I grabbed an anonymous duffel bag and walked straight out from the helicopter until I had cleared the wide sweeping arc of the rotor before turning ninety degrees to my right to exit the pad. The ground surrounding this was covered in loose rock making foot traffic highly cumbersome - especially when decked out in body armor and carrying a forty pound duffel bag. Just the same, I found my way to the collection point and was eventually greeted by someone from the 115th CSH. My belongings were loaded onto an SUV (Ford Explorer, I think), and I was transported (along with two others) to Billeting. Those who have Military or other Government experience will find this to be an all-too-familiar scene. The assistance I received from these fine people was about as valuable as a handful of Russian Rubles. They fit the bill of the typical civilian government employee who has a job title which gives him/her dominion over something which you want/need, and they are about as willing to relinquish rights to said item/service as a mother bear is to let you play with her cub. So, after being told that there were no "Pods" available, I was ushered to tent S-3, one of the temporary lodging areas.
First - a POD (also known as a Containerized Housing Unit - CHU) is an 8x20ft box not dissimilar to one of the containers used by the PODS (Portable On-Demand Storage) company. It is climate controlled and there are two decent-sized wall lockers to store my belongings. I can "furnish" it as I see fit with just about anything I can find/buy/build. I share this space with one other person, and all said it is not significantly different from sharing a college dorm room.
My first accommodations - Tent S3 - were a different matter. This is a huge tent which is partitioned off into several rooms with some slipshod plywood flooring and walls (S-3 is the far tent on the left in the picture). Each "room"has eight bunks (four sets of bunkbeds) and about as many tiny wall lockers. Some unfortunate souls are sentenced to live in these S tents for several months "until a Pod becomes available," (See above comments regarding the Award-Winning Customer Service of Billeting). The light switches in S-3 control the lighting for three of the "rooms." As such, you kind of have to "coordinate" with the inhabitants of the other "rooms" as to when they shall be on or off. This effort had all of the "coordination" of a drunken giraffe. (Pictured are the "Main Hall" of S-3, and my comfy diggs)
On the upside, it is air-conditioned. It is comfortably cool at night, cold even sometimes. But, the little A/C unit cannot fend off the heat of the midday sun, and it will heat up to uncomfortable levels by 10:00am. T
his makes "weekend rest" difficult. Fortunately for me, I had only one weekend to suffer through. I was in my Pod in about one week's time. This, no doubt, was the result of much jockeying on my part, and the insistence that the ONLY General Surgeon for the entire camp deserved as much.
Well, back to 3 Sept. After putting all of my belongings in Room 1, S-3, I was shown where the B Co headquarters were. From here, we were given a quick walking tour of Bucca on our way to the DFAC (Dining FACility). I'm not sure why I made the distinction "...quick walking tour." There really are no "long" walking tours - just not that much to see. The LSA (Logistics Support Area - i.e. the main part of the base where everyone lives, eats, and play) is separate from the TIF, and the hospital is located in the latter. After lunch, I was driven the 3/4 mi to the hospital where I met with the surgeon that I would be replacing. I was given a quick rundown of the physical layout of the facility with particular attention to where the bathroom was (outside, not air-conditioned, flushing toilet, no sink). After this "orientation" and a short introduction to the DCCS (Deputy Commander for Clinical Services), we returned to the LSA (or FOB - Forward Operating Base. Though I'm sure that there is a clear distinction between what constitutes an LSA versus a FOB, they seem to be used interchangeably around here.)
I was then left to fend for myself. I wandered around and found my way back to "Downtown" Bucca which is home to the basketball court, the PX, Subway, Burger King, Pizza Hut, a coffee shop, and several services including the Barber Shop, Beauty Shop, and Spa. Yes. Really. A spa. No. I have not availed myself of their services. There are also a number of Haji Shops. One might think that this is some type of racial epithet, but those who are proprietors of said establishments actually call them "Haji Shops." Such is painted on signs in front of the store.
After wasting sufficient time, I decided to return to the one familiar location - the DFAC - for dinner. Afterward, I wandered some more, but the heat kept me from going too far. I eventually returned to S-3 to find the outgoing surgeon waiting for me. Now, I had anticipated that there would be at least several days of overlap so that I could get accustomed to how things run at the hospital. I cannot describe how thrilled I was to discover that, instead, he was boarding a Blackhawk at 0630 the following morning. He handed me the pager and marched back toward his Pod for his final night in Bucca. Fortunately for everyone, it didn't go off.
After this fun-filled day, it was time to turn in. After all, I had to find my way to the hospital the following day by 1000.
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