Socked in at Norfolk Naval Base

Norfolk, VA

I should be in the air right now, or being laid over in Chicago, on my way west.  We were on the receiving end of one of those "once every 25 years" type of snowstorms, which was originally forecasted to leave 12 inches, but big drifts and driving winds.  We're definitely getting that, and it's bitter outside.

Corey, my colleague from Bethesda, and I just walked about a half mile to try to find something to eat that would not fit into a vending machine.  On the way back we slogged through 2 feet snow drifts which are the consistency of birthday cake.  I felt like Beck Weathers from Into Thin Air by the time we got back.  It's nasty out there.

Right now we have a logistician's worst nightmare on our hands.  I'm sure it will turn out fine, but in the military we like accountability and order.  We have about 150 people from different commands who have completed one week of training, scheduled to go to about 6 different locations in groups of about 30.  Some are supposed to travel by bus, some by commercial air, some by military air.  There is no "recall bill" which would allow a phone-tree type of thing, at least one was never initiated for this group (should've thought of that!).  My commercial plane has been cancelled and rescheduled twice, so I am at this moment supposed to leave here on Sunday, tomorrow, for Seattle.  We shall see about that - we are right in this snowstorm's wheelhouse as I write this.

Dear Soldiers hope u have a happy holidays. Peace Out, From Dakota

Norfolk, VA


Got my first care package today, courtesy of the USO.  Mine was from a young person named Dakota, and her note is above.  It was our departing gift as we leave tomorrow for our next stop on our journey - the Army "bootcamp" portion of our odyssey.  I go to Ft Lewis, WA and depart from our quarters at 4am tomorrow to catch the early plane.


We also finally got our seabags full of our camouflage gear, boots, hats, tee-shirts, socks, and so on.  That was exciting.  We are starting to feel like soldiers, even though we are really mostly doctors, nurses, and corpsmen.  For the next 4 weeks we must put on our best soldier faces though.

Last night, a former fellow internal medicine resident from Bethesda, Sanh Gao and his wife Fenney took Corey and me out for dinner.  It was a fairly posh seafood restaurant in Virginia Beach.  Sanh chose seafood because "you aren't going to have that for awhile."  Sanh had recently gotten back from Kandahar and was chock-full of useful information like our day-to-day routines, call schedules, what it was like to work with non-US NATO forces, and particular challenges he faced (best: trying to put in a central venous catheter into an ICU patient, in sterile gown and gloves, when a mortar attack occurred -- and then had to put on battle gear).  Sanh had a great attitude about the whole endeavor and made us feel comfortable about what we were about to embark upon.  He was also the one who gave me the idea for this blog.

I'd like to send a shout out to Dakota, wherever she might be:

"Dear Dakota - thanks for thinking of me and my peers as we proceed downrange.  I've never thought of myself as a soldier until I got your care package, but I guess you are right!  Thank again.  Peace out.  TMQ"

Getting to know you, getting to know all about you

Norfolk, VA


We are finishing up our time here in Norfolk - today we got gas masks, for that "just in case" moment.  You don't hear much about chem-bio-radiologic warfare in Afghanistan, but I suppose with al Queda and the Taliban anything is possible.

We will be traveling in groups of about 30 to various destinations - Ft Lewis, WA for me, Ft Dix, NJ for my colleague from Bethesda and future ICU co-worker Corey Carter.  Others go to Ft Bliss (I cannot believe the serendipity of that name), TX, as well as other destinations.  We will stick with our 30 man crew "like glue" - everyone, regardless of rank or gender goes to and through the same places and evolutions.  I do believe we will get to know each other rather well after 4 weeks in a barracks, tent, shooting on the range and so on.

I have so far met several of the ICU nurses, all from various Naval hospitals around the globe:   Jacksonville, FL,  Okinawa,  Japan,  Camp Pendleton, CA, and  Sigonella, Sicily.  I have also met our head surgeon who has been on a few of these deployments already - very easy guy to get along with.  Even though we only tangentially know one another, it already seems as though we have a sense of mission and are all pretty stoked to get downrange to start our jobs.  I can only imagine the esprit de corps will grow over the next 4 weeks or so.

Semper Gumbii

Norfolk, VA

 

Semper Gumbii (loosely translated as 'Be Flexibile') is on the letterhead of the Navy Mobilization Processing Site (NMPS), the entity running my initial phase of processing.

This is supposed to be the week of "death by powerpoint," which it is thankfully not yet living up to.  We have had several briefs, most worthwhile.  The most interesting brief was given yesterday by a naval aviator assigned to NMPS to "break it all down for us."  He gave us a glimpse into what we will be experiencing both during the Army phase of our training (Fort Lewis, WA for me) as well as downrange.  He also provided a hand full of interesting factoids like the various allowances and bonuses we are to receive (I get $3.00 per day for 'incidental expenses' such as shaving cream -- who comes up with this?? -- as well as $100/mo hardship duty pay + $225/mo for hostile fire pay + $250/mo for family separation pay ==> all once in theater, or once "boots on ground." This begins once I am in Kuwait).

