Happy New Year

Hello all.  I just wanted to take a moment to thank you all for all your support and prayers over this last year.  It's been a long, trying year but ironically fruitful in many ways.  I can't thank you all enough for all that you've done at home to keep us, the soldiers, motivated to do our jobs.  We are here for you and you've been there for me, as well as my team.

May the God of all creation return to you many fold the blessings you have bestowed on me.

Nathan and, of course, Team Georgia

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!  It's been another fabulous day in Afghanistan without anything to report, which is always a good thing!  I hope you all are well.  God bless and keep you all and remember the reason we celebrate, the birth of Jesus Christ!

Peace!

USO Show

We had an interesting trip to KAF the other day; a USO show featuring Kid Rock, Robin Williams and Lance Armstrong came to town.  It was a refreshing change in the usual trip for supplies etc.  It was a great show and I, for one, am grateful for their support to us.  This was Robin Williams 4th trip overseas and 3rd, I think, for Kid Rock.  Miss USA was there as well as another comedian, sorry to forget the name.  At any rate, it was well appreciated by the soldiers and I'll post a thank you to the USO and guests for their efforts to say thanks to us.

Ho Ho Thanks

Thanks to my mom, Mandy and Leah for all their hard work on our Christmas and Stocking Party!  We all appreciate your hard work! 

Top, My First Sergeant and gunner, P and G, respectively.  Self proclaimed "Latino Heat."

Bottom.  SFC P, LTC Haggerty, UK and SPC Allee.

Thanks

A few thank you updates to follow.  Bev, thanks so much for the treat box.  The Russian tea has been a big hit since its one day presence.  The baked goods.....God help us......Running and weight trainging to follow!  Thanks.   Sue.  Thanks again for the boxes of goodies for the kids as well as us.  A sniff of D&D goes a long way.  My lovely family.  Thanks for the Christmas gifts and sussies.  I'll hold out on the gifts til the 25th.  It'll make the day a little different.

Love you all.

Forget Osama! We found more Keebler Elves!

I know I said the other day I wouldn't talk about Qalat and all the desert stuff but when I downloaded the pictures I was reminded of the bakery at the provincial headquarters. SGM and I started wandering, as always and usually with the intent to procure items of interest, and came across a 10X20 room full of guys making dough and baking bread. I'd heard about it and reaped the benefit of the warm bread before but never seen it made. So, here we go........First, the guys on one side of the room throw dough to the other side of the room. That guy needs more flour into the dough and then flattens it out and pierces the dough with his fingers to make little slits in the dough.

Next, he throws it to the baker, kind of like a pizza kitchen. The baker, stretches and shapes the dough into about 8X20 inch slabs.
Then he moistens one side of the dough with salt water and then literally slaps it on the side of an underground oven.
The oven is heated by open wood fire.

It takes about 5 minutes for the bread to bake and then the baker slings the bread out of the oven with this fire poker looking thing. In one stroke he snatches it out and launches it about 8 feet across the room to the guy that cuts it into portions. Meanwhile, the little "kid" helper is walking all over the floor with his bare feet. YUM! The bread actually tastes very good despite the added "nutrition" from the feet walking all over the preparation floor. The bread tastes much like a thin, 1/4 inch pizza crust.
So, there you go.....something new and not about a desert trip.

As Promised

I believe every soldier that operates in the field, especially ones that make daily life or death trips up and down roads or to the bathroom, for that matter, longs to leave some sort of footprint behind to justify the sacrifices he or she makes in the line of duty. Today was one of those days that does just that. SGM and I have racked our brains to develop this camp and with pride today the two of us raised Old Glory over Camp Georgia. Most of our guys were off doing other stuff but the Hajji workers all stopped and watched as the two of us hoisted her up. It was a proud moment for the two of us. Rahim, one of our terps, came over to us, stood at the base of the pole and looked at her. He asked us what the stars and stripes represented and we proudly explained them to him. The others looked for a little while and then carried on but none the less I think many of them understood what was going on. The footprint of Camp Georgia has been laid. More Americans will come behind us and they will have safer, better living conditions than we've had. They will reap the benefit of our work and what more is to come. SGM made a profound statement in that not many people get to establish a FOB, or camp in our case. Nothing to something, so to speak. Just like Afghanistan.....taking nothing to something.

A Sick Call of Change

I had an interesting sick call last night. Usually, I do a sick call about 1700 (5PM) every evening for the ANP. I'm available 24/7 for "emergencies" but I don't flaunt that to the ANP because everything would be an "emergency." All you providers have seen the headache that's been hurting for and hour yet presents to the ER without even the effort of a Tylenol. Here its 2 hours, 2day, 2 months or 2 years. Whatever. But onward.......I wear many hats as the only Army officer on the compound. We've got a Navy 04 here but for the guys on our team, well, he doesn't count as far as leadership goes. Truthfully, SGM is the leader of the team and I'm here to be an asset to him. Anyway, I have to operate on the medical, management, infantry, etc level and deal with the ANP leadership on that same level. Most of the culture here is wrapped around taking care of the leadership, the father if you will. Our military is based on an opposite philosophy. The superiors are to lead and take care of their subordinates. Since being in country, I've not seen one example of the superior taking care of his people, until last night. The Watch Officer for the night came to our terp (Sofat) at 2000 hrs (8PM), 3 hours past sick call. I was in our finally working kitchen and Sofat came to get me and ask on behalf of the officer if I would see his sick men. I said "What? An officer is asking? You serious?!?" Sofat "Sir, he has a list of his sick men and their complaints." "Well, hell Sofat, lets go do it!" The officer introduced himself to me and sat down and checked of his list of men as they came in to see me. 15 people and 1.5 hours later I was done. I told him that he showed the best example of leadership I'd seen on both ANA and ANP sides since I'd been in country. It was the first time I felt even a little bit of hope for this place. What a well needed feeling to justify the pains of being away from home.

