Zagat's Guide to Camp Liberty

"Wow, that's like 6 miles ..."

Those are the words that have been indelibly etched into my mind since (Marine) CWO5 Ed Lawson replied with them to a co-worker offering him a piece of cake from the monthly birthday cake we had at the office. At my civilian job, we would gather once a month to pay homage to the office birthdays, and everyone usually has a slice of cake, however small. Ed was apparently very health-conscious and had no desire to run more just to burn off a token slice of cake. Ooh-rah!

Imagine now over a year later, this last Thursday, I am invited by my boss to a Cinnabon run to the Camp Liberty Food Court. The couple of trailers that serve as the fast food escape for the base are located right next to the Post Exchange (military department store), and though I didn't plan on having more than coffee, I came along to pick up a sewing kit (the damage to my clothing is another post altogether ...). I discovered that a basic sewing kit is $7, and opted to just bug my friends and borrow one. I got my coffee (blended mocha) and sat down to a seat where there was half a classic Cinnabon waiting for me. Kim, the generous giver of cinnamon goodness and calories, says:

"If we're eating these things, you've got to have a bite!"

To which I replied, of course:

"Dude, that's like 6 miles ..."

Here's me eating the 6 miles

... and washing it down with another 2 miles!

Brian, with his fat pill

Will, my boss - setting the healthy example for me

Kim, the mastermind, and Tim the wheelman

Extension explanation ... or lack thereof

I think there's a lot of confusion out there about my potential deployment extension; everyone seems to think that I AM being extended, and that I am UPSET about that fact. This perception is, in fact, completely opposite the truth.

BLUF: I AM NOT being extended, and I AM UPSET about that.

Why, you ask? Why in the world would I request to extend my tour and be separated from my son longer than necessary? And why am I disheartened about the refusal of my command to authorize the extension?

There are many details at play here; the situation is not as clean-cut and simple as it may seem at first glance. I requested an extension for only 4 weeks, and there was a unique and specific purpose for the request: I wanted to synchronize my return to the states with James' return. Why is this important? Well, there are 3 possible scenarios if I return to the US a month before he does:

(1) I return to the states, go immediately to California, grab a Uhaul and move Matt back to El Paso in a leisurely fashion, and go back to work after 3-4 weeks of leave .... right when James is returning from Iraq. So as he takes his post-deployment leave, I will have already returned to the daily grind, and we won't have much time off together.

(2) I return to the states, go back to work immediately (leaving Matt in California), and take my leave when James returns. Thus, we would be able to take leave together and reintegrate as a family without the stress of work. On the other hand, let me ask this question: for you moms out there, after a 6-month separation of 7500 miles from your toddler, could you possibly leave your son 700 miles away while you calmly return to work? Out of the question. Absolutely.

(3) I return to the states, go immediately to California, pack up and move Matt to El Paso as expeditiously as possible, and get back to work as soon as possible in order to "save" 1-2 weeks of leave for a family vacation when James returns. This will require me to hurry through the reintroductions to my family in California and Arizona, something which I have no desire to do after 6 months in a combat zone.

So my reasons for extending were not the "typical" reasons, like personal need to continue work in Afghanistan, fulfillment from the job, increased pay and benefits during deployment, avoidance of reintegration or other situations at home, or buying cheap gifts for everyone. I simply wanted to avoid the chaos of moving Matt to Texas and taking leave without James' presence and assistance.

Weeks and weeks ago, I submitted the request for extension, and I learned 36 hours ago that my request was declined by my command at Ft. Bliss. The reason I was given was that I didn't have "a valid reason" for the extension. You can probably imagine how that response made me feel. Apparently, bringing my family together after a year of worldwide separation isn't important enough to the powers-that-be.

With this news, I now have a lot of work to do in my 24 days left in Afghanistan. I have packing, shopping, outprocessing, and planning for my redeployment to do in addition to my regular duties on the ward and in the clinic. And that feels like a humongeous burden at the moment. (I suppose I have now been thrown into the final stage of deployment, called the "11 month slump", complete with anxiety and exhaustion.)

I know everything will turn out OK; I know that I have the support of my family and friends in this process; I know that I have managed to have one of the best deployments that the Army Medical Department has to offer. But it's still hard. And I still worry.

