-6 (colonel) you could be excluded from all the gear we will never use like grenade pouch, rucksack, e-tool, etc. But I didn't get one of those letters. Sooo. I had the great honor of getting 4 huge duffel bags worth of crap I will never use but have to lug around and keep track of. The equipment was worth $4500 and i am sure if we lose a pair of socks, I will owe $50. And all of the equipment is due back besides a few things. But some of us might a storage locker and keep it state-side. I am trying to downsize to 2 duffel's and one carry on. I will need to figure this out but plan on shipping some stuff back home before I leave. Then we had a lesson on how to don and doff the body armour. Another fun day at CRC

Let the adventure begin...

Ok, looks like I have the green light for Iraq. I will be leaving this Friday, November 5th. The flight will take 22 hours with one stop. Last week I was in San Antonio, Texas at Ft Sam Houston. I took Tactical Combat Medical Care course with a live tissue. It was pretty good. And don't ask me about the specifics. I had to sign a waiver not to talk about it!

Currently, I am at Ft Benning, Georgia. We arrived here on Saturday, Oct 30. Most of it has been standing in lines. Tomorrow we get equipment, Wednesday we have more classes, and Thursday weapon issue and qualifications. Yes, I will get a 9mm handgun.

Well, of to another meeting.

No pics yet but standfast... they will be coming.

out here...