Family Time

The other day I said I was going to write some stuff about our little trip to Qalat. Well, after further review of pictures and the trip me, myself and I determined that more pictures of the desert and occasional camel wouldn't be worth taxing the carpal tunnel syndrome, so in lieu of that.....
Camp Georgia is really coming along. Now that most of us have our own rooms, SGM and I have noticed that after we cook dinner and everyone gets food, no one is to be found albeit our intelligent SPC Allee that eats with us. Weird. Before we'd all eat together, chit chat about the day and plans for the next few. Well, last night our generator went out and it was COLD. We grilled out and kept slapping on wood to the grill and gathering around. It was like a KAO without the amenities. The Hajji contractors were hanging out waiting for the mechanic to show up. We fed them and shared Cuban cigars with them and we all laughed and talked about killing Taliban, the cost of the cigars and all sorts of other fun stuff. It was like old home week. The SGTs were actually hanging out as well. About 2100, the power came back up and everyone dissipated to their corners to warm up all their 2000 or so parts. SGM and I talked a little later about how nice it was to have that time together as a team to bond like "old times" (1 week ago) across the camp. It drove home the importance of family time, that time at dinner when people actually sit and commune (communicate) with one another and enjoy the presence of each other. The Afghans do this every night, probably because there's nothing else to do but at least they do it.
I know now, more than ever, what I'd give to be able to sit across from my wife and daughter and hear about their day and their upcoming events. I'm willing to sacrifice my life to continue to give you that opportunity to look across at yours. Please take it.

More to Come

I gave you the flags and Georgia for a taste test. I've got a Christmas Stocking party and a trip to Qalat to follow. After some sleep and killing some barking dogs! Off I go.

Wondering About Georgia?

Well, Some of you may say "what about those animals?" Then again, some of you may not care about the zoo. But I care about those of you who do care......'n stuff! Anyway, Georgia has a new home, with new gravel and a new outlook on life and the world. Yes, it's a little wierd for her but I think she's getting used to the sky line view! Here she is hanging out in here favorite vehicle that happens to be parked next to here cage and again, her hanging out on the wall. It's rough to be a monkey you know!

Camp Georgia Lives

We've had a big week this past week and few days prior so I'm going to post a few different ones at a time. We have officially moved into "Camp Georgia!" Yes the great state of Georgia is now being represented. Well, more like the great University of Georgia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anyway, SGM Allman and I posted the flags on the front of the compound this evening. Don't worry about "Old Glory," she has a place being cemented near by! This was a proud moment for the two of us and here's our proof. It has been a long hard road getting this camp up and running and this was a real pinnacle moment for the two of us to do this!

Moving

Well, the time is coming. Yes, Camp Georgia is in position for us to move in. First to the rooms then in a few days we can use our bathroom and kitchen. Lots of refinement to be done on the contractors work but at least we'll be out of the "zoo." SGM's vision will definitely leave a legacy here. We're all going to be putting a lot of effort into making it happen over the next few months so I'll keep you up to date with the progress and give you shots to see its development. Too bad we'll only be able to enjoy it for 3-4 months! Oh, gee, I'll be home so who cares!

Watching the World Expand

Well, let me see here. Most of our time lately has been consumed with the basics......watching the development, or lack there of, Camp Georgia. It's going to be a roomier spot for our little corner of the world that will allow for a little bit of privacy. Right now, as I've stated before, I feel like our monkey, Georgia, in the cage being stared at by every Tom, Dick and Muhammad that walks by. Oh, how wonderful it would be if our contractor would do the job correctly and not do crappy work and delay the project for whatever godforsaken reason. Anyway, we called him out with the engineers and hopefully he'll get a spur under his butt and get the job done so we can move into our new rooms.
I don't have a whole lot more to report. Thanks to the Scales for the package I received. It was sent the middle of Sept and I got it, well......today. But better late than never!!
Had some Taliwackers shoot tracer rounds over the compound the other night. That was fun. Kind of like a Pink Floyd laser light show without all the illicit drugs. Well, at least on our part. I can't speak for the Taliwackers. There I was, smoking a nice cigar, having my nightly meeting with my Sergeant Major and there they went, right over. Nothing to follow after that, but golly, how pretty while it lasted.
So, an unrevealing pic of Camp Georgia's progress and a couple of our dogs, Auburn and Gator.

AMEDD

Confirmation of acronym for my fellow AMEDD officers, Charles specifically.
Army Medical Enduring Deadly Duty! GO INFANTRY! Who'd want to practice medicine without a Humvee anyway? Comon', Air Force, Fobbits, REMFs? Just think about all the fun you'd miss? Rounding on patients and going to the O.R. won't be the same without my M9, M4 and shank! Think about it? It's perfect preparation for working in any city hospital.

Free For All

Some of you know that we've been building our camp up out back so we can have our own little part of the world without the ANP staring at us all the time. Well, we have 50% of it done and we should be able to move in within the week. I'll be so glad! You have no idea. We are the only embedded team with the type of mentoring that we do. Most teams live on a compound near by. We live in the same compound about 10ft away. Gets old after a while. You just want a little bit of space. It's like having a 3 year old or, for that matter, an irritating neighbor bother or stare at you 24 hours a day. So, the addition of room and removal to the other side will be welcome. I'll have a container to myself with room for a bench and medical supplies on one side and my personal stuff on the other. A true "Doc in a box!" ER's got nothing on me!
We did a dismounted presence patrol the other day in a village nearby. We took a few ANP and tons of candy and toys in our backpacks. We did a complete walk through the village and before we left, stopped and handed out a plethora (like that GRE word?) of the gifts you all have sent. They all had a free for all and we hauled tail to get out of the village. It was a good time and the kids loved it. Thank you all for your continued support sending school supplies, candy and toys. We give it out as fast and safely as we get it.

