It's a mad, mad army....

It's been quite a week. For those not aware, here is the quick recap:

On Wednesday, after returning to work (following my sick day Tuesday), I was in the office no more than 20 minutes when my boss came into the room and shut the door behind her. (This little act, which I now have a Pavlovian-like response to, may very well leave me in the fetal position under my desk when it occurs again in the future.)

"Mike, there's been a tasking..."

And there it was. First I realized I was to be deployed. Second, I was to be deployed to Pakistan with a MASH unit for earthquake relief. Third, as the day progressed, I was told I was to leave in the next 1-2 days for up to 3 months.

You could say the floor dropped out at that point. It's this sort of near-weekly earth-shattering news that makes life in the Army Europe difficult at times. I had to see a patient immediately after learning all of this, and sadly, my mind was racing with all the other news and I ended up just going through the motions during that visit. In retrospect I'm sure the patient thought I was completely mindless, but oh well.

The next 48 hours brought about a flurry of activity. I went to "SRP" the next morning in a large gymnasium full of other Army soldiers. After standing in several lines, getting several shots, filling out several health questionaires, talking with JAG (military legal) about whether or not I wanted a will, receiving anti-malaria medication, and several other things, I held in my hand a sheet of paper with lots of check boxes on it and a final box labeled "Deployable", which was checked.

Then, I received a packing list and off I went to make sure I had all the appropriate issue gear, cold weather gear, and hundred other things that go along with being deployed "down range", or "to the field", or whatever it is the Army calls it.

Then there was the Gwendolyn angle - she was having a tough time, as I was, with the sudden-ness of the news, and we were both emotionally exhausted in a manner of hours. By late Thursday night, though, I think we were coming to peace with the news.

For one thing, going to Pakistan to help Earthquake victims is a GOOD thing, in its essence. It's a nice example of the Army using its vast resources for, as my friend Fwats put it, "pure good". Medically, it sounded intresting and noble - the kind of thing I would have no problem being a part of - helping kids and displaced folks as best we could. And it was only to be 3 months (at most) away from home. This would have been sudden but very doable. (Also, it would have pushed me down "the list" to go to Iraq in the near future, which would have been nice).

The remaining difficulty with the news was the sheer speed of its onset and the minimal time to departure. It felt impossibly fast to get ready that quickly. To pack my bags, pay the bills, set up autopay for everything, figure out fantasy football, all of it. And then, be on a plane speeding toward Pakistan with a full mobile hospital. That sense of my whole world coming to an inevitable head was nuts.

By late Thursday night, though, just as everything was settling in, and I was starting to get it all together, I received a phone call, also from my boss, stating that another doc from my clinic, an Air Force physician who spoke the Pakistani language, who was generating all sorts of command interest because the mission had, as an e-mail put it, a "critical language shortage". It looked I he was going to be switched in for me. But the swap was still up in the air. He was an Air Force doc, trying to fill an Army position. This created vast paper work difficulties, of course, but with the high European brass all behind it, it seemed doable. I was told that I would probably not go, but that I had better be ready, just in case something fell through. So I waited, most of this weekend, while talking with Fareed (the guy who actually is going), trying to see if I would remain here and go back to work on Monday, or, be on a C-130 speeding toward the Middle East in the next 24 hours.

As it turns out, the weekend now having come and gone, it looks pretty sure that I will remain. Fareed is supposed to be on a plane tonight, and the moment he leaves I will officially be off the docket for this one. Again, it's been a little emotional and very hectic, trying to figure all this out.

The lesson, as always, there is just nothing secure about being in the army, especially over here in Europe, which is so close to the front of these sorts of things. I could segue into a rant about the army here, but I'm not really pissed at the army on this one. The earthquake happened fast and thus a fast response is best. But in the context of other recent taskings and untaskings, I am definitely getting tired of the runaround and sense of unsteadiness. But again, I suppose I'm the IDIOT who signed up. (Ah to go back in time).

As it stands, the weekend is coming to a close and its almost time for football. In the meantime, it's looking mostly like things will go back to a relatively normal state. But regardless, all my shit is still in the corner of Gwen's dining room, just in case that phone rings again....