Flight Physical

Yesterday I flew out to FOB Anaconda and back here in one long day.  Why did I do this miracle of military transportation?  So I could get a Class 3 flight physical and hopefully get slotted for flight medic school upon re-deployment.  I arrived around 3am and after about 4 hours sleep, I met the LNO and my day started.  We drove over to the Aviation Clinic and they began the long process of poking and prodding me all day.  They had the process pretty streamlined and the only thing they didn’t do in house was the blood work.  That took about two hours (including shuttle transit).

Turns out I am healthier than I thought!  My wife will be happy to know that my cholesterol is low, my blood pressure is good, my EKG is normal, and my pulse was a steady 56 beats a minute.  My hearing test says I am a little more deaf than when I left, but I do have radios blaring in my ears all day and there was a low background hum in the booth.  When I got my EKG, the doctor asked if I worked out because my heart rate was low.  Thats a good thing!  It means I am working efficiently and my body is in pretty good homeostasis.  (If you are wondering, yes I work out in the form of long runs as often as I can.) The computer called me fat though!    When all my stats were in the medical system it returned that I had passed, but I had “Possible Metabolic Disorder,” PC for obese.  I laughed and the PA gave me a look.  I said that I wasn’t getting fat, but that a little more than two years ago I was 60 pounds heavier.  She then smiled and said that I was doing better then.  I agreed.

However, after fasting for 24 hours, I did feel fat when I was finally able to eat.  I have to say that if the DFAC on that end of the FOB is anything like the others, they eat pretty well there.  I caught the shuttle back to the hospital afterwards and met with the LNO.  I was told my flight was in approximately 30 minutes.  I ran back to the tent city, turned in my blanket and rushed for the flight line.  Missed my flight by 15 minutes, but luckily there was second flight out that night. 

I arrived back on my FOB late, but on the same day I left.  As I said, that is a miracle.  When I checked back in, I ran into the First Sergeant who asked when I was leaving for Anaconda.  He was pretty surprised, as well as everyone else, that I was back.  Even two or three days would have been considered quick.  I took 5 days worth of clothes.  My trip was so fast, I didn’t even have any time to call home, or see the PX!  At least they can’t accuse me of malingering!

Tomorrow I’ll turn all the paperwork into the retention NCO and see if I get my slot.  If not, its time to play hardball with my re-enlistment as thats all I asked for.  My bonus is automatic.  I hope my slot is as easy to get as the physical was.  Everyone pray!  It means no more patrols for me, I’ll only be called on when actually needed, and 8 hours of sleep a night. Oh, and I love flight medicine.