Arrival

I have made it "home" so to speak. After about 3 days, 3 countries, 3 planes, 1 cold shower and 9 hours of sleep I've arrived. It was a bitter sweet arrival to Kandahar, feeling the pain of leaving my beautiful family behind yet feeling the joy of seeing my comrades here again AND dare I mention the fact that I'm in the down hill slide of the tour now. There's joy in just that alone.
On the trip back Goddard got "stuck" in Qatar for a day and couldn't believe that was a base supporting a war. The roads were paved, not dirt or gravel. People appeared generally happy and well. Uniforms were pressed and there was a huge dry cleaner there. Multiple coffee shops to include a Duncan Donuts. What the hell? A Duncan Donuts........in "theater." They get to drink 3 alcoholic beverages a day, not that that matters! They have a wine bar and several pubs. A Chilis for crying out loud. So, we went to the pub with this Army pilot we met at dinner. Nice guy, showed us the turf, had a few drinks and all of us dreamed in union about transferring to the Air Force. Aim High! It's the better life, for sure.
Back to reality. The beer, coffee and asphalt were nice but dirt, gravel and the sound of the Mullah screaming in the wind calls to me telling me that there is more to be done ........it says.......help the helpless, help the hopeless, make a difference. That can mean assist the needy in a new testament way or kill the enemy in old testament style. I'm partial to both. Let come what may.

Heading Back!

So, once again back in the airport awaiting a flight back to "home." It's been a great visit with family and friends and I'm not sure I could've maximized it any more. It was great to see you all, assuming I saw you and I appreciate all of you that shared your hospitality with my family and me while we were home. Thank you.
So, I'm here in the international wing of the H...field Int Airport and there are these two European dudes sitting a few feet away from me as I type. One guy has been ripping gas since I sat down. LOUD too! Some lady came to plug her laptop in next to me and heard the guy. She didn't even sit down, just turned and walked away away without skipping a beat. Glad she knew it wasn't me! People talk about how rude Americans are! Good Lord, I'd have to tape my wife and daughter's mouth shut to keep them from giggling to pieces if they were here. It's all I can do to keep typing! I hate Seinfeld but it reminds me of one of the episodes. Anyway, I took a picture of him to warn you single ladies out there but I forgot my cable to download it.
So, back in action soon. I'm going to miss out on a great VMO by about a day or two unfortunately but hopefully I'll have some good stuff to pass on shortly.
Later

Vacation

Hello all! I've had a few worrisome emails lately and forgot to drop a line to say I'd be out on vacation for a few weeks. I'll be back on line in a couple of weeks with more updates! God bless you all. I'm recharging my batteries!!!!! Later

VMO

So, sometime in my recent past I was able to go on another village medical outreach about an hour from my new location. Turned out that it was a village surrounded by a refuge camp with approximately 12000 families. If you know anything about families in Afghanistan, that's like 10 dudes with 10 wives a piece and a few thousand kids running about the mine fields like no big deal! Anyway, two other PAs and I went out with SECFOR (security forces) with humanitarian goods and medical supplies for about 300-400 people. The three of us saw about 300 people in about 4 hours. This seems impossible but when you have a limited diversity of meds to treat acute illness and minimal else, you can really crank it out especially when you have 1 interpreter per provider. That really helps. We had people being carried in on backs, on wheel barrows and in sacks. There were illnesses reminiscent of biblical times. I found myself thinking of the stories in the bible about people bringing their sick to Jesus to be healed and there I was, watching this old haggard woman being carried in on the back of her dilapidated husband just to see me. How humbling! Unfortunately, there was little to do for her but give directions on how to seek further care either in the large public hospitals or in Pakistan. Right, like there's money for the trip! On my last VMO, I noticed a significant amount of arthritis in "older" meaning 40s and 50s around here. So, this time I came prepped. Alright!!! Something in my lane......injections! Thank God, get me away from this primary care crap and give me something I can fix! So, I came armed with multi vial cortisone for injection in did probably 10 injections, about 30 less than I thought I would. It's a way to really get some effect longer term, up to 6 months or a year if your lucky. Much better than giving a few tablet to last a few days. Among the other issues we saw: blindness, traumatic amputees looking for prosthetics, dry skin....go figure....thank God vaseline is cheap over here. I can't seem to get them to understand dry skin. Imagine that! Others...club feet and other disfiguring deformities like severe scoliosis and kyphosis, worms, TB (please step back), malaria, and of course every form of Ear, Nose and Throat problem. Back to the TB. You do your best to be polite when someone walks in and tells you that they have fever and bloody cough. Out of the "man-jammies" comes the xray with infiltrations all over. You take your step back to get yourself some breathing room and tell the terp to step in and let them know they need to be seen at the public hospital for TB screening and full treatment. It's the same look, every time. I'll be on one side of the room and the other PA with be on the other. Haji walks in and whips out the xray. You look over your shoulder and see your comrade step back and get some space. It's kind of funny. Meanwhile, the terp's like "But sir, why the hell do I have to stand next to him!?" For all you on your way over....Always take hand gel with you and hand wipes. You never can get enough gloves and dear God! The stuff you'll put your hands on just to treat the needy. It's enough to break a nail biting habit! We had to turn away what was approximated to be 1000-1500 people for treatment. We didn't have time or supplies. Women were literally fighting in line to get ahead of the other. We had to get terps outside to try to calm the situation because we aren't allowed to touch them (women) and shooting a few to make a point doesn't exactly fall in line with Army values!
I didn't get many pictures of the VMO because I was too busy. There were two medics that were a big help and they took a few shots. Nothing amazing but here are a few pics. The sunrise pic is one of the FOBs we stayed at on the way to the VMO. Nice place. Gets mortared about 3 times a week. Usually Tali is pretty wide though!

