Time to resurrect this blog!

I know people aren't really using this anymore and I had meant to resurrect this blog earlier to update people back home (mainly my dad because he was requesting I update him more on my adventures here) but I've been here for over a month now and am just now getting to update this. lol. Hopefully I can keep up with this. There's a lot I can't talk about or post because of security reasons but I'll do my best. Perhaps the beginning is a good place to start. It was a long journey to get here which included about 6 weeks of training, flights to a bunch of different states and countries and cold frigid weather. Now that we are here, it's been sand, dust, and more sand. It smells like sewer and poop sometimes and the scenery usually consists of sand, rocks, and connex boxes. Training before getting in country was long but fun for the most part. Felt like I was in the "real" military and that I was training to be a soldier. We went to the shooting range everyday for a week and a half straight. I learned and qualified as marksman on the M9 pistol and M4 rifle. There was a day we got to shoot heavy weapons too which was a lot of fun. That 50 cal packs a lot of punch! We also wore our full "battle rattle" which consisted of a flack vest and kevlar (which felt like 50lbs of gear). We went on convoys, did humvie roll overs, learned about IED's... the whole 9 yards. Of course none of this pertains to my job as a nurse but it's fun to learn none the less.

Since I've been here, I've learned and seen more than I ever have the past two years. I've taken care of detainees, US forces, NATO coalition forces, local nationals... you name it. We've done everything from gun shot wounds (GSW) to IED blast injuries, to kidney stones. I'll get more into stories later. Now it's time to get some sleep. Hopefully the sandstorm, wind, and smells will be gone tomorrow. Til next time...