A Military Man

The average age of the military man is 19 years.

He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is considered by society as half man, half boy.

Not yet dry behind the ears, not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country.

He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student, pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm Howitzers.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without spirit or individual dignity.

He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.

He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts.

If you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.

He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death then he should have in his short lifetime.

He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away' those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying the price for our freedom.

Beardless or not, he is not a boy.

He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over 200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.

Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his blood.

Bored

Thursday....

Fairly long day, I didn't get to do PT because I had to go with a couple classmates for a random drug screening. Feel the overwhelming excitement? Made it back to the Academy in time to join the rest of the class in the lesson of the day: Geriatrics   aka, old folks. This is one of the largest chapters and it took most of the day. About 1530, or 3:30, I went with one of the instructors and about 5 classmates to station 20 (just up the hill from us) to pick up the 'new' stove for the academy. We got it loaded and I rode in the back of the instructor's truck with the stove, everyone else piled on the other truck. When we got down the hill, we backed the truck in behind the tower. The NPQ-II class was working with a master stream that can be unmanned, had 2 lines running to it from the engine. We were warned about the time they cranked it up. I saw the lines charge, jumped out of the truck, and saw the stream start to spin. Me and the Instructor ducked just as the water hit the side of the truck. The NPQ class shut it down fast, but the damage was done...all the windows were rolled down and the interior was now soaked. It didn't really matter, nothing was destroyed, it will dry with time, and it really was a hot day-the water felt good. I still don't know how many psi the water was coming out of the nozzle at, I just knew I didn't want it to hit me.

One of the other classes at the academy is smaller now. 2 people were let go for not being able to meet the physical requirements. I knew one of them from when I was injured and on light PT...She was a paramedic, the other was a EMT-I, the county isn't playing when they said this would be hard work. I hope it sends a wake-up call to the people in my class who think they can skate through everything.

Friday...

No PT, we spent from 0700-1400 in CEVO II...It's all the bookwork for driving an ambulance. (if you look at older entries, this is the other half of EVOC)  The best part of the day was that another EMT-I class joined us. This class is held on the off-days of current county veterans, some have been here 19 years, who were never trained as EMT-I's- but need the class to be promoted. 2 people in the other class are on the K-9 search and rescue team. I want to join the team when I've been with the county long enough, and it was great getting to talk with them and play with the dogs. They also have my number so I can help with training excercises, I live a couple miles from one of the training fields and they always need new 'victims'.

The rest of the day was spent going over our study guides, the exam is supposed to be Tuesday.

Today...

Been nothing special so far, deposited my paycheck this morning, played video games for a little while, went on a couple errands with mom. I now have a fireman shaped cookie jar...you lift it's head and it says "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the cookie jar!" Cute- a bit dimented, but cute. Later on tonight, me and the boyfriend are going to go to Stone Mountain to see the laser show, it's supposed to be special this weekend because of Memorial Day. Monday, we're going to White Water with some friends, maybe I'll get rid of some of this farmer's tan.    **huh, as I write this I know I have 21 more weeks...the farmer's tan is here to stay.**

As always, especially on a holiday weekend, stay safe 

Don't forget to celebrate the true reason we have this holiday, remember, there are many families who are without their loved ones- many have fought in wars past, but many are fighting now...

A day off

Not too much going on today, then again, it's still early. I've been lounging around, watching TV and drawing- I'm gonna squeeze in a couple hours of studying tonight.

PT was overall good yesterday. We did a major ab workout, as well as nearly 200 pushups. Then fell into running formation and had a great run around the academy. As we ran, we did a rotating line, last 2 people sprint to the front, then next 2, and so on... A couple of the instructors were goofing around racing each other and having a good old time. Well, one of the guys in the NPQ-II class who is always the "eager beaver" decides to race one of the instructors. A few minutes later, I'm next to sprint and I hear the instructor "doesn't anyone wanna run?" I turn around, look him straight in the face "I'll take you." Oh boy did he love that, he looked like a little kid on Christmas morning. He ended up beating me, but not by much. All he said was "I like that," this could be good...I hope.