GO DAWGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
42-30!!!!

RUFF!

Thanks

Hi everyone. Just wanted to drop a line of thanks for the mail I received today. Bill, thanks for the box of candy, toys etc. Bev Freeman, thanks so much for the junk food. Not sure about how much of the homemade checks mix that'll be shared but if the Lord leads me, I'll give up a pretzel or two and maybe some of the crumbs, maybe. Thanks for the books as well. They'll be eaten up over the next month or so. Atlanta Computer Sales, thanks for bringing my Toshiba back to life and getting it back so rapidly.
OK people, I'm back and hopefully will have some missions coming up soon to be able to feed your minds with good propaganda and photos.

Back to the Basics

One of the several reasons I started this page was the hope to be informative to my fellow practitioners that might be in my shoes one day. I've been fortunate to meet a couple of you and have received some emails on the side about questions concerning the mission. Hooah! (It's an Army thing and frankly, I'm not sure I get it quite yet). Still don't get the Hoorah! from back in the Navy days either. I always preferred aye aye. Said more to me. Anyway, moving on.....So, I thought I'd drop a global refresher for those of you not bold enough to drop me an email. I don't bite you know.....well.......my wife may beg to differ. And at that she blushes and can't wait for me to call and tell me how embarrassing that statement was! Alright, back to the task at hand. If you are mobilized to Camp Phoenix for support of Operation Enduring Freedom it is true that you may not be doing what you currently expect. Case in point, me! I'm a PA, mobed to be a PA and I'm a, well, Infantry PA with the emphasis on infantry. If you happen to be Navy or Air Force, you are of the lucky that may get to do your job. You are not combat arms and will probably cover down on a TMC or the like. You may, if you are in the Army, get to cover down on a ANA mentor position. You may support a TMC or hospital. You may be an infantry PA and cover down on the PMT (police mission) and sundry other not so normal jobs for PAs. You could find yourself the sanitation expert on your little world. You may be slightly more advanced in entomology by the time you leave here. You name it, you may be it. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, I'm just saying be prepared. So, number two. Logistics (class 8/medical supplies)coming out of Phoenix is as effective as getting an upper GI endoscopy to remove hemorrhoids, eventually you may see some of it but its gonna hurt. Point here. Bring as much medicine as you can from your mobe station. An extra tuff box may be sufficient with basic primary care type meds. Most of what I see around here are common HEENT complaints, dyspepsia, occasional inflammatory diarrhea but mostly transient that's treated without abx. Now, some other areas around the country go through tons of Cipro so I'd be prepared. Also, think National Guard, think over thirty and weekend warrior. Think Tylenol, Motrin and Aleve. You'll use it, I promise. Don't feel like you need to load up on IVF, tourniquets and stuff like that. Get some extra but don't load down on that. It's harder to get normal supplies. Don't worry about narcs, you can get them at Phoenix. DO BRING a copy of your license as well as credentialing packet from whatever branch you're in. I carry it on a thumb drive and have had the opportunity to work in some coalition ORs. Most of them will be glad to let you help but will want some proof of training and credentialing. Come on, wouldn't you! Hell, I don't even want some credentialed people working on me! Don't him haw about that statement. All you providers can name a few of them!
Alright, I'll stop the babble. I do want to hear from you if you have questions. I'm here to help and I do speak my mind. Mind you, the opinions expressed in this blog are those of a professional that usually practices in the real world and these are not necessarily the opinions of the US Army. I cannot be held responsible for the truth and reality that pass my lips and I'll deny the truth if questioned under a white light!
PS .At Riley, pay attention to soldier skills. The rest is fairly useless. Reality is here and as long as you have common sense, the ability to use your weapon and a decent capacity to adapt to environments, you'll be fine. That is unless you are at a flag pole. Then all you need to know is.....Is your unit patch correct or are you wearing your reflective PT belt in the day time. Another is the wearing a helmet in the Humvee while driving a max of 10mph on KAF. You get my drift. We call them FOBbits. They still get to worry about nothing while the rest of us go outside the wire and do the job that needs to be done.
Peace, love and 7 months.

Uh.

Uh. Hmm. Uh. Well, the weather is getting pretty nice. Very cool mornings, about 40-45 degrees, and then BAM smokin' hot in the afternoon, about 100 degrees today. Just like the rest of the country, it leaves you bewildered. Last week was quite balanced. This week, not so much.
Other than that. Got the chicken plates of the Humvees painted all black with Super Gs in the middle. They look great. I'll get pics up soon.
Monkey, cat and birds all hanging in there.
Hmmm. I'm tapped out.

