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.

Day 390: Moving Boxes

Since I have been in the military I have moved a lot of boxes. In fact, outside of practicing medicine, moving boxes has probably been the thing that has occupied most of my time over these past five years in the Navy. There have been innumerable boxes that I have packed, moved, and stored as the Navy has sent us on our journey from Washington, D.C., to Virginia, to California, to Nevada, and finally to Utah. I don’t think “clearing out the boxes in the garage” has ever left the weekend to-do list since Sue and I were first married. So you would think that coming here to Afghanistan would finally give me a chance to get out of the box moving business for a while, right? WRONG!




Honestly, if you added up all the boxes in the moving trucks, storage units, and garages I have had over the past several years, they would be nothing compared to the pile of boxes I have moved since arriving here at Camp Stone. There have been shipments of urine specimen cups. There have been taxi’s full of vaccines. There was even a bus that was completely full of first aid kits (I wish I would have taken a picture of that one). I have moved boxes from one end of Camp Stone to another. I have hauled them over to the neighboring ANA base. I have moved them from storage containers to humvees and from trucks to storage containers. About the only thing I haven’t done is loaded boxes onto the back of a camel.

Well, lately I have enjoyed my box moving experiences a little bit more. This is because I have been receiving the boxes containing the donations from our Afghan service project. It ended up being a huge project and the amount collected and sent over was amazing. Yesterday I received the latest shipment--approximately 15 boxes (shown below). Over the past few months, as I have moved each individual box (totaling well over a hundred), I have been humbled by the love and generosity of those who donated so much. Each box contains something that will change a life--from clothes that will cover a newborn baby to backpacks filled with paper, crayons, and pencils that will help a child gain an education. Your donations have made and will continue to make a huge difference for thousands of Afghan children.


So thanks again for your generosity and helping contribute to the “watch Justin move 452 boxes in 452 days” project. Luckily, I only have a few more weeks of box moving left until I make it back home. And what will I do once I make it back home? That’s right, my first item of business is to pack everything I own into boxes and move them back to Fallon!

Day 385: A Truck Full of Medicine

Today we loaded a police truck full of boxes that were filled with medicine. By the time we were done, the boxes were practically falling off the back of the pick up. Although it looks like quite a large amount of medicine, it actually is very little--considering it needs to supply the medication requirement of all of the police in western Afghanistan. Imagine one truck full of medicine needing to satisfy the demand for all police and their families in the state of Utah for several months. When you think of it in that sense, one truck load suddenly becomes much less significant. Regardless, we were happy to get the small amount that we did. For over a year, the Afghans I work with have been unable to obtain any medicine due to their backward and broken logistics system. However, after flying to Kabul ourselves last month, we were finally able to push through some of the barriers that have kept us from getting medications in the past. So there you have it...one small truck full of medicine. It is a small success story I know, but at least things are moving in the right direction. Hopefully by the time my replacement is getting ready to go home next year, they will be able to fill two pick ups full of medicine. Baby steps, right?

Day 380: Frequent Flier Miles

I didn’t realize when I came back from leave, that I would be traveling so much. It seems like every other week I am jumping on a plane to conduct some kind of business. Today started my latest journey as I got into a Sweedish C-130 and headed to Kabul. I wish somehow I could accumulate frequent flier miles for all the trips I’ve been on during this deployment. I’m sure I would have earned enough miles for a free trip to Hawaii or some other exotic destination by now. Just to give you a reminder of some of the flights I have taken, I’ve listed them below.

I’ve flown from...

Utah to San Diego
San Diego to Kansas
Kansas to Salt Lake and back again (three times)
Kansas to Kabul
Kabul to Salt Lake (and back again for leave)
Herat to Bagram, Bagram to Kabul, Kabul to Kandahar, Farah to Herat, and any other combination of Afghan cities you can think of.

All in all, I’m sure I’ve circled this crazy world of ours a few times by now. It’s been a fun ride. I’ve seen a lot of new places and met a lot of new people. I’ve flown on American, Canadian, Italian, Spanish, German, and now Sweedish aircraft. I’ve touched down in Kuwait, Germany, Ireland, Kyrgystan, and of course Afghanistan. It has been quite an adventure.

The best news of all is that this will be the last addition to my frequent flier account until I embark on my final journey--the journey back home. And if you hadn’t heard, it looks like this trip home will arrive just a little sooner than originally anticipated. If all goes as planned, I should be back with Sue and the kids by the last week of July!

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.

Day 372: A Three Thousand Dollar Hospital

How much do you think it costs to build a hospital...$25 million, $100 million, $500 million? Well, actually it can be done with only $3000. That’s right, only $3000 will get you a state of the art Afghan police hospital. We found this out recently as we helped the Afghan police commander build his headquarters “hospital” out of a large empty room he had available. We found a contractor, bought some lumbar, added a few buckets of paint, and before you knew it we had a $3000 “hospital”. It looks pretty good, although it does have one major flaw...it has no plumbing. Yes, this currently is a non-hand washing facility. I know, it is a little unsanitary but hey, when you only have $3000 to spend, you can’t get everything you want. Pictured here is Ghulam Rasool who is one of the medics assigned to the clinic. Also you see a picture of one of the treatment rooms we created.