After PT we went to our classroom and picked up our study sheets, 6 packets in all. We studied until 1100 when we went on break, then went straight into lunch. (dang instructors, make up your minds.) About 1200, we started house duties, mowing, picking up trash, the whole bit. I finished picking up trash and went to help wash the vehicles. All our soap and brushes are in a room called the Cave, which was locked. And take a guess which instructor came with the key...yep, my running 'buddy'. When I went to give him back his key, I ended up talking with him for a few minutes. He asked me what I was thinking when I challenged him during PT. I asked him if he would be one of our instructors when my class went to NPQ training. "Yeah, why?" **keep in mind, at this point, most of the instructors are starting to joke around with us and become somewhat friendly...outside of PT that is** I told him, "you just wait until I get into your class, you're going to wish it was week 5 again when I smoke you." All he could say was that he would hold me to that, and now it's a bet...he was laughing pretty good, but knew I was serious.

Finished house duties and went back to studying for a little while. We spent the last couple hours doing scenarios of patient assessment. We split into groups, moved all the tables aside (ahhh, air conditioning) and one person played a patient while the other 3 went into the hallway. We checked our jump-bags, and put on gloves...then our instructor gave us the scenario. 25 y/o male ejected from vehicle through front windshield, unresponsive, PD is onscene and has roadway shut down. We walk in the classroom, see our "patient" and, since he isn't a real patient, have to ask the instructor, is the scene safe, any other patients, how far is he from the vehicle/what condition is the vehicle in? We get the go-ahead...go to our patient, get c-spine (he was laying prone, or face-down), check responsiveness, and do a quick check of his backside. All good, prepare to-and roll him onto the long spineboard. Airway clogged, suctioned until clear, breathing 10x's minute, applied a oropharyngeal airway (don't ask) and BVM (bag valve mask...we didn't use O2 since it's just a simulation). Pulse was 120 and weak, while my other partner applied a c-collar, I did a quick assessment, anything gushing blood, sticking out, whatever had to be fixed before 'moving him to the ambulance.' Look to instructor, he has a obvious femur fracture and evisceration of abdomen. Partners both saying we need to scoop and go. OK, I would cover his belly with a foil blanket and tape it down, then continue immobilization to the board. Instructor asked "OK, so you've got him in the ambulance, now what?" Enroute to the hospital, take vital signs every 5, stabilize his femur, begin a more in-depth assessment...."Oh, your patient just stopped breathing at all on his own." At this point I would insert a combitube.  "Good job, next group."  Whew, was I glad that was over!!!

Like I said at the top, overall, good PT and good day. Next week, our class will do PT separate from the group...We have too much to learn and are falling behind our schedule, mainly because PT keeps running late.

Stay safe

My poor legs....

PT was killer this morning. We did our little warmup at the academy, then piled onto the bus and van. We ended up going to a nearby stadium to run stairs, stairs, and more stairs. Oh yeah, you read it right, we ran from track level to the last row of the nosebleed section, 8 times. **after doing our normal pushups, 6 inches, and mountain climbers in the parking lot**  Tomorrow, we run to the stadium (about 1.5-2 miles), then get to climb up it 10 times, and, of course, run back.

This afternoon, I don't know who it was, but someone FUBAR'd the gatorade. OK, I don't drink coffee, but this stuff was getting everyone hyper, try drinking a little lemon with your sugar (lemonaide for the lost folks)...we were bouncing off the walls!!! Actually, I was kinda enjoying it- it isn't often the instructors don't fuss at us for eating/drinking something that sweet.