I'm no genius but hey, I got this one

My little clinic is quite meager to tell the truth. I'm a high priced addition to any team that doesn't have a full up medical team. That being a TMC (troupe medical clinic) or higher. I was beckoned to come see one of the high ranking individuals on the FOB and found him to be lying in bed, weak and rather confused. Well, as I began talking with him, via my interpreter, I found his responses to be rather confusing and inappropriate. I asked how long he'd been sick and if he'd been seen by a doctor downtown. Well, of course, only the "best doctor" and this is what he gave him......Tylenol, a muscle relaxer and some vitamins as well as some antibiotics. Nice, anything else. Yes, a negative malaria test and a normal white blood cell count. Good. Well, have the (person) stand up. HMM..rather weak. I do a little strength testing and other neuro tests and tell the other high ranking individuals that it may be good to get him to the hospital because the least of his worries requires antibiotics and pain relievers, the ..... has had a stroke and needs further treatment. They were blown away. No way, a stroke. What's that? Oh boy, here we go, just get him downtown to that "best doctor" in the hospital to get him evaluated for a stroke, not an infection.
Bottom line. If you are a civilian, don't get sick here. Very scary!!!! Can you imagine the size of the lawsuit that'd bring in the US. Whew! Gave me heartburn just thinking about it. At any rate, said individual has connections and power and got treated at a coalition facility and is being transferred to another facility for appropriate rehab.
I'm know I'm just an ortho guy and I'm no genius, but I got this one!

The "raining of lead" has ceased

Here we are at the end of another Ramadan season and I don't feel like I've celebrated enough but I'll try my best to make up for it when I'm at home on leave. It only took 2 days of nightly spraying of ammo to get it out of the system. I remember back in the old days we could go for 3 days no problem! The new generation just isn't made of the same fiber, you know. Or maybe, just maybe, its the fiscal responsibility that the newer fighters feel to their country and cause, realizing that the bottomless pit of money can't come in from the US and NATO forever. The epiphany, the blinding light of wisdom, is spreading throughout the culture at a blistering speed and the knowledge of unity and selfless service to the helpless and needy is no longer cowering to blatant ignorance and lack of education. Wooooo, careful where you go Nathan.
OK, so I went a little over the top. However, I didn't hear any weapons last night and there isn't any crapola in the concrete water runoff ditch this morning.
One step at a time. One step at a time.

It's Over!!!!

Nope, not the war. We'll be here just like we are in Germany, Japan and Korea, for the long hall. No. I'm referring to the season of Ramadan, a season of fasting from 0400 to total darkness in the wee hours of the night, about 1930. This is supposed to be a season of reflection and preparation for Edes, Christmas on steroids if you will (in a 4th world country). The season really reminds me of Lent because its supposed to bring them closer to Muhammad and Allah. Tis also the season Muslims make their journey to Mecca. I saw part of the selection process in Lashkar Gah. Only a certain number of people can go from each area of Afghanistan. It looked kind of like a lottery, frankly but I'm betting there was a highest bidder to the Mullah (religious teacher) in there somewhere! Whatcha think?
Moving on......there was weapons fire galore last night. You name it, AKs, crew serve, tracer rounds, probably some IEDs for fun! This morning there were kids with little "fire crackers" across the road "exploding" them. Sounded more like an IED or mortar round to SGM and me. So be it. "Like father, like son." "Boys will be boys." "Raise them in the ways they should go...." and the like. Future insurgents....remind me to give a few more toys to those kids! "Here kid. Stay away from the Humvees with the super G on it! Look for the G, got it!"
So, the medical complaints of fatigue, headache and abdominal pain should go down. It amazes me during sick call how many of these guys come in at 1700, before dinner, complaining of headache and abdominal pain or just "not feeling well or better yet flu." "Well, when was the last time you ate, 0330? HMMM. No diarrhea or change in bowel movements? No nausea, vomiting? Just a tummy ache? Tired and weak? Just don't feel like you have any energy? Ya, no magic pills for that....Go eat and drink something and see if you feel better!" Next!
So, today is the start and the feasting continues for 3 days. Yeah! Let the waste of ammunition continue!

Some Pics

Above.....home, for now. Right.....a doll that my daughter sent over to give away. Below......SGM Allman with Georgia, our monkey.

My New Little World

I guess by now most of you know that I've moved to another FOB further east of Lash. I won't give specifics but I'm still in southern Afghanistan. The new address that Amanda sent out speaks for itself. If you haven't received it, please get in touch with her if you want it or email me direct and I'll get it to you. All has been well thus far. We hear a lot of small arms fire around here, especially in the evening but most of it is off in the distance a few km away. Not much more than that. The FOB is small and I must admit, despite missing my friends in Lash, its nice to be away from a "flag pole" and it much more relaxing. I do a sick call for the ANP about 4 days a week and enjoyed the VMO we did last week. It's no magical transition into real medicine but its been a nice change of pace anyway plus I'm back with Sergeant Major Allman whose become a good friend. Don't be jealous Dan and Jeff, I still love and miss you guys as well, especially on Thursdays!
Let's see here. The Dawgs lost to Tennessee. That's pretty depressing so I won't go there. USC and the gamecocks lost.....that's a balancing upper. Sorry Ward, it had to happen eventually. The Buckeyes pulled through another one, whew! We'll carry on until next Saturday and hope UGA picks up the pace and Ohio continues its run.
I tried to throw up some pics tonight but the blogger host won't let me. Sorry, I'll try again tomorrow.

Hold on

Hold on people. I've had little time over the last week to keep up with emails and the blog. My computer should be back in a week or two and that'll help out.
The new FOB is small but great. I miss the guys at Lashkar Gah but it has been refreshing to get a different view of the country.
The internet is a little faster here and I should be back in the blog and email groove soon.
We went out on a village medical outreach the other day and I think I'll get my hands on a few pics to load up.
Thanks to all of you on your comments etc. I love you see them. Lets me know you're acutally reading.
Anyway, more to come soon

