Prologue

So why 61Romeo?  61Romeo (61R) is the Army's designation for my Military Occupational Specialty (MOS).  So my MOS is 61R which is an Army radiologist.  It allows them to plug me into any slot designated for a radiologist.  The 10th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) needed a radiologist and my name somehow fell out on the list that was generated.  Actually it was a little more complicated than that, but not much.  I also have a secondary MOS which is a 62Bravo (62B).  62B is a General Medical Officer.  I served as a GMO when we were in Belgium, before my residency.

I've started this blog to keep in touch with friends and family and let everyone know what I'm doing while deployed to Afghanistan.  I leave in 7 days and will be gone for about 7 months.  I'll leave here and go to Ft Benning, GA for a week of training in the CONUS Replacement Center (CRC).  I'll then go to England for about 2 weeks for more training with a British hospital unit and then on to Afghanistan.  I'm assigned to the 10th CSH, but will actually an individual replacement in a British Hospital in Helmand province.  I will be in a different location than the 10th CSH proper along with about 10-20 other US health care providers.  I actually know very few other details about what the next few weeks hold in store...

I've received tons of equipment in preparation for deployment.  Much more than I can ever bring with me.  I been injected with small pox and anthrax and got a flu shot and tetanus shot, all on the same day.  My arms are still sore.  My teeth, hearing and eyesight have been checked and I've done my baseline traumatic brain injury testing.  All of the boxes are being checked.  I've also done online training on sexual harrassment, suicide prevention and how to report enemy troop movements.  All stuff that's important to someone I'm sure.

I'm getting a little ancy.  I'm not at all worried about my safety.  The place I'm going hasn't seen any rockets or mortars for over a year.  I'm most worried about doing my job well and being an asset to the hospital and sick and wounded depending on us/me.  Mostly I'm going to miss home and everything about it...