We went through another chapter on patient care and assessment, then took our written exam for CPR. Also watched a couple old COPS and RESCUE 911 videos with weird calls...One was a call from about 10+ years ago in my county, another was a call-gone-wrong to a penitentiary in Tennessee. Almost forgot, we saw one a few days ago, guy put a gun under his chin and pulled the trigger. OK, imagine if your face, from the eyebrows down, looked like a bowl of spagetti, extra sauce- that's this guy. He only had about 1/3 of his tongue, nothing resembling a chin, couldn't find a nose or eyes, and he was a bloody mess. I give credit to the person that was able to put the tube in his throat, how you found it, I may never know. The only "landmark" on his face was his eyebrows, everything else was literally blown off. This sounds morbid, but all I can really say, is that next time, if you feel the undying need to try again, don't miss.

Oh yeah, our lead instructor found out that the scantron machine was messing up when it graded our last exam, so he regraded them again-by hand. The good news is that now only 2 people have to do the retest. And my score kicked up to a 93%. If I had the energy, or could feel my legs, I might do a little happy-dance.  :-)

Stay safe

Yeah, C'Mon!!!

Yesterday, I finally took exam #2......I passed.......building suspense......drumroll please...ok, I'll stop......wait, one more............92.8%-me and another guy tied for top honors. I was so happy I felt like skipping back to my seat, but I feel do bad because 9 people failed. The real bummer is that if they fail the retest, they're fired. Talk about pressure to succeed.

Backing up even more, we did a short PT yesterday, just my class. Right now, we don't have a functional burn building- the NPQ-II class had the day off, and the NPQ-I class went down to the state fire academy to burn. As the NPQ-I class left, one of the PT instructors was leading the way, hanging out the window, yelling "We gonna get your assess Monday!" Oh boy, I can hardly wait. This is the same instructor that always yells "Yeah C'mon!" and "dig.....drive!"

This morning, we didn't have PT (we usually don't on Fridays, the PT instructors have the day off). We were also the only class at the academy today. We went over 7 or 8 chapters in the book, then went outside to do practice on patient assessment, c-spine (neck) immobilization, and intubation with the combitube, NPA, and OPA (more airways).

Usually, during breaks, me and a couple of the guys will run the tower (7 stories). Today, we got bored after watching one of our captains and a couple firefighters practice for the combat challenge. After talking to them for a few minutes, we got really hyped up. The rest of the day, we ran the tower with a hose pack(length of hose bundled to carry on your shoulder). My legs are still burning.

My new motto:     A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins.

 **at my academy, we have a bell similar to that of Navy Seals, if you ring out, the instructors come running to fill out the paperwork and you leave...you don't come back**                                                                                                            Every day you have a multitude of choices you make, you can choose to give up- or you can choose to force out one more push-up...you can choose to walk- or you can run...you can choose to ring out- or you can hate the bell and want to destroy it by being the best at everything you do.

OK, now what do I do?

Today was another weird day. Show up, ready for PT, get in formation, and dismiss to our classroom. We were thinking "Oh, s***, what did we do, why are we in our classroom???" Turns out, we had a lot of things to do (big suprise), and so did the other classes....The difference, the other classes had to do a lot of physical things and needed every bit of spare energy= no PT. We sit down and watch our video on CPR from the AHA (american heart association).

About 0900, another instructor comes into the room and picks 2 random students, right behind him is my other instructor telling me to "get out there." They wanted me to help with some moulage so we could take pictures for the website. I helped get some of the make-up put onto my classmates and myself and we walk to where the new burn building is under construction and set up. A couple people at a time to lay out and look dead or injured. Only took a few minutes, not really even worth it for the time it takes to scrub the makeup off.

After the dead folks cleaned up, we learned how to proberly give the Heimlich Maneuver, then broke for lunch. Afterwards, we worked on adult, child, and infant CPR. Most people think of CPR as just chest compressions, sorry, I wish it was that easy. We had to go through one and two-person CPR on all 3 age groups using a pocket-mask, then an ambu-bag. It took a long time. I'll admit, part of it was because most of the class kept laughing.