Day 369: Check Mate

I haven’t played chess in years. In fact, I don’t know that I have ever played since I was married. In addition to not having played in years, I was never very good at chess to start with. However today, when one of the Afghan nurses I have been working with asked me to play, I figured that even though I was a little rusty, I could still take him. So we took out the board, set it up, and started to play. It took about three moves until he had his first kill. Before too long he started saying “danger” in his best English to warn me before I was about to make a bad move. Even with him helping me avoid bad moves, he still beat me in game number one after only about five minutes. I should have quit then. However, my competitive nature got the better of me and I challenged him to a rematch. I figured I was just a little rusty and game two would end much better for me. I actually started out doing pretty well. A few times I heard him mutter “besyar khoob” (very good) when I made a somewhat intelligent move. At one point I even had his King in range and was able to call out "check". However, I think at this point he decided to put me out of my misery and within just a few more moves he had me...check mate! Although, I played poorly, it was actually pretty fun and a nice break from the medical in-processing we have been doing over the past few days here at the police training center.

Hey, maybe I could challenge him to a game of one-on-one basketball? I might just be able to beat him at that...maybe.

Day 366: One Year Later

One year ago today, this 452 day journey began. I remember well May 26, 2008. It was the day that had been anticipated (or perhaps I should say dreaded) for months. It was the day where I was forced to leave my beloved family behind...hoping they would be safe and happy while I was away. It was the day where the familiar suddenly disappeared and was replaced with a future of unknowns and mystery. It was the day when war went from something just seen in the movies, to something much more real.

Today as I celebrate my one year deployment anniversary, it is amazing to sit and reflect on all that has happened over this past year. The best part about this day is that it is here. It has finally arrived. If you would have told me 365 days ago that this day would actually someday arrive, I’m not sure I would have believed you. But believe it or not, it is finally here.

So how am I celebrating my special day? Well, actually I am sitting in a small crowded barracks, surrounded by ten complete strangers, while trying to take cover from the innumerable flies that are attacking me. Isn’t deployment life in Afghanistan awesome!

I would have never asked to come here and I would not volunteer to come again. However, I know that this experience was given to me and my family for a reason. As hard as it has been at times, I know Someone wiser than I understands the “why” behind this deployment and is trying to teach me lessons that will help guide me not only in this life, but in the one to come. So I will spend what remains of these 452 days trying to take from it those lessons and experiences that will make me a better person, a better husband, a better father, and a more faithful servant to my Father in Heaven.

Day 363: Odds and Ends

Well, I thought I might give everyone an update on the latest here in Afghanistan.

I officially returned from my trip to Kabul two days ago. It was a nice trip and it actually was quite productive. I was able to take my Afghan physician counterpart up to the national Afghan police hospital and get some long overdue business completed. I was also able to catch up with some old friends from my training days in Kansas.

Upon returning to Herat, we had a graduation ceremony for our second regional medic class. Twenty-three more police and soldiers were officially recognized as having learned the skills needed to be called a combat medic. This course has been a nice accomplishment--not only for me but also for my American and Afghan colleagues. I hope the skills they have learned will make a difference in the future.

Finally, today was the first ever Camp Stone strongman competition. It was just like on TV--truck pulling and all. No I didn’t participate...although don’t get me wrong, I definitely could have. Rather, I stuck to my marathon training. Today I ran just over thirteen miles--my first half marathon! For those of you out there reading, remember to let me know if you want to join Sue and I up in Lake Tahoe in September for a marathon, 5K or just a relaxing weekend.

See you all soon.

Day 358: The Twilight Zone

About three weeks ago I left the United States and headed back to finish my tour in Afghanistan. The hardest part of leaving was having to say my goodbyes again to Sue and the kids. On a smaller scale it was hard to say goodbye to some of the comforts of home...clean indoor bathrooms, bare feet in the shower, and grass in the yard.

One thing I have noticed out here as I have traveled around to different coalition bases is that although we have been here for many years, the bases seem to be consistently dumpy. You would think at some point someone might think, “hey, we are going to be here for a while, let’s build something nice to live in.” Seems like a logical idea but honestly everywhere you go soldiers are still living in wooden huts or modified shipping containers, bathrooms are all outdoors, and nothing but rocks cover the ground. Well today all that changed as I flew into Kabul International Airport to conduct a few days of business. As I arrived, we taxied into the new compound that had just been completed. I was shocked to see normal American quality buildings, grass and trees surrounding the buildings, benches to sit on, an indoor basketball court, and indoor bathrooms. It was almost as if my plane had left Afghanistan and I had accidentally been flown into the Twilight Zone. I walked up and down the street, on a normal sidewalk I might add, and was awestruck by just how normal things seemed. It was a strange but kind of nice.