Life

No kidding there I was.
You know. Not a whole lot going on lately. We were inop for a few days and then on lock down because of the bad man with an extremely expensive vest wandering the streets. One got picked off by the ANP right outside the gates of the compound and it was caught on video. That was interesting to watch. I'll stop there.
Next, thanks to the efforts of my wife and father I received my old laptop from school. 2003 technology at its finest and I forgot how slow and antiquated the old Compaq was. At any rate, I was glad to get another computer just to be able to download pictures etc. Well, I had it for 2 days and was minding my own business, spending about 45 minutes IMing and checking email before a mission and the damn thing crashed. We've got two computer gurus here, thanks to the 82 Airborne, and they reloaded windows XP on it.......after laughing at its antiquity. Well, I started downloading drivers for the hardware and the cursed thing loses all the memory blah blah. Well, they tell me to put it to rest. ARGH! Anyway, looking at Macbooks now......Anyone know Steve Jobs?
Next. We finally get outside the wire the last couple of days and had some great interaction with the locals in a fairly poor section of town next to one of our police check points. These kids came out of this makeshift medical clinic and we had the ANP hand out about 3 bags of stuffed animals and toys. It was so great. That's what its all about. We handed out paper, crayons and whatever else we had. I pulled out my medical bag and started to see people on the hood of my Humvee. The pic is of a little girl with a lacerated finger. Another is a girl that grabbed our hands and kissed them. It was breaking our hearts but it was so fulfilling to have and be able to give. Thank you all for sending what you have to give to these children who have nothing, literally. The joy that only comes from the one, true everlasting God was spread that day and man was it awesome. I have some better pics of us in action and I'll try to load those later.
Finally, I'm being moved to another Base. So, I'll be in transit for about a week. When I get my new address, I'll get it to Amanda and she can send out a mass email to let you all know. Hopefully, I'll have control of developing a small clinic. I'll still be riding out on missions but this location is going to allow me to do more VMOs (village medical outreaches), hopefully. All of you that know me know that I'm a fighter and a caregiver the same. So, depending on my mood, you may be healed or dead. Well, hopefully, I'll be able to lean toward the healing side now.

The Mobility Project

So, my life has turned into a little bit of, well, a lot of groundhog days with no end in site except for what I hope will turn into vacation sometime in the next 2-3 months. I've decided to take the focus off me and clue you into something more than, but not quite, Afghanistan. My cousin, Jenny, is the VP of the organization "The Mobility Project." It's a Christian organization that essentially works for what it says, at the mercy of funds outside of itself. They are based out of Louisville, KY. Sorry about that loss to KY by the way. hee hee. Moving on........Their next mission is here to Afghanistan in October. How ironic, that we would be in the same country at the same time so far away from home. Funny, eh. Well we haven't seen each other in about 15-20 years so for us to meet over here would be a nifty reunion. So, be praying that I can get out of here for a few days in October to get up to see her. Also, for those of you looking for a tax break, you may concider visiting www.mobilityproject.org for learning more about what they do and possibly donating to their cause. I'll link it down on the right. Feel free to give to a worthy cause as you are led.
Peace

LT Doc Groundhog Marsh

Toshiba Alert

Guess what? I'm down. Hurt. Cut down at the knees. Yep, no computer. Forget the IEDs. Forget the Taliban. I can live with those two. Heck, I can even work with the Canadians if I have too. Without a computer, though, that's just too much! Let me clue you in. Toshiba evidently has some issue with the BIOS system password making a random password that requires sending your computer to Toshiba when the random password occurs. It may never happen but if it does you must send your computer in to them. There is, however, a patch on the Toshiba website that you can download that will prevent it from occurring. So, if you own a Toshiba, I highly recommend you go to the website, plug your model number in and find out if there are any critical updates for your Toshiba. This is not a Windows issue. So, do it or else you'll have to send your computer from friggin Afghanistan to the US to get fixed! Well, not necessarily you, but you get my drift. So, I'm at the mercy of my fellow Dyncorp and Army buddies for their left overs until my beloved family gets the extra laptop over here. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!! hint, hint.
Not much else occurring. We did some more over watch at the below place again. Our boys were back begging outside the wire, but it was girl day and we left them to their begging and threw stuff to the cute little girls walking by. Some boy tried to take a pack of crayons from one of the girls......didn't go over too well with me......I pulled my 9mm out and backed him down rapidly. The girl was appreciative and the American doc saved the day. You know, hearts and minds...hearts and minds.

Shake Your Make Money Maker or Just Pick Up a Puppy

We actually went and did some training with the ANA and ANP not too long ago and while we were there gathered up a fan club of 3 mutt type puppies. To lay the framework here, it's Ramadon, the season in which Muslims fast (nothing past the lips) after 0400 until 1900 depending on when the sun sets. Well, we're not supposed to drink or eat in front them out of respect blah, blah, blah. Well, these pups came whimpering up to us and of course, we whipped it all out of our trucks for these dogs. Bottled water, peanut butter crackers, beef jerky etc right in front of the ANP and ANA. I'm sure they couldn't believe we'd bring all that out for dogs! Anyway, we lavished them while we were there and almost took a couple back to camp but the mother came looking for them. So, we fed her a little too. So, Sekula's soft heart was captured and the "money maker" shots were born. It's up to him now to see how far he can take them. He's had the pics on his myspace for about 6 hours and had multiple comments from random bleeding hearts.
The other picture: Sekula and I were pulling top cover over a berm protecting a check point. We always love to play with the kids on the other side and today we handed out some of the toys you all have generously have sent us. The recorders and paddle balls were favorites, even with the ANP!!
By the way, we had people asking us for water and food all day long. Seems that Ramadan fasting is like liquor for Baptist. Only bad if others see it.
Oh ya, we learned a valuable lesson. Don't throw bouncy balls to children in crowded streets of third world countries. Children tend to run for them and maybe get their feet run over........maybe. I'm not saying it happened.......but it could. So, don't do it.

Random Intertainment

Hey,
Found a pic from one of our checkpoints. Not quite as exciting as a kid playing with a 9MM but hey, beggars can't be choosers. Sekula and I hanging out a couple hundred feet above Helmand River.

