BLOG MAY 22 2011
I have been asked to blog a bit on what kind of medical staff I am working with over here, so I thought I would try to describe what we have. We have 2000+ on one part of the FOB and another 1000+ at another area that requires medical care. To support this mission we have 23 medics…….4 of them are LVNs and step up to fill the gap between medic and RN and 5 RNs. My Battle Buddy (BB: Gail Rapple) is one of the 5 RNs so we get a lot of opportunity to work together. My unit also has 3 NPs and 1 PA (me). As of last week we had 2 additional MDs and another PA on loan from the unit we are replacing. However, Dr. Liepke finished his mission and is now on his way home and the PA, Captain Beckenhauer, will be leaving for home in the next week or so. Both of these men are excellent medical providers and were a great help in orienting all of us to our mission and will be missed very, very much not just because we are down two medical providers but because they were a valuable and enjoyable part of our team. I wish them all the best and would work with any of them again. The other MD, and ENT specialist we shared with another hospital on BAF, will also be gone by mid June. On a good note, Captain Schulman is a newly arrive PA so we now have 3 NPs and 2 PAs to help us with medical coverage. The good news is there are two more providers scheduled to show in the next 2-4 weeks and we’ll have them for 6 months. As you can see, our 30 some people are kept very busy keeping medical care available 24/7!
Farewell party for some of our co-workers that are heading back home!
On a lighter note, I thought I would throw in a few “fun” moments that have popped up since the last blog:
My BB and I have enjoyed the companionship of Cpt Bernadette Schulman and we have been eager to have her join us for our evening PT around the camp perimeter. Until recently we were able to run around the entire perimeter, but due to security risk part of the perimeter is closed and we have to carry our weapons…..so an evening trot has turned into a brisk walk with a 9 pound weapon as an add on. Well, the other day the three of us had some common down time and we decided to go for a nice walk. The wind was howling up a significant dust storm, so we added eye protection and derm-abrasion to our usual sunshine over-dosed excursion! Some local flora was in bloom so we stopped to gander and we noticed a nearby compound produced by the UAE was making significant progress and when we walked by the main gate a UAE soldier waved a greeting and we walked over to see if an English chat could ensue. The guard did not speak English but he did have some wonderful, icy-cold, sparkling pomegranate bottled beverage he offered to each of us. An Egyptian contractor came out and stood in as a translator as we chatted a bit and marveled at the sweet and cold beverage treat that was shared. The event may seem trivial but I have not seen a cold and sweet beverage in months!
Perimeter Road
Another fun time was a recent evening meal at the UAE (United Arab Emirates) chow hall. MajBarbara Bradburn (one of the NPs) has a contractor friend (Richard) that works and lives on Main BAF (Bagram Air Field) that offered to pick us up and take us to the Wednesday dinner that is offered to US Troops. So, the Maj, my BB and I finished work and met Rich outside our gate and hopped a ride…..in an air-conditioned, upholstered- seated SUV (up-armored but as close to a civilian vehicle as possible) and we drove in style to Main BAF and stood in line at the UAE chow hall. The chow hall looked like any military chow hall; rows of tables surrounded by chairs with a line of people down the middle, using giant metal spoons to scoop food onto their trays from giant metal serving pans. But this food was unique to UAE and scrumptious! Cheese rolls, lamb sausage, humus, flat bread, olives, yogurt, and traditional soups and side dishes I have yet to discover the names of! We found a vacant table and the four of us stuffed our faces, rolled our eyes in gourmet gluttony and chatted cheerily with notes of traditional music wafting out of the distant kitchen until the UAE staff signaled us it was closing time. Our much needed sleep had taken a back seat to good food, good friends and a good time as we piled back into our chariot and headed back home.
Richard, Maj Bradburn, and the new CPTs: Rappl, Jones and Me at the UAE Dining facility
One night as my BB and I were walking back to our room, we took a side route behind the bbq dfac. We heard a bit of laughter and then someone call out, “Hey, Knight –n-Gail” (it seems we’ve earned a nickname). And sure enough, a LTC friend was hosting a S’mores-fest! The LTC is the OIC for BSCT (Behavior Science Team – affectionately called biscuit) and he had written Hershey’s for some chocolate to help boost morale. Forty pounds of chocolate later, here we were, roasting marshmallows over coals and adding their gooey scrumptiousness onto graham crackers and chocolate!
Yummy S'mores!
Another quick note: my BB and I were promoted to Captain a couple of weeks ago! We had a very nice ceremony to commemorate the event; a small and short formation to include a traditional “pinning” ceremony. The tradition is for the soldier receiving the promotion to pick a sponsor to place the new rank on the uniform. The sponsor is usually someone the promotee respects…..or is related to! My dad would have been my first choice but seeing how he was 7000 miles away, I went with a good friend, Major Carla Tate. We became close buddies during our training back at Ft Lewis and since she was prior enlisted (same as me) I thought it would be fitting to have her be my sponsor. My BB sponsor was her twin sister, a COL that is stationed on BAF. The ceremony is usually very basic: the promotees are called out to the front of the formation, the sponsors are called to line up in front of the promotees and as each promotion order is read, the sponsor rips off the old rank, tosses it back into the formation and then slaps on the new rank. Well, all was going along in its normal drone-like routine when, by accident, my BB’s sister threw the CPT rank away instead of the LT rank! As soon as we realized it, everyone one broke out in big grins and laughter and to put something on my BBs blank uniform, the COL pulled off her Bird and stuck it on her sister’s uniform and more laughter ensued! Finally, the CPT rank was located and the right rank ended up on the right uniform. The best part of the whole event was having such a light hearted moment crop up……it had been a long serious day, we were hot and tired but having my BB’s sister there and then the slight snafu absolutely made the moment special and memorable. And, to top it off, my BB’s friend back in California had sent us out some personalized M&Ms that said CPT Rappl and CPT Knight on them, so we were able to pass some great treats around as well. I couldn’t have thought of a better way to be promoted (except adding my dad to the mix!).
Well, that’s it for this blog. I am going to try to add some jpgs to share with everyone. The difficulty is all the computer systems are very secure and downloading jpgs from a camera is forbidden. Occasionally, I can download some jpgs on a CD and gain permission to use the CD in a computer and then attach a jpg that way but it is a bit more complicated than one would think! But, if I can, I will send some random jpgs to keep everyone entertained!
Blessings to all!
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