Sometime during the day, one of the PT instructors put a sign on the snack machine. No one that saw it could keep a straight face, it's message was short-sweet-and to the point. "This is why YOU suck at PT"          So far, none of the instructors will own up to it.

At 1400, our instructors had to attend a meeting so we did house duties, mowing the grass, picking up trash, washing fire vehicles. At one point, there were 6 cars in a row to be washed. The meeting took well over an hour so we goofed around doing CPR after we finished house duties. When our instructors finally escaped, we finished up CPR and put the dummies and everything else away, did our final formation, and went home.

The exam was pushed back, again, until Thursday. I'm about ready to get it over with, I almost wish I had class tomorrow so I could get it over with....then again....nah, extra study-time never killed anyone.

Let's run

Before I forget, I passed my exam last week with a 92%. I was so excited to have made an A. I didn't even do that good in High School.

Not too many things happened over the weekend. Yesterday was another Pay-Per-View for wrestling, met up with my boyfriend and some buddies at Hooters...Hey, good food+ no cover charge for PPV+ the single guys in our group can set goals. Of course, I needed to study- so I took my books in with me for while we were waiting on our food and for the PPV to start. The idiot's wanted to be funny and start flipping through my books, let's just say they're sorry now....they found a picture that made every guy that saw it grap his crotch and want to cry.

Today wasn't too bad, considering. This was my first day back on full PT and my instructor warned me, if you feel it pulling-stop. I made it through the warmup and the first half of the run with no problems. Then we started doing more PT in a library parking lot, I was OK. Until we did 6-inches and flutter kicks and more 6-inches...I could feel the muscle pulling(more than it normally should for that excercise). I don't want to re-injure myself on my first day back, so I put my feet down. OK, let me back up for a second, whenever we run outside the academy property, a fire-rescue van has to follow in case anyone gets hurt or can't make it back. Seeing my feet on the deck (ground), the instructors questioned me, then one of my instructors told me to stand up. We walk over to the van and I do something that could be stupid...I argue with him. I was not getting into that van, I was not quitting or giving up, and I planned to either run back with my class, or they would have to physically force me into the van.

Loss of the day, on the run back to the academy, we ran in a large circle so everyone could catch up. Right as we head inside the fence, one of the guys in my squad trips into a pothole and royally screws his ankle....Get the van!

After everyone finishes formations, we see him in the van, with all the PT instructors around him. Turns out they were thinking of which excercises he could do during PT. He told us they looked like they were having too much fun messing with him. He finally made it back to class about 1- after a nice trip to the hospital. Big bummer, his ankle is about the size of my calf...and the pills he's now on are huge.

Today was funny otherwise. Learned about cardiac problems, and how to work the AED (automatic external defibrillator). The AEDs at the academy are specially made to run programmed scenarios and not actually shock the patient. What made it funny was running the scenarios, the victims, were CPR dummies. We "find" our patient, check if he's alert, do a quick assessment, and start CPR while our partner sets up the AED. Then run through the process of shocking, resume CPR, shock again...whatever the machine calls for. I was feeling goofy when it was my turn. I walk up, shake the patient's shoulder "sir, are you OK?" Look around for a moment, check his airway and breathing- then I jumped up and yelled "instructor, I've got a problem....He said he can't feel his legs and his neck hurts."  At this point, everyone busts out laughing...CPR dummies don't have legs, not even a pelvis- and the dummy I was using only had one of the 2 bolts that keeps it's head attached. Other than that, our patient only required 1 shock and returned to a normal rhythm. :-)

Well, my 2nd exam was supposed to have been today, since it was bumped to tomorrow, I think I'd better go study........

