ramblings

So....I have now made my room to be a clash of cheep oriental rugs, army camouflage poncho liners, multi-colored christmas lights and yoda lights, and one big teal comfy chair. It is not my best showing for decor but it is pretty good considering. I decided to lure help in and now my entire room is blocked off from the sunlight and my neighbors. Just imagine a big tent partitioned with cheap plywood and 2x4s. I could literally sit up in my top bunk and look over into my next door neighbor....which could be cause for some awkward moments. Therefore, I lured a few men to help me build up my walls, extend my room, and block out the door light. It is awesome. I was tired being in the girl tent with no new accommodations while all the guys built theirs up to be magical.

We have been trudging away over here and FOB Shank is ever-changing and ever-expanding. We had a fixed wing land here the other day which was a new thing since we have been constructing a longer runway. (We, as in the engineers). A fixed wing, a.k.a normal airplane not helicopter. New Brigades and Battalions move in and out all the time. New special forces groups exchange as well. I can always tell because all of the sudden their are new hairy overgrown men around. Apparently, if you are in special forces the goal is to look as unkempt as possible. "Hey! let's not shower" may be a motto. In our BTN, we have changes as well. New Company commanders move in, and others out. Careers progress or digress even in the deployed setting. One of my favorite Captains is moving to be a commander for a company in another Task Force. It is sucky for us but good for him. People are leaving for R&R and gone for about a month at a time. When I leave they will bring another MD to replace me for the time that I am gone. We are one aspect of the Task Force that you can not go shorthanded.

Being in aviation, our job is to support all of these new groups coming in and adapt to their goals and objectives. This is difficult because we get set working with one group one way and then when they leave we must adjust and change how we work with a new group. This affects me as well since some groups like for the docs to fly on missions and others don't. This is all separate from MEDEVAC which is another added component.

The pictures added are of a leadership training exercise in which we incorporate weapon training, with PT, and medical. So we literally put on all our gear, (body army, helmet, and ammo), ran up pretty much the steepest hill imaginable, ran down the hill and immediately started punching a bag for 2 minutes and then turned and shot our weapons on the range. After that we trudged over to the medical portion where you ran up the hill again, (or do some other ridiculous task like hit a pile of dirt with a sledge hammer), and give someone an IV and nasopharyngeal, (see prior post for vid). It is actually very good training and is meant to mimic action in theatre.

The picture of the guy getting the NPA, (tan brawler shirt) is my BTN Commander. He reminds me of the character from Dodge ball that Ben Stiller plays. Mainly in the ridiculous nature he works out. I was walking to chow one evening, it was snowing heavily during dusk time, and all of the sudden I heard some grunting and pounding noises. I look to my left and outside on the deck platform I see a man in short sleeves, swinging a huge sledgehammer at a huge stationary tractor tire. I literally paused, mouth gaping, and then shook my head and proceeded to chow. A part of me wanted to run up and start kicking the tire or slap an inanimate object in order to participate but then my rational side decided against it. I feel like I got a taste of crazy with my strength and conditioning coach at OU that will probably last me a lifetime......Thanks Robin.

Oh, PS, in the helicopter pic I am in the bird with my feet hanging out on the left.