Salsa Fairy?

A couple months ago, I got a package containing Tolteca salsa from my sister-in-law, Tonya. As she and the rest of the family know, I am obsessed with the chips and salsa from a small restaurant in Azusa, CA called Tolteca - actually, there are very few things on their menu I do not like. The salsa was an awesome birthday present, and I still have a couple jars left (which are still good).

So, when I got a package in the mail with more chips and salsa a couple days ago with the name "Brent Cornelius" on it, I had to raise an eyebrow:


It is a gift basket from a place in Phoenix, AZ - "Coyote Kitchen".

The guys back in Engineering said "what are we waiting for?" and wanted to tear into it immediately, but given that I had no idea who the sender, "Brent Cornelius" is, nor who would have sent me more salsa, or even who would know that I like salsa (hmm, ok that's probably a lot of people at this point), I thought we should do a little investigation first. We took the above picture, and set to researching Coyote Kitchen.

It turns out they specialize in more than just salsa; from their website:

"In 2007 Desert Rose Foods, Inc., a 30 yr old Phoenix, Arizona based salsa and southwest condiment manufacturer, merged with Coyote Kitchen, a 13 year old private label food manufacturer of shelf stable and refrigerated acidified food products. Coyote Kitchen, Inc. the parent company operates out of a 27,000+ sq ft FDA approved facility that offering both branded and private label products to the retail and foodservice trade.


The combined company, currently offers 7 brands with over 90 items ranging from salsa, salad dressings, condiments, organic fruit spreads, flavoured lemonade drinks, Asian finishing sauces, Kosher and Kosher for Passover products, soups, and more. Our Chefs promise to bring you new and exciting items on a continual basis. Currently in development; Indian specialty sauces."

Wow. That's a lot of stuff. Then we looked for "Brent Cornelius" - apparently, he is the CEO! I am also fairly sure he personally sent the package; it was his name on the customs form and the USPS doesn't let other people mail stuff in your name ...

The package has three jars of Desert Rose salsa (it is still sitting on my desk, so I'm not 100% sure on that, but that's how it looks from the picture), and I'm guessing they made the chips too. The general consensus was that the package was not an attempt to poison us or reduce our morale with gastrointestinal problems in an effort to end the US presence in Iraq sooner (and you can take that analysis to the bank - it was from Army Signal Corps "experts" ... it's not like we only run networks and know nothing about food except how to eat it, right?). We went with the simpler guess that Coyote Kitchen's CEO saw the earlier OIT posts I made on salsa and sent this as a gift.

So, if you're reading this, Mr. Cornelius - thanks for sending the package, personally to boot! You have four grateful network engineers and a happy salsa fan!

Another Facebook (blog) post

The month of July brought a whole slew of emotions, many of which have been captured on Facebook. Enjoy the day-by-day saga of a doc in Bagram!

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Autumn Richards made the decision to spend the day packing more supplies for the medics at Fire Base Lilley and hanging out as a "dust off groupie". This means no nap ..... but the day has been relatively quiet from a medevac point of view and hopefully will continue to be ....
July 5 at 3:46pm

Autumn Richards is glad she went to the gym instead of taking a nap. :) Now it's off for a long night of pediatric ICU and adult ward call .....
July 5 at 6:18pm

Autumn Richards had a tough night on call, but had a wonderful day hanging out at the dust-off and at the secret squirrel compound!

July 6 at 10:34pm

Autumn Richards is super tired after taking a flexeril at dinner. Perhaps the camel pose in yoga today wasn't the best of all ideas!
July 7 at 10:18pm
*Editorial comment: I love yoga, but boy was I sore this day!

Autumn Richards is dragging today for no apparent reason.
July 9 at 9:35am
*(obvious) Editorial comment: Ummm .... maybe because I had been in theater for 120 days....

Autumn Richards just noticed the beginnings of a farmer's tan.
July 10 at 4:12pm

Autumn Richards is wondering why the numbers on the scale don't match the way she feels. :(
July 11 at 10:41pm
*Editorial comment: This was an interesting social experiment. Everybody who commented on Facebook assumed that I felt lighter than the scale said. In reality, the scale showed a lower weight than I felt I weighed - probably because here there are no "skinny jeans" to fit into or flowered skirts to wear and feel "skinny" in. Army uniforms just aren't that flattering!

