CRC Day Three: Small world, but no smallpox

Today was medical day for my group. After breakfast, we were supposed to meet for the drive to the health clinic where our medical records would be checked to make sure we had all the proper vaccinations, blood work, hearing tests, eye tests, and physical exam completed. Anything not completed before coming to CRC would be completed on site (for military and DOD civilians at least, contractors get fed to the wolves here.)

After the time for our formation got pushed back, twice, I was lounging around talking with some military guys about where we were deploying to when I found a Lieutenant Colonel going to the same place I am in Kabul. After some more conversation about our home installations and where we were from, we discovered that we had grown up about 10 miles from each other (though at different times) and that his brother was the computer teacher and IT guy at my high school. We ended up eating dinner together and talking about people we both knew and where we're headed for deployment. It was a refreshing shot of home when I'm feeling quite far away.

The second highlight of my day was avoiding getting the small pox vaccine. Small pox has been eradicated "in the wild", so to speak, but the vaccine is still given to military personnel just in case some enemy of ours decides to manufacture it in a lab and use it as a biological weapon. But the vaccine is nasty. Its not given with a traditional needle. It requires, and I quote from the cheat sheet on the wall of the nurses' cubical, "15 jabs", per dose. After the first dose, your skin at the injection site bubbles into a red, itchy blister, and fills with pus. After a few weeks the blister dries, scabs and falls off, leaving a permanent scar. New doses are required every 6 months to 3 years, depending on how many total doses you've had. Each dose has the potential to cause the same reaction. Yuuuuuck!

If you're a soldier deploying, you don't have a choice, you're getting the scabby stuff. Civilians only get the vaccine if they are declared "mission essential" or "emergency essential". Emergency essential means you're medical personnel of some sort. Mission essential means you're more important than I am. I am classified as "key personnel". Thankfully, I was informed of this distinction before coming to CRC, as my designation isn't listed anywhere on my orders. Several of the DOD civilians in my group that are going overseas to run shopettes and kitchens ended up getting the vaccine simply because they didn't know they could refuse it. The medical staff is too busy and too programmed to bother asking if you really need the shots. They stick first and usually don't ask at all. So thank God for good preparation.

I did get shots for tetanus, seasonal flu, and hepatitis A and B, and now my arm hurts. The whole medical process also took long enough that our group missed getting to eat by about 2.5 hours. They did have Meals Ready to Eat, or MREs for us, but having eaten one of those before, I decided I wasn't hungry enough to stoop to that level.

Tomorrow is legal prep and equipment draw. First formation for civilians is at 6:40 AM. The poor contractors get to form up at 5:45. Lucky them.

*****

Today was Daughter Prime's birthday. As a surprise for her , I made my first Skype video call home this morning. My daughter had been very excited about the idea of getting to see me while we talked, and had been disappointed that it hadn't happened yet. I talked to just her this morning before she went to her soccer camp, and then talked to all three of my girls this afternoon. It was nice to be able to see their faces and not just hear their voices. I know I'll have internet access in Afghanistan, but I'm not certain of how fast it's going to be. I really hope its good enough to allow communication home.

Early morning tomorrow for me. Out here.