OCD and Christmas!

I had been meaning to put this post in. It seems that Deb B from St B. sent us a FST Gingerbread Kit for Christmas. And well...as all good OCD people would do, my "peep" got just a little carried away with the project and build a whole FOB with the FST as the center point. GOOD GRIEF!!! But it was a pretty amazing creation!!  Pics is of the "FOB" and the two "Construction Engineers" in charge of the project.

Christmas in Qalat, Zabul Provience Afghanistan

Well it is Christmas day today and well actually it is Christmas eve now!  We had a pretty good Christmas, about as good as it can get out here I guess. A Christmas party with a lot of peeps, some gift giving and some nice weather.  Got to watch the "kids" open their presents. Again, not the same as being home with family and friends..but yes I would say it is close.

Getting ready for Christmas

Well it is getting close. We had one casualty today but fortunately not to injured.  We are also getting ready for the festive day! Pics show decorating group hard at work.

The View from Above

This last trip to APACHE we got to fly over with DUSTOFF, which is definitely the way to go! It is a short trip but the view was most excellent. As I have said before there is a definite beauty to this area.

Kids and the Holidays

Well, I had to post this pic of two of our Corpsman as we were getting ready to take our Christmas picture.  You do have to love it!  They are such a great group.

Its beginning to look a lot like....

Well yes…Christmas. Even with all that’s going on, people are still getting into the holidays. Pics are of our Corpsman opening up a Christmas decoration box from the USO (you have to love it), and the second is the Corpsman in front of all the boxes that my hospital at home sent out.  They sent out like 20+ boxes of stuff plus another 4 boxes of gingerbread FST that we can make. We will have to see how that turns out.

 

Change of Commands

There has been a lot of activity lately. Mostly it is the units here ripping out and their change of Commands. Two of significance for us are Task Force Arrowhead ripping out and the Romanian units here changing also. Picture is of the TOA for the Romanian 2nd Mountain Brigade and its CO giving an award to Gen Abrams.

The Army: Task Force Arrowhead

 

I know I keep making comparisons to Bastion and well here is another. Our relationship with the Combat entity here is much tighter than it was at Bastion. It may be the more "small town" nature of things out here. But whatever it is we are tight with the Army units out here, and I think that is good.  Picture if of the Task Force Deputy Commander giving the TF coin to our most junior enlisted at the FST (every one of the FST got a coin). He was a very strong supporter of our mission here.

Dogs are Fun Too

Recurrent theme out here seems to be the work dogs. They are definitely special and yes offer everyone some dog therapy. We can get to go down and see them train but their trainers also bring them up to the FST. Kind of like dog therapy but not for the patients.  Pic is of Bosco on one of those trips. He so loves to play tug of war. Not that he is a really BIG dog. Corpsman is putting everything into it and still not wining.

The View from the FOB

Well it rained like a mother the day before yesterday. And I mean it rained. Mud all over the place. But afterward it was really clear. I know I have said this some already but it is very different here than at Bastion.. There definitely is a view here, and it can be very beautiful.  I have been outside the wire like 8 times now and have gotten to see the "country side" some. Like I said, very different from Bastion. I have kind of gotten into taking panoramic pics. Have a really neat program that stitches them together. This is after the rain storm

Thanksgiving Day in Qalat Afghanistan

I would like to say that Thanksgiving Day is really different than it is at home. But in so many ways it is not. Bigger family maybe, but same sense.  Pic is of the "troop" after Turkey Day dinner getting together for Turkey day "snacking" and then vegging and watching "A Christmas Story"

The View from the FOB

It is really different here than it was at Bastion/Leatherneck. One is the air quality is definetly better, and although there is the "dust" it is nothing like KAF or Bastion. You actually can see at a distance. The view definetly has beauty to it.  Picture is taken on the backside of the FOB which is more open.

Combat Medics

I would not in ANY sense use the word combat in the same sentence as our unit. But it does seem that we are a little more combat oriented than with the last deployment. We have to carry our weapon with us at all time. Still it is pretty safe on this FOB with few incidents that I know of.  Pic below is some from our unit and KAF returning from a visit to our "sister" FOB up the hill.  Kind of scary.  I do however so love our FST's motto: "Bringing a Knife to a Gunfight"!

Halloween

Forgot to post this earlier.  We did have Halloween. Not a lot in the way of costumes so it had to be original. I went as a Special Ops...humm I know..not so original. It was fun and everyone had a good time!

A Trip Outside the Wire

Ok well this was a pretty unusal thing as several of us had to make a special trip to our sister FOB up the hill, FOB APACHE. It was unusual in that we went by Ground Movement which does not happen very often for us medical types. The trip actually is pretty short since the distance is not large. We did have to go through Qalat wihch is the town we are close to. Pics are of 1) our method of transport and yes that is a Stryker which was pretty neat. And 2) of me on the ride back in the Stryker.
Definetly don't plan on making this a habit though.

Training

IT has been pretty busy for us with casualties almost every day. Mostly the are Afghan security forces as they seem to be picking up much of the missions as the ISAF forces pull back and support them. We have been doing a lot of off time training: getting familiar with the equipment, doing trauma resucc training and for the most part it appears to be paying off as we have done very well when the actual casualties do come in.  Pic is of a am training session: basically a competition to see who can set up the Belmont fastest.

Rainy Season

Seems like the rain has started here. Had one day of rain on and off. Temp is also dropping at night to low 40s.  I think it is going to get cold here. Pics are (1) View of FOB after rain from atop our CONEX boxes. (2) Clear shot (kind of rare) of mountain in distance after the rain.