Autumn Richards put up flyers all over the hospital for the upcoming ethics lecture. They said, "Ethics Discussion: June 13, 15, and 17 at 1845 in NutMed." I think I'm losing my mind!
July 12 at 8:24pm

Autumn Richards: Is it a call day again???
July 13 at 6:29am

Autumn Richards: My first purchase from the gem store on base! I can't wait to wear it on call tonight. :) ------------->
July 13 at 3:16pm
*Editorial comment: The jewelry is made of lapis, a stone native to Afghanistan. I got killed on Facebook for this one! Everyone wanted to comment on how I can't wear jewelry in an Army uniform, but if I were in the Air Force, at least earrings would be allowed .... !

Autumn Richards just finished a midnight (Bagram time) session with Matt's social worker back in California.
July 14 at 12:49am

Autumn Richards might have had the opportunity to go to Kabul for a few weeks if it weren't for a new FP who was diverted from Balad. The stars have aligned to make sure I DON'T get to leave Bagram for the remainder of my tour!
July 14 at 9:25am

Autumn Richards is glad to see a bunch of friends return to Bagram this week!
July 15 at 12:43am
*Editorial comment: one returned from Kabul, one returned from R&R, and one came through BAF from Lilley!

Autumn Richards is thrilled to see Matt having fun with his cousins yesterday at the La Mirada Children's Museum! ----------->
July 15 at 11:54am

Autumn Richards can't believe that this is the start of the 20th week away from my family .... July 15 at 11:07pm

Autumn Richards thinks that her core muscles might need a day off tomorrow.
July 17 at 6:00pm

Autumn Richards is feeling stressed. NRP online submission, OER, compassion fatigue presentation, dinner with friend from downrange, potential training at the hangar this evening ..... that's my whole day! (Oh, yeah, and I'm post-call.)
July 18 at 11:14am

Autumn Richards is a bit annoyed that nothing she needed tonight was where it was supposed to be: Army combat shirt, rank and nametape, camera battery, kevlar NVG attachment ..... it's funny how I can "lose" things in my 5' x 15' box! It's all "found" now, but at the cost of 15 minutes of searching.....
July 18 at 7:10pm

Autumn Richards just became a model on skype.
July 19 at 2:16am
*Editorial comment: Isn't skype wonderful?! James sent me some clothes and got to see them from Iraq!

Autumn Richards is glad to have re-connected with 2 old friends through Facebook! :)
July 19 at 11:20pm
*Editorial comment: I talked this day online with Catherine Enders Carlton and Casey Miller, both good friends of mine at Webb and part of the Class of '97. Both had been keeping up with the Richards' family adventures and have pledged their support of both me and James during our deployments.

Autumn Richards experienced the most chaotic day since her arrival at Bagram. There were 32 patients admitted to a 28-bed ward this morning, and by the end of the day I had discharged 15 and admitted 3 (with 4 more awaiting evaluation in the ER). By 1800, all I could do was sit on the couch in front of the plasma in the "doc box" with a handful of wheat thins and some cheese .....
July 20 at 10:08pm

Autumn Richards: Big surprise here! Autumn just took the "What combat role would suit you best?" quiz and the result is ... Medic.
July 21 at 2:30pm

Autumn Richards: 1 fifteen-hour overnight shift + 31 med-surg grown-up patients + 3 sedated, ventilated kid patients + 1 subclavian line + 1 pediatric intubation + 4 slices of pizza = one very happy but adrenaline-depleted Autumn. :)
July 22 at 9:44am

Autumn Richards has a new address: TF MED/36th ASMC, APO, AE 09354.
July 22 at 9:41pm
*Editorial comment: A bunch of people began reporting that mail had been returned to sender from my hospital. I tracked down the culprit and it turned out that I wasn't on the mailroom's personnel list. Now I am, so packages to the 602nd or 36th will arrive safely, but I was pretty frustrated there for a few days!

