The Real Deal

03OCT14 

Another Friday here in KDH, which meant there was an organized run for the base. This time it was a 5K and it was for Hispanic Heritage Month. A little disappointed with the t-shirt as it wasn’t a dri-fit type like the previous one but can’t complain since it’s free. The course was short and simple a basic square loop where 1 lap was about 1.5 miles. I assumed it was going be three laps so I was conserving energy for what I thought would be the 3rd lap but as I looked ahead on the 2nd lap towards the start/finish I saw runners already heading back to the post race area so I just sprinted as fast as I could to the end finishing with a time of 17:40 Treated myself and made a breakfast sandwich have been cutting the breads and carbs as much as I could to see what kind of difference it would make. Today after running however, just gorged on bread. The eggs are cooked fresh to order, which is nice and always reliable for breakfast. 

Was able to sleep most of the day until it was time for work. Work was fine took care of business and went into another duty day. 

04OCT14 

Luckily I had a PM duty shift but that didn’t matter as I had broken sleep throughout the day. I volunteered to help setup for a bbq later in the evening so stuck around for that not before getting in a 2 hour sleep. After setup went back to my room and slept for 1.5 hours till a MASS-CASS (Mass-Casualty) drill went into effect again. Had to get out of bed and head straight to the hospital for the drill. Luckily the hospital sent an ambulance for staff at the barracks. Drill went smoothly from my perspective and our team is staring to be a lot more comfortable with the drills. Once drill was secured went back to my room and got another 1.5 hour sleep till it was time to get up again. The bbq was held for a few of the leftover officers who are still around assisting with the transition. The bbq chicken was on point someone must have shipped some BBQ sauce from back home cause it was tasty. 

There was a moment when one is outside and hears the fighter jets take off from the runway that makes you in awe. This was no different situation; most of the staff sitting down enjoying their meals and thunderous fighter jet engine takes off from the pitch-black runaway located adjacent to the hospital. Blue flames from the jet engine radiate as the pilot turns on the after burner and in seconds the jet disappears into the sky. The description doesn’t do it give it justice, hearing it feeling it live is something that just makes you pause and appreciate the power those jets have. I haven’t been to the blue angels air show in over 20 years but I’d say it’s similar to that. Duty shift was actually busy at night with me as duty driver again making rounds as if I was an Uber driver for some of the staff. 

05OCT14 

Caught some of the MLB Playoff Games while on duty with my buddy who is a die-hard Doyer (Dodger) fan. We were both in disbelief with that 10-9 win the other night with Kershaw and the Doyers giving up the lead. This is the time of year where I’ll actually enjoy watching baseball appreciating the chess match for managers when to use the bullpen, how long to keep a pitcher in, should I hit n run, or bunt to advance the runner. Every move is criticized or analyzed and makes a different in a game during the playoffs. 

Caught breakfast with my buddy and we were surprised to see how long that Nationals/Giants game went. Was able to make it to church today which is always nice. Much needed sleep happened and got a solid 8 hours. It’s always weird to wake up at 6PM thinking it’s 6AM but that’s just my routine. 2 days ways from the gym made it to a 75 minute spin class. Usually it’s 45 minutes don’t know how I kept up for 75. 

To play it safe I don’t mention too many details of operations here but since it has been made public I’ll comment. We had a soldier who came through here wounded in the field. Unfortunately he was already in bad shape coming to us and there wasn’t much we could do despite the doctors and nurses best efforts. I wasn’t around when he first came in but came in late during the day and couldn’t help but notice his brothers (fellow soldiers) waiting around. We were able to get him to a better treatment facility as ours is a medium to get people to the highest standard facility. Unfortunately news got back to us he didn’t make it. R.I.P SFC Weathers. http://www.armytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014310020062