Back in the USA

I’ve been back going on 36 hours now and I’m quickly transitioning into the stateside way of living again. The next few weeks will be comprised of required training and processing as well as an adequate amount of time off. I’m still trying to adjust my circadian rhythm back to central standard time and that will probably take another week or so.  Life is really good now with the feeling I won’t have to participate in any extended Army vacations again since I will be retiring in October of next year.  I’m just enjoying being home with Aeyoung and our dogs right now.

It’s just a blast here…

at sunny Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. I’m into my third week of conducting post deployment health assessments on returning soldiers and otherwise trying to get the time to pass as fast as possible (which it isn’t).  Just to keep things exciting we had a rocket attack two nights ago that killed two soldiers and injured six others. This was the most deadly attack in about two years at Bagram. The rockets landed about a quarter mile from where we sleep so they woke me up but it was basically over by the time I realized what was happening. Just the thing to keep us on our toes for the next few weeks. I’m due to leave around the first or so of July.

Drawing Down

It’s June and most likely the last calendar month for yours truly in good ‘ole A-Stan. I’ve got about another week here at beautiful FOB Blessing and then I’ll be headed to Bagram Airbase for a couple of days or weeks (depending) to take care of medical outprocessing. Mentally I’m already back at home playing my guitar at loud volumes.

Recent developments

Time is slowly chugging along here at FOB Blessing. Nothing of great import has transpired since last update with the exception of my removal from ADVON which means I will be coming home in late June or early July as opposed to late May. That change has its pros and cons with the main negative being more time away from home but almost everything else is positive. The ADVON providers have to setup the medical footprint and get everyone at home ready for the return of the brigade so it’s a lot of coordination that can be somewhat of a pain. The other positive is that it will be one or two more months of the extra combat pays so that will come in handy.

Of most significant import on the musical front is that yesterday we got tickets to see Yes with Asia (Steve Howe will be pulling double duty) July 15th at Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. Of all the concerts and musicians I have been able to see over the years, there are still a couple of my all time favorites that I have never seen live and Steve Howe is at the top of the list.  I was able to catch Yes on the 90125 tour with Trevor Rabin (a fantastic show and I was very happy to see that lineup) but I have always felt I missed a great opportunity to see Steve Howe with the classic lineup, playing the more classic era song list. Unfortunately (depending on your viewpoint) Jon Anderson & Rick Wakeman have both had some medical issues that have kept them from performing so Steve Howe, Chris Squire and Alan White have enlisted the duties of Oliver Wakeman (Rick’s son) on keyboards and Benoit David (a Yes tribute band member) on vocals. According to reviews from a short tour last winter, David sounds like the Jon Anderson of the 70’s and does an incredible job on the old tunes. Another benefit of this lineup is that they can perform tunes from Drama which Jon Anderson always refused to do. So it’s possible this set list will be about the most varied and interesting they have performed in a long time. I’m fairly sure they will perform Close to the Edge in entirety and that’s worth the price of admission alone. I’m really looking forward to Machine Messiah or pretty much anything from Drama.

But if that wasn’t enough, they are being joined by Asia with the original lineup and they should be able to draw tunes from the first two albums as well as the most recent studio album “Phoenix” which was released a couple of years ago. Asia comes from a unique genre in that it’s the closest thing to Progressive Pop, definitely the most successful next to the 90125 Yes of that era. The nice thing is that the “Phoenix” is actually a great album in their catalog and it seems like the album they should have released after the first two. Asia had many forgettable lineups and albums in the intervening years between “Alpha” and “Phoenix” but this tour is shaping up to very promising.

Belated Ides of March Updates

Well, Folks. It’s mid March here in sunny Afghanistan and we are counting down the days, oh yes we are. Most of the crew here has taken their R&R leave and we are on the downhill slope to deployment’s end. I don’t know exactly how much time I have left but it’s a range of between 45-75 days. I should be heading back to Texas in May so the end is in sight at least. I got one of those sentinel event emails last night from my career manager in which she offered me a job that was often considered just a rumor. Since graduating from the OU School of Public Health I have had my eyes on a position with USACHPPM which is the Army’s Preventive Medicine agency. There are very few active duty slots in the entire organization, and even fewer slots for PA’s. Especially if you didn’t learn the secret handshake (and/or have incriminating evidence against the career manager by which to blackmail). I have been offered the CHPPM PA job in Europe which technically isn’t a real job as they have never created an official position although people have been assigned to those duties for several years. This is as close to my dream assignment as I can get in the Army (until they create an official position that entails testing of vintage guitars, beer tasting, and application of lubricants and other skin products to visiting cheerleader squads). Taking this job will give me a chance to get back into occupational medicine with a focus on research, prevention, health promotion and education. Not to mention that it’s in a very nice part of Germany which will allow Aeyoung and I to travel all over Europe and the Mediterranean for three years.  I’m still anxiously awaiting the new bonus program announcements which are due in the next month or two, but I’m probably going to take this job regardless as it’s worth the investment in extra years from both a personal and professional standpoint. I sign off with thoughts of Egypt, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Spain, England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Russia, etc. dancing in my head…

Updates

Not a lot new to report. We’re getting to the end of February, and it’s been a mostly cold and wet month. I’m on the cusp of “double-digit-midgetdom” which is a state of having less than 100 days left in country. This comes from the tradition that started when I was in Korea in which people refer to themselves as short as they get near their departure date, hence midget. Not to disparage the short of stature, mind. We have now entered into a period of watchful waiting as it will be March or April before I find out about how big of a hit the personnel programs will take under President Obama’s budget. This will have a significant bearing on whether I retire in October 2010 when eligible or if I sign up for the new bonuses that are rumored.

Back at Blessing

I was gone for nearly a month, and a few things have changed while I was away. For starters, they apparently have decided to follow the American infrastructure model by paving the entire FOB.  I exaggerate slightly, but they have laid down about half a basketball court worth of new concrete.  In addition, they opened up a new MWR facility where the mess hall used to be and it’s pretty nice. They have a projector showing movies, several phones and internet connections. The movie area has some plush couches and you can play your own movies on a first come first served basis. This won’t replace movie night at the aid station (got HD?) but it’s nice the soldiers have this outlet now. 

On other matters, I was quite relieved and surprised when I checked my weight this morning after over 3 weeks of complete disregard to my diet and exercise regimen.  I actually am the same weight I was when I left which in some books would count as not making progress, but as bloated as I felt coming back off leave I was pretty happy. I still have a ways to go to reach my end deployment goal, but now that I’m back on Blessing I can get back on track.