A first for everything

Nothing of major importance until today. Well, I did do good on my physical assessment Tuesday...ran 1.5 miles in 14:04. My overall was not great, but I knew that would happen, you can't do sit-ups with a pulled ab muscle. Today was fun overall. I'm still on light PT so I ran for almost 2 hours nonstop this morning. I hope to be back with my platoon Monday. We had our first exam and everyone passed...a first for our instructor. I spent the rest of the day learning about airway management, how much the different O2 tanks hold, fun stuff. Next week, we'll learn CPR so this will make even more sense. Finally, we rounded off the day with a pleasant suprise, tomorrow was supposed to be payday- we got paid today instead. Woo Hoo! The only bad thing is we have to wait 90 days before we can go to direct deposit, so I'm still broke until Saturday.

Mondays...

Just another average Monday, traffic stinks, class was long, drawn-out, and boring. I was allowed to run/walk and climb the tower at PT this morning...But tomorrow I'll start back at full PT. We received our TB shots, 3 days and they'll be checked. Another one of the "big bugles" came to visit (assistant chief/fire marshal= 4 bugles). We took our test over infectious diseases...I passed. Then another Instructor came to help teach us about scene safety. One of the classes last year made a video of their attempts to control a scene. As we watched, we pointed out what they did wrong, or what they just plain old didn't do. The scenario's were so funny, even the guys on the tape were laughing...until they got "shot" by the patient.

Tomorrow should be...well...interesting. Instead of going to the academy, I'll meet with 5 classmates at another building to do a workout. This is the one I was talking about a few days ago, run 1.5 miles, situps, pushups, stretching... fun stuff... feel my overwhelming excitement? (*insert sarcasm here*) I think I'm supposed to take an exam tomorrow also...better study.

Stay safe....but have fun....

Need to vent

I don't think I'll ever understand my parents, wait, scratch that...just Mom. All the years of school, all the years of being yelled at for never studying, all the non-existant offers to help... Now I'm getting the opposite. When I get home from the academy, my routine is go to the bathroom, check email/update journal, eat something, then hit the books. Half the time, she starts bugging me about studying as I exit the bathroom! Right now, my pet peeve is that she wants to know if I'm studying, but she is constantly interrupting me to send me downstairs for another 12-pack of cokes or something stupid like that. A few minutes ago, she tried to start an argument with me because I need to study and was going to take my books with me to the dinner at my aunt/uncle's house...the problem? If I'm going to study I might as well stay home- and yet, I need to go visit with my family (leave the books at home). Either way, I'm up the proverbial creek. My aunt's a lawyer and my uncle went to UGA, they have BOTH offered to help me study A.K.A. they'd understand! What I don't understand is that if she knew this was going to happen, why did she force me to go work the fish-fry yesterday, I could've studied then, and been able to visit family today. I need to get out of this house, the longer this journal gets, you'll see how big of a pain she can be and how much pain she causes me.

'nother day, 'nother headache

For those of you who enjoy it, Happy Mother's Day. I've spent the day (and weekend) trying to study as much as possible. I'm taking a break right now because I've got a headache...and it's not from studying. There was a lot of chaos this year about where mother's day was going to be held, who would be there, and all kinds of drama. I ought to be used to it, we go through this every year. We (me, mom, dad, my brother, his wife, and my grandpa) ended up taking a new flower arrangement to my grandmother's grave, then going to the Varsity for lunch. Now Mom's mad because she said I never told her happy mother's day this morning...I swear I did. Also, it's too hot out for her new bulbs to be planted, that's been put off until next weekend.

I'm debating on what to do tomorrow at PT, my ab muscle is still sore, but I want to be with my class and not draw attention from the PT instructors. The only excercise I can do without any problems or pain is running. 6-inches is out of the question- that's where you lay on your back, hands under your butt, lift your feet 6 inches off the ground and pick your head up. (BTW, 6-inches is one of the favorite excercises at the academy...pushups are the other) Should I suck it up and tell them I'm fine, or sit it out one more day and continue healing? Right now, something as simple as rolling over in bed hurts like hell. At least I'm not the only person on the injury list, I know of 2 more with a muscle injury, and one who couldn't stop vomiting Friday.

Well, I guess it's time to get back to the books...