WOW

Don't have much to report. Let me speak in secret squirrel language. Bad people want to hurt us. We are tracking bad people as close as possible. Most of us must stay inside until bad people hurt themselves.......boom! OK, anyone still need a translator? Hope not, don't want three letter agencies coming after me. All is well otherwise. Keep praying for them to get bored and boom themselves so we can get out of the rat cage. We debated putting signs on the Humvees saying "bet you can't hit me" but that didn't fly too well with the command. So, we sit.

So, until then enjoy the above photo. Nice kid learning to respect weapons.

Lighten Up

To counteract the intensity of my mood lately, I'll show you a picture of one of my new t-shirts. Not Army Regulation but sticking to my typical non uniformity type nature, I bought it. The next fire fight or argument I get in with Taliban or an Afghan, I'm going to rip off my outer jacket and point to it. Look! I'm here to make it better!

September 11

It's an interesting perspective from this side of the world concerning the "War on Terror." There's this constant barrage of mindless, fear inspiring news from American CNN and other news networks as well as Sky News, a British counterpart to the Fox, CNN et al, concerning our place in the war and meaningless polls pronouncing the public's position on it. As I raised a special flag over my Humvee today, all I could think about wer the Tower's falling to the ground, the thousands of people that died in them and the sacrifices of the troops and families that have fought to keep the war abroad instead of at home. I have this deep seeded desire to see this war fought and finished correctly without the chasm that partisan politicians sell their souls for. This is not a political commentary, I'm dissatisfied with both parties severely, especially when they use this date and tragedy to better position themselves for a venomous political posture.
Bottom line is that some of us serve to kill, some serve to save (both in my particular situation) but all of us serve, as did the veterans that have gone before us for nearly 300 years, to prevent our children from being in this god forsaken position in the future. There are bad people that cannot be rehabed in this world. Some people need judgment sooner than others and that's our job. So, ask a soldier, marine, sailor or airman what they think. It's probably more accurate to ask the guys in the field, despite their branch. Turn off CNN and Fox and support your local paper that hasn't bought into the machine. I've seen a lot of local articles that really share the views of the soldiers over here in Afghanistan without the hype and sensationalism of the "big boys" that would love nothing more than for you to babble their half truths to your friends and further boost their program ratings and advertisement dollars.
You guys figure out who depleted my day yet. Yep, politicians and the big news channels that hype the crap they speak. I've probably watched 10 hours of television in the last 6 months and it's been the best thing for my mind as well as my body (lowers blood pressure). Today, I check out a little news to see what's happening for 9/11 and I get Hillary Clinton and George Bush and blah blah blah from both sides of the fence thanks to the giant "non-biased" media.
You may ask yourself, what does one do then. Hmm, some internet blogging perhaps, maybe some journaling, fitness, local hobbies like looking for Taliban through your scope, avoiding IEDs while "hunting" and maybe, just maybe, lots of reading about nothing to do with current events.
Glad I got that off my chest. Do I sound like I'm rambling? Must have been the TV influence today!
Back to what matters. Today is a day of remembrance, a day that should arouse the painful memories of 6 years ago. Peal the scab away and remember. Remember the blood that has shed by all Americans and coalition forces that have been returning the favor to the Taliban.
So, above is my track (Humvee) on 9/11. We fly flags in a war zone every day to let them know whose roaming around in their house. What do you fly in front of your house before you leave for work?
And......... lastly, this is why I'm here.
WHEW! Glad that's over with. You probably are too!

ARGH!

You all ever felt like scooping your eyeballs out with a grapefruit spoon? Ya, that's about what I'd rather have done than congratulate all the "cocks" around here this morning. Don't usually shake hands and confess good job to that appendage too often, but they did when. Spurrier, the bane of Georgia's existence. I'll hold out hopes for the Dawgs to beat Tennessee and with luck, Florida. how about my boys from Michigan again. heehee. Go Buckeyes!!!!!!!!!! You know though, with our luck there, Michigan will keep losing and then beat OSU in the one game a year that counts! Don't get me wrong, I'd never wish that on the Buckeyes but irony is in play already with the Dawgs loss to SC. Anyway, good job SC. You've gotten the hang of football. Time to work on literacy, hooah!
I know,that was a low blow but I can't let this slide without expelling some of my pain. You know, talk bad about someone else to cover your own insecurities...blah, blah, blah......Yes, even ortho types remember a little about psychology and emotional stuff. Not that we care....but we remember it. Just like the British medical officer here tells me "Nathan, there's more to life than bones and joints!" My usual response is "Sure, like surgery n stuff!"
Anyway, enough babbling.
Go Dawgs! Keep up the good work and carry on. The integrity in the program with leadership from the likes of Mark Richt keeps me loyal!!! Go Buckeyes! Way to go Michigan, keep up the good work! God bless us all, football's back in town and the passion is thick!!!!!!!!!!

