Some Thoughts

So what have I been up to since I got here?  A lot of flying, and a lot of patient transport.  Its a completely different experience this time than last time.  I am usually back in my own bed at night, missions don’t go on for hours and hours without rest, and I am flying overhead instead of driving or walking through the streets.

So far I have had several routine transfers to the hospital north of here from units in the south.  I also had a couple of trauma patients that the TMC here stabilized and then sent north as well.  In fact, almost everything we take is headed north to one of two major hospitals in our area, and that brings about a different challenge I’ll talk about later.  I did expect there to be more Point of Injury missions than there have been, but I guess that’s a good thing.  It means our guys aren’t getting hurt out there as much anymore.

We cover a pretty big expanse that includes some really built-up areas.  When I was on the ground, I worried about IEDs, snipers, etc down the road and immediately around us.  Usually just the current block or two.  We had a platoon’s worth of people, and usually backup within a few minutes if things got too bad.  Flying over these places, we have to watch everything going on around us pretty closely.  People can shoot up at us from over a couple of miles of city and they are as hard to spot as ants on the ground.  We also don’t fly with nearly the troop support I had when I was on the ground. As a result, I have found myself a much more anxious person when flying (It doesn’t help that I am still new to crewing and unfamiliar with aerial perspectives either).  I am always watching and waiting for someone to take a shot or two.  Lucky for us, Iraqis are notoriously bad shots, but I have seen some tracers pass underneath us, and when countermeasures fire off I always look around for the dreaded smoke trail. 

I have been considering if all this is truly worth the trouble to fly.  There is a lot of daily stuff that you have to do, and I find myself thinking about whether or not the payoff is worth the effort.  I have dropped myself outside my “comfort zone” here and I am still trying to figure things out.  However, when it all hits the fan and the guys on the ground need a hand, its us they call for, and we always deliver.  In the end, its about supporting the troops and providing the best care I can.  I miss being “in the dirt” some, and only time will tell if I will adjust to aviation and like it as much as I thought I would.

DUSTOFF: Dedicated Unhesitating Service To Our Fighting Forces