Day 376: The Gunner

It isn’t often that I am the guy up in the turret of the Humvee...especially if the weapon on top of it is loaded. Sure, I qualified and learned how to shoot these weapons when I was at Ft. Riley and honestly I wasn’t a half bad shot. However, since Ft. Riley I have spent little time up in the turret. I think the Army realizes that sticking a doctor up in the turret is probably not the wisest use of its assets.

Yesterday afternoon, however, I found myself in enemy territory, up in the turret, watching and waiting for the bad guys to come my way. Alright, I may be dramatizing this story some. I actually was sitting in a very secure compound (the Herat Police Headquarters) and had little to no chance of actually running into any “bad guys”. Honestly, the only reason I even was up there was to relieve the poor guy who had been baking in the sun for the previous few hours. I felt bad for him and figured even the doctor could spend a few minutes up in the hot seat (no pun intended).

Although my time in the turret was uneventful, it was interesting to sit there and just think. I thought about what a horrible thing it would be if someone actually broke through the gate in the distance and I was required to use this weapon in front of me. I reflected on other “gunners”, who on a routine basis, sit in this seat, the most dangerous and exposed in the whole vehicle, to defend themselves, their friends, and their country. I thought of the few who have started a mission sitting in this seat, but have never made it home. I reflected on how blessed I have been that this is as close to the “fight” as I have ever been.

It was a nice few minutes of reflection. And the best part of all was that after about thirty minutes, right when it was starting to get really hot, my relief showed up and I was able to crawl back down to my shaded and softly padded seat below.