Autumn Richards sometimes wishes she could just tell everyone to stop fighting so that people would stop getting hurt.
July 23 at 10:58pm

Autumn Richards has to do "Officer Professional Development" with her company commander this afternoon. As if being deployed to Afghanistan isn't "development" enough?!
July 25 at 1:38pm

Autumn Richards is happy to have solved the mail problem. Four packages arrived today!!
July 26 at 2:15pm

Autumn Richards is, for the first time, thinking that it might be good to go home.
July 27 at 10:49pm
*Editorial comment: James and I chatted online for 2-3 hours that night, and discussed some of the logistical issues behind our redeployment. I felt quite relieved after the conversation.

Autumn Richards hated the 15-hour day today.
July 28 at 11:20pm

Autumn Richards just had pizza, iced tea, and a shopping trip with a new SF friend!
July 29 at 3:01pm

Autumn Richards is going out to the flight line to load patients onto their KC-135 headed for Germany! ------------>
July 30 at 12:32am

Autumn Richards is disappointed in some of her Army colleagues.
July 30 at 9:58am

Autumn Richards is now even MORE disappointed in the actions of some of my colleagues. Oh, the cataclysmic problems they have caused! It's amazing how a single action can reduce all of our progress to rubble in an instant.
July 30 at 8:34pm
*Editorial comment: I can't really talk publicly about the topic of this post, but it had to do with my position as the co-chair of the ethics committee at the Bagram hospital.

Autumn Richards is either very crazy or very stupid or both to be awake at this hour.
July 31 at 3:03am

Autumn Richards just woke up and is confused. Is it 0530 or 1730?
August 1 at 5:56am
*Editorial comment: no kidding! I really DID look at my iPhone and ask myself this question.

Autumn Richards might have missed a unique opportunity to do something a little crazy and unexpected tonight.
August 2 at 12:55am

Autumn Richards just weighed in and was under the maximum weight for the first time since the age of 17!
August 2 at 10:15am
*Editorial comment: The Army standards have changed since 1996 when that original "passing" weight occurred. However, I have lost around 20 pounds during the deployment and am in much better, leaner shape!

Autumn Richards is trying to be more like a duck today (but NOT an Oregon duck!) .... just letting stuff slide off my back ....
August 3 at 6:55am
*Editorial comment: I made an improvement in the physician report sheet by combining it with the nurse report sheet. Makes sense, right? My supervisor tore into me first thing in the morning. Quack!

Autumn Richards is skyping with Matthew during his first infant therapy session!
August 3 at 8:41pm

Raise the Roof

I read an email earlier this week with a little dismay - my friend Dan, a Network Technician from one of our subordinate battalions, said that a radio link they were trying to put in wasn't going to work from where it currently stood. Radios like the ones they were trying to put up are aptly called "Line of Sight" because, of course, they need a direct line of sight between antennas to work. Normally, this isn't a problem until you hit the curvature of the Earth in a flat place like this, but we are in enough of a built-up area that we have to deal with buildings, parapets, man-made hills, trees, and even other people's antennas!

Dan pointed out that we have an antenna to another site on top of the Al Faw Palace (the one in the news when people visit Victory) - why not add another one? After a slew of emails probing for how much trouble we would get into for asking, we discovered that no one really cares what is up there, as long as it doesn't conflict with other stuff already there - wow. That led to a site recon :)

To get to the roof, you have to go to the third floor of the palace, then find the secluded utility access stairs:


I should have taken a picture of the ventilation level of the palace - it is a labyrinth of air ducts, air conditioning equipment, leaking pipes, shadowy movement (rats? lizards? dogs?), and lots of unmarked doors.

We made it outside after a while to something OSHA would have a field day with:


It may be hard to see, but that ladder is at an angle, and the steps are all painted metal. Nothing but the best for the palace!

We wove through antenna after antenna - not just dishes, but all kinds, a lot of which I could not identify on sight (not that I am an expert in antennas; still, some of those looked alien!).


Finally, we reached the "spot":


The flat thing pointing off in the distance is exactly what we needed to see, along with a lot of unused real estate. This is perfect for as many new ones as we have!

Of course, what's a trip to the top of a 25-30 meter tall building without a picture of the view?