Time Has Come Today

So time seems to fly by here. Perhaps it’s the fact that i have been going out every night on patrol so my days just are one big blur of food, work and sleep. Rather than in Kuwait where I was just waiting around for something to do, nowadays, I scramble to find enough time to do what i need to do before rolling outside the wire again. But I love it. I was never cut out for the rigid walls of a clinic or aid station. I do my best when my back is against the wall and I need to think outside the box. Best is when I just get to relax and not do anything, cuz when Doc works, it’s usually a bad day. So far, no bad days. Interesting, yes, but not BAD. One night on patrol, we made a left on ASR Dell. 3 Caiman MRAPS made it across a narrow little bridge. Ours did not. The left rear tires had the roadway give out and they slid into the canal. The frame kept our truck from sliding any further. When recovery got out there with the M88 (think Tank Tow Truck) they hoisted our truck up in the air and swung it back onto the roadway. We continued on without incident.

Our patrol area or AO (Area of Operations) consists of 95% farmland with these narrow dirt roads that have canals on either side. These canals are for irrigation and are anywhere from 6-30 feet down from the side of the road. Turning around is an interesting prospect, sometimes taking HOURS for 4 trucks to completely turn 180 degrees and move out. To our north, there is a town. We drove up there one night and haven’t really explored it yet, but around our FOB, pictures of Al-Sadr are up EVERYWHERE, especially in this town. The looks we got were half bewilderment and half “Go F yourself!” I actually look forward to pressing into the town and establishing a presence.  Currently we’re merely learning the roads in our AO. Which are hardball (paved) and which aren’t. During the day, one might mistake where we are for Viet Nam. The fields with grass, cows and little farm huts. Only when you see the farmers is it clear we’re in South WEST Asia, not South East. That has to be my biggest surprise. I thought I was going to be in desert like the Sahara, and here I am surrounded by what is almost describable as lush fertile countryside. We’ve rigged up an old headset to play our iPods through the j-boxes (junction boxes). Every soldier in the truck has a headset linked to an intercom system. You talk into the mic and everyone in the truck hears you. All the while, music plays in the background. You have a switch on the cord that lets you key the radio to transmit to the other trucks or back to base. The J-box allows you to switch which radio will be keyed, if any, and volume. My truck runs about 3 iPods in rotation, giving us a nice wide range of music. Mostly its country and rock and blues with a little hip-hop thrown in for good measure. A song everyone knows comes on and we all sing, through our headsets. It’s quite comical to hear. Sounds like a karaoke bar in the truck.

We’ve dismounted a couple times to check out suspicious activity, and I go with the guys, usually. The other night we got a report of a house with a lot of traffic at it. So we sent our dismounts to go check it. As medic, I have to stay with the CCP or Casualty Collection Point. It sucks, but for now, that’s where I stay. Plus the rules have changed. While we tactically move to our objective, once we get there its handshakes and pleasantries with the suspect.  No assaulting the house, kicking in the door and zip-cuffing the people there while we search and question them. Times have really changed. What day is it again? No one ever truly knows. You need a watch that tells you what day of the week. I guess that’s good. Makes my time go by faster. Hopefully the infantry guys will loosen up and let Doc out of his cage to play more often!