Day 396: Trading Syringes for RPGs

For the past 72 hours I have been down at Shouz (two hours south of Herat) as part of my last big trip of this deployment. Although it has been nice to be away from Stone for a few days, it has also been extremely monotonous. My days and nights have been filled with little more than filling syringes with vaccine in advance of a new class of police student’s arriving here. I have literally spent the last 3 days doing nothing more than filling syringes...and after about a thousand it starts getting a little old.


So this afternoon I jumped at the chance to get away from my syringes for a few minutes and go do something a little more exciting. I was offered the opportunity to go out to the firing range and shoot RPGs (rocket propelled grenades). This isn’t something that many people get to do (especially doctors) so I was quick to accept the offer.

It reminded me a little of my range days a year ago back at Fort Riley. We put on our body armor, had a little class, and then went to work laying down fire on the hill in front of us. It was a very impressive, powerful, and loud weapon. I was definitely glad I was on the giving end instead of the receiving end of this beast. We each had a chance to shoot twice before the ammo ran out. It was a fun experience and a much needed break.




Well I better run...I’ve got to get back to my syringes.