A Role 2E

As stated before Lagman FST is different from a Marine Role 2.  One of the biggest differences is we have 100+ units of blood products on hand at all times and are able to get restocked from KAF very quickly. We even have 3-5 six pack of plts on hand (no cryo though). This pretty much allows us to do a full resuscitation. Had a high double amp plus upper ext injuries recently and we were able to fully resuscitate with close to 1:1:1. Pic shows our Blood Bank Refrig with roughly 50 units prbcs and 50 units FFP.

Zabul Provience and Qalat

Our Trauma FST is located in FOB Lagman which is located in Zabul Province and is right outside the capitol of the Province: Qalat.  The picture show "The Castle" a top the hill located just outside the town (which is to the right of the picture). This structure reportedly dates back to Alexander the Great. Hummm...kind of give you a perspective on 1) the nature of what we consider old and 2) the history of the region.

The "New" Lagman FST Crew

We have pretty much setteled in and have already taken care of a bunch of casulties.  This is the first "Offical" pic of our new group which includes two Army enlisted and two AirForce enlisted. A true multi force unit!

FST Lagman: A Role 2E Facility

Will describe just a little on how the FST is set up.  It is a ROLE 2E facility which I have found out is much different than the Role 2s in RC(SW).  This is a pretty robust facility with a lot of capability. 4 bed trauma bay, 3 bed ICU/Recover, and a two bed OR.  As you can see there is A LOT of equipment and stock.  We have more Staples (GIA, TAs) than we did at Bastion.  Go figure.  Pics show trauma bay, ICU, and OR.

 

Our New Home: FOB Lagman

We did finally make it to our final destination = our new home: FOB Lagman and the FST which resides there also know at The Miranda Trauma Center.  There is a lot of history here and as I get to know that some I will try and relate it.  The day our replaced group was heading out (our first day) we got our first casualty and had a second early this morning so it is still busy somewhat.  It is as comfortable as place as it could be out here, an Army base with almost a small town feel.  Pics are of the front of the FST and of both groups outgoing and incoming together. You have to love whats on the "sign"..."Bringing a Knife to a Gun Fight"!!

Heading out of KAF to final destination: Bittersweet

KAF as I have said is not the place I EVER want to be for any length of time.  It is a dirty congested “city”.  We were there for about 2 days and we were none too glad to leave.  It was bittersweet though as we had to part ways with our sister detachment, FOB TK. They left out first in a big group.  It was definitely sad to see them go but knew that they were heading out to do what they came here for.  We (FOB Lagman crew) got to go out piecemeal.  I went out first with my SEL and two other key members and we got to fly out with DUSTOFF on their Blackhawks.  Very neat ride!  Pics show my TK battlebuddy, a truly awesome individual and OIC of the TK group. Second pic is on our flight out to FOB Lagman in the paired DUSTOFF Blackhawks.

KAF It still is a Zoo

Then on to KAF, which as last time was a total zoo and pretty much just as I remembered it.  We were there for a few days. Pics show flight to KAF from Manas (those are big mountains),  and a reunion with our KAF friends who we trained with at NEMTI

McGuire to Manas

Well we are settling in at FST Lagman now but the journey was a long one.  First stop was Manas after our flight from McGuire AFB with a stopover in Germany.   At McGuire friend from ST B surprised me and came down to help the USO serve us food as we went out and also brought homemade scones.  Was nice.  Flight was pretty uneventful and we arrived in Manas VERY tired.  Pics show us getting to head out at McGuire and our luxurious accommodations at Manas. Fortunately we only stayed about 24 hours there as we headed out to KAF. Pics are at USO at McGuire getting ready to head out and our comfy berthing at Mana.

No General Order 1B

So.......We are finished with training and although comfined to base we are no longer under General Order 1B which basically means...the team can DRINK! This is a bunch of us a Puggies on the AirForce side of the base (the name has an interesting origin) chilling and having a few in the true Army tradition lol. If this looks familar to some there is a pretty equivalent picture from my last group two years ago!

Validated by 1st Army...for the SECOND time!!!

Well I haven't written much about our FT DIX experience since...well...it was pretty much close to the last time. AND...We have just finished...the class is validated and I am about ready to get in my rental car and head home. This time seemed somewhat harder than last, maybe since I am two years older. Some of the days in full body armor for the whole day in 90 degree heat was trying. All of the unit Qualified in M9s and M4s this time, probablly due to uptemppo in Afghanistan. Pic is of our class at MRAP training. It is composed of the two FSTs...mine (small 20) going to FST Logman, and the other (larger 29) going to TK.

Fort Dix ...AGAIN!!!

Yes well here we are at Fort Dix...AGAIN! Not too much has changed. Two groups here..FSTs from Lopgman (mine) and TK. Two weeks so far and we have gone through the death by powerpoint days, and done SINGARS and got to do BLUE TRACKER this time which was neat. Pics are of gear issue...and the end result. HUMVEE and MRAP training and rollover this week...then we start weapons quals.

The New Unit!

The first "official" group picture of our new unit NE 4509! Just been together about two weeks doing our medical training at NEMTI and we are just getting to know each other. So far it seems like a great group! But to be honest I would not expect anything else. GO NAVY!!!

Starting a New Mobilization

This may be a tuff way to start this blog but it will be how I do it. The picture is at NEMTI as we are winding down our medical training here. A Navy Corpsman has just died in action in Afghanistan and the whole training camp assembled at Taps to pay respect. In many respects it reminded me of the similar ceremony at Bastion when a British soldier had died. In all respects it points to the reason I am going out again!