TGIF

Thank goodness it's Friday!!! This has been a long week. The past 3 days were spent on the EVOC range, running over cones and doing push-ups. Yesterday I drove the larger ambulance  (F450 Custom) and only killed 2 cones. Today, I took the driving test and passed in the smaller E350 Custom...They are both Type I for you EMS folks. Of course, my happy butt gets out of the ambulance, after passing the test, and trips over a cone-I owe the Instructors 15 pushups for being a klutz. I have been driving my grandfather's truck the past couple days also, the class has been enjoying the shade of my 10x20 carport (the boxes won't fit in my car). Wednesday during PT, I managed to pull/strain an abdomenal muscle so I had to sit out during PT this morning, it made me a little mad because I wanted to run with my class...If we're injured at all, we have to sit out the entire PT session. I may have 24 more weeks of PT, but those instructors are stomping us, every day counts. I have roughly 50 pages of study guides/worksheets and 5 chapters in 2 different books to study for next week. Not to mention, I have to be tested for TB, and will start my Hepatitus B shots on Monday. Starting Tuesday, a handful from the class will be going to another location in the morning to do a physical assessment (1.5 mile run, situps, pushups, ect...). I hope this weekend is nice and long.....

Lost one...

Before I start, this computer sucks!!! OK, I'm better now.

This morning as we lined up for PT, we noticed we were missing a guy from my squad. As we stood there, we saw him go turn his uniforms in. For whatever reason, he left...even though we knew him for a week, he will be missed. The instructors won't tell us why, we just wish he would have said something to those of us in his squad or in the platoon (class). The weird thing is, his dad is a Batallion Chief at one of the stations in the county so you would think he would be more motivated. Like I said, he will be missed...As a rule, his name tag will remain where he sat for the rest of the class. After doing extended PT, my arms still feel like they could fall off, we had 10 minutes to change and be back in class. Most of the day was spent learning about infectious diseases and how easily they're spread. Our instructor played a prank on us to teach that lesson. While we were changing, she put a luminescent powder on her hands and walked around, opening/closing doors, picking up keys that were on the desk, shaking hands with people, ect... Class starts and she pulls out a blacklight to see who and what has the powder on them. About half the class had some powder somewhere. It definately drove that lesson home, but now half the class is a little paranoid.

Tomorrow and the rest of the week will be fun, we're going to EVOC (learning to drive the ambulances). Our instructor was nice and cleared it for us to wear our PT gear (shorts and t-shirt) as well as to take grills and cookout each day.

Mmmm....dinner's ready, gotta run.

Stay safe.

Weekends are too short

Saturday was fun, spent the whole day doing a bunch of training with State Troopers and other groups. Then went to Savannah to sleep and catch up with my Mom. Here's the fun part...Get to the hotel about 1am, and Mom left a room key at the front desk with my name on it. I walk in and the guy can't find the key anywhere. So I give him my mom's name, he looks it up on the computer and makes me a key to room 232. I park the car, grab my junk, and head for the room. Long story short, the key fits, and the 2 strangers start screaming like banshees when they see me. I blurt out a quick apology and slam the door. Obviously, I'm pissed by the time I get back to the front desk. I walk in and drop my camo-bag and camelback on the floor and toss the key across the counter, Oh, I was in full BDU's (camoflage for you non-military folks). The guy has the rocks to tell me not to throw the key across his counter like that. I reply to get the room right next time(edited version...I didn't curse at him, but I wasn't very nice either). He looks it up on the computer again and reads the name of the folks I scared, same last name, but I gave him a female name, the room was under some guy. I ended up calling mom from the cell phone and she came down and took me to our room. Next morning, she went down to the lobby (I was sleeping) and lo-and-behold there's the key, in plain view on the counter's only shelf. I think we got a voucher for a free stay at that hotel. Sunday was dull, studied for about an hour, then drove for 4 to get home and study some more. Bought some new boots today, old one's would've been more $$ to resole. That's about it...besides, dinner's ready and I'm hungry..........