Reflections

I pride myself on screening my blog to minimize the stresses at home about our safety over here and I'll continue to do so but we all know we are at war and men and boys are dieing in and around our area of battle. The British have lost several men since we've been here and mostly you can shuck it off and carry on but lately I've been a little reflective.
I'm so grateful for my wife and daughter and I can't wait to get home to see them. My family and friends have been so supportive that words cannot express my gratitude and not a day goes by that I don't think about all of you for some reason or another.
My father served 21 years in the Air Force. My grandfather was a B17 navigator and POW in Germany during WWII. Now I'm here. I think about all of you that have supported us with prayer, care packages, letters and more prayers and I can't help but reflect on my life and how blessed I've been and how amazing God has been to bless us all so much.
We are hanging low for a few days and I've been mellow on music and searching the net for memories. I clicked on that classmates.com thing to see where some of my classmates were in Florida and then I found myself looking for evidence of my existence in the Philippines. Well, I found this website www.whoa.org that highlights graduates or students and teachers from Wagner High School at Clark Air Base in the Philippines. Some of you may know that the base was essentially destroyed when Mt Pinatubo erupted and this website carries on some of the memories for those of us that went to school there.
So, why am I talking about this? Most of you that know me, mostly my wonderful wife, know that I can't be serious too long without throwing something funny into the mix to break the stress. So, go to the web page, click on yearbooks, 88, then Freshman and you'll see my name and get a good laugh at that handsome 14 year old stud. For another laugh, click on seniors and look up my brother, Shane. And Kristin, don't think you'll get away. My wonderful sister-in-law can be found in the Junior section, last name Iverson.
So, I've shared my heart and what God gave me to raise my spirits.
Love you all. Thanks so much.

Thank Yous

Hi all. Got mail today. Thanks to the Buckeye Gang and Scotty for the care packages.
Scotty, thanks for getting the Georgia Bulldogs to autograph the poster. Thanks to you friends in Athens for helping get it done as well. Go DAWGS!!!!! I'll post the poster proudly when I get my room squared away. By the way, please God let them beat South Carolina. It'll be a long 8 months if not.
My lovely Buckeyes, thanks for the mags and food. The reading helps break the monotony. You guys are the best. Thanks for all your support. Love you all. Sorry about the heat wave. Hope it ends soon and some gentle rains fall on your paths. How about Michigan!!!!!!!!!! I thought last year was embarrassing for us. At least UF was actually the best team in the nation last year. That pained me to say being the Dawg I am but I'll give respect to whom its due.

Not much to say

Hi there everyone. It's been a long week without much cool stuff to talk about. We've been back checking on our "people" and same old same old.....
We did find our guy with the monkey however, the monkey is new and improved and looks much less depressed than the last. We couldn't bring ourselves to ask what happened to the last one.
So, this is where I've been depleted to over the last week or so. Here are pics of the new monkey. I picked the monkey up first and he was climbing all over. By the time MAJ Wallace got him the monkey knew where the most comfortable spot was with the best view.

Let me sum it up for you

Hey, are these bottle rockets? Can we play?

Come on. Who is it? Who do they belong to? Oh ya, the proud husbands of Monet and Amanda. You know you love us despite our idiocy! Anyone wanna play with bottle rockets? They only hurt when you repeatedly bang the tips together. Here. Let me show you.........Hey! Where you guys going? Come back!! Don't run its OK, I'm a trained expert!!! Plus, I have plenty of tourniquets........

Back Again!

Alright, here we are in September and the internet its up finally. People, we've had some serious changes around here in the last couple of weeks. MAJ Berry was moved into another management position that he was doing well and then again moved to another position at another base.....close to the Frappe. SGM Allman was robbed from us as well and take close to Frappe Land. Not sure he'd come back if he could. He's got a pretty sweet gig from what I hear. We are still here carrying on with the changes. MAJ Wallace is in charge now and doing a fine job despite the frustrations that have come with the changes. He's a "Razorback" alumni and fan so it can be difficult working with him at times but we give him grace. People from Arkansas need grace you know!
So, we are missing some folks pretty bad but moving on none-the-less. 8 months or so to go.
I'm going to break up this party by ending with some thank yous. I'll put some recent pics together and catch you all up to speed on the viewing pleasure I always try to provide.
My dear wife--------God bless you for the Cappuccino maker/coffee pot. My room has become a social center and coffee usage has doubled.
My brother, Shane------I started with Eraggon. Thanks so much for the snacks and mags. Love you man.
Greg and Billi------One pound down. A true favorite. The candy is on the move as well as the toys. I'll try to stage one of the National Geographic photo ops next time I feel safe enough to bail out of the Hummer. Love you both. Send my love to Jason, Josh and Kristin.

My pic. sometimes you just have to carry your own pain relievers. The other, Sekula and me checking out a CP with underground rooms.

"Qala-I-Bist"

So in our area of operation (AO) happens to be some ruins of palaces from Alexander the Great and many more conquerors that followed. There happens to be several smaller palaces along the Helmand River but the main one, Qala-I-Bist (castle at Bist), we recently visited. A few pics above. The palace was built in a huge rock mountain along the river a couple thousand years ago, or if my history it wrong, whenever the heck Alex the Great was hanging out in this area for vacation. So, at the top, used to be a much more. The surviving part is in the rock itself. You look down these huge shafts that are bricked about 200 feet down into the rock. It's absolutely amazing. When you look around, the basic people in this country can't build better than this, 2000 years later, albeit some western trained people can throw some construction up. (not up to code, mind you). Anyway, they built it with canals running through the base of the palace, channeled from the Helmand R. They say the Soviets still used it when they occupied the country.
I haven't had much research time but some words translated from Arabic to English have multiple spellings. The area is no longer referred to as "Bist" but is "Bost." So, if you are history minded you can google up Qala-I-Bist or Qali Bost or Bist etc. You know how this game works. There are interesting articles etc on the net. Moving on....
Happy to inform you that the striped hyena is still alive, well and feisty. The monkey, however, has found a new home. Don't know if that was at a dinner table or if the monkey moved to a new check point with the prior crew.
Half the police checkpoints we went to on this mission had several, if not all, young lads high as kites. Nice, eh. Go patrol. Can you see? Can you walk? Can you shoot for God's sake. Where the hell is your commander?!!!!! I'm a doc on the edge, you're lucky I don't shoot you just to have something to do!!!!