Some of his more interesting revelations were about what not to do:  "Just before returning home DO NOT send any of your personal effects without notifying someone.  Guess what what mom thinks when she gets Seaman Johnnie's cd collection in the mail?" (she thinks he was KIA'd, when he was just lightening his load for the trip home).  "Do not go busting down doors and throwing lead, even if you ARE the world's most motivated Navy corpsman!  That's NOT your job and you are NOT trained to do that job!  It can lead to very bad things..."  Here's another TO DO:  "Make sure you update your wills and your page 2's (the part of your record which delineates your dependents and next of kin).  Guess what would happen if something unfortunate were to happen and you didn't come home, and your EX-WIFE's name is still on your page 2?!  She gets your life insurance!"  This got a big moan.  He was very entertaining, but serious.  He let us know that he mentioned all these scenarios because they had happened before.  It stuck, for sure.

You learn these interesting buzz phrases as well - my new parlance, like "boots on ground."   I apparently am a "ripped to fill" augmentee, i.e. an active duty asset "ripped" from my command to fill a deploying billet - sounds Schwarzneggian.  That as opposed to GSA which is a Gulf War on Terror Augmentee (what happened to the "s"?), which is an active duty person rotating between duty stations who has volunteered to go downrange to effect the billet of his/her choice once completed.  And there are also reservists called to serve from their civilian jobs.  There are 136 of us in this group.  A small handful are going to Haiti and the vast majority of the others to Kandahar or the local area surrounding it.  We are all going to support the mission of the warfighters on the ground, the Army and Marine Corps assets.    From what I can tell, many of the 140 that went through last week were going to missions in Haiti, which is why I and my colleagues were delayed by a week.

In addition to the briefs we were also fitted for camouflage attire yesterday.  We get two different types: green digital cammies and brown desert cammies.  Also, boots, cool Crocodile Dundee style hats, two pairs of sweats, socks, tee shirts, etc.  All Free!  Well, not exactly free - there is the time spent downrange aspect...

Today we spent the better part of the day getting checked out by the medical staff.  Never mind that I spent many hours doing the same thing at Bethesda Naval hospital, to include a full dental check up, PPD placement, small pox and anthrax vaccinations, and so on.  But not all commands are like Bethesda: I heard some folks in the Soviet era-style lines we had to wait in today say that some people they had seen downrange on previous deployments had arrived on blood thinners (not smart in a combat environment) or asking for their kidney transplant immune suppression medications (!!).  That's not good, trust me.  I passed medical - this time.  (that's a big deal because there are numerous stories of people who have gotten this far and for whatever reason not been allowed to advance -- that would be maddening from my perspective, not only because you are mentally prepared to go NOW, but also because one of your peers who is not mentally ready to go now will be going now).  I say "this time" because apparently the first 3 days of our next Army training is devoted to medical check in.  Heavy sigh.  So far so good, though.

The last photo is a card I found in my carry on luggage -- all that I brought for the duration of the deployment I could stick underneath the airplane seat in front of me by the way (that was tough!).  My oldest daughter, Sophia, put this card together - very sweet.

                                              

On your mark, get set, go!

And so my turtle and hare odyssey begins - I head for the airport in a few minutes.  I expect to be in Afghanistan in, oh, about 40 days.

Spent the day yesterday at Chuck E Cheese at my 5 year old's birthday - what sentient adult wouldn't want to spend their last free Saturday for several months with Mr. Cheese!!?

Actually it was cathartic in a way: the parents who came were - like so many others in the recent past - full of "atta boys" and other words of support.  I really do think times have changed since the days when my dad went to Viet Nam.  Our mission is a lot different these days as well - I have many Navy friends and colleagues currently healing the injured down in Haiti aboard the USS Comfort.  I will also be treating local Afghani men, women, and children once I arrive at my destination.  (Around the ides of March - I am the hare.)

Not quite "downrange"...yet. Four more days until I leave.

Chevy Chase, MD:

OK, this is "take two" on the downrange thing (BTW, "downrange" is a euphemism among military types of being deployed, mostly to hot, dry places like Iraq, Afghanistan, or Kuwait).

I was supposed to leave last August around the time of the Afghan elections, which coincided with the US taking over medical/hospital duties from our NATO allies.  For reasons still unclear to me, I never left on 10 Aug, but found out this past November that I would be heading out on MLK day.

Then the Haiti tragedy happened and my departure date was pushed back by a week, but no worries.  I'm clearly about to leave, orders in hand and bags packed.

I should point out that even though I will leave in a few days, I won't arrive in Afghanistan until early March.  I will depart from here, go via civilian airlines to Norfolk, VA to the Navy liaison folks where I will be issued Army uniforms and eventually work with non-US NATO forces (and US forces as well) - it's quite a mish-mash.  After my one week in Norfolk I will head to an Army base in Washington state to do "Stripes"-like (that was a movie with Bill Murray a few decades ago, young'uns, wikipedia it!) boot camp, complete with shooting lots of guns and getting lots of powerpoint lectures.  Four weeks of that.

                                                                                  








I will update the daisy-chain of events that culminate with my arrival to Afghanistan around the Ides of March.  Et Tu Brute? 

Here are some images of the precious cargo I am leaving behind (Sarah, Sophia, Helen, and Zoe) -- this is the hardest part of deploying, really.

- TMQ, 20 Jan 2010


P.S. Random factoid of the day about being stationed downrange.  You are unauthorized to bring UnderArmour underwear... in the case of fire it would have to be surgically removed.  There's a visual you could do without.  I'll try to pick less-gross random factoids from here on out.