Groundhog Day

Well so much for all the shots I received in WV and the paperwork I filled out. The process in Indiana was identical. It was the perfect example of government bureaucrats in action. Had a hearing test in WV but the official paperwork I received in WV was not good enough in Indiana, because I wasn't in the computer system - so I had to take the same test over. At the end of it the doctor said "here is a signed copy of the results in case someone needs to verify you took the test." It was the same paperwork I had brought from WV and shown him 20 minutes earlier, only this copy was just signed by him - I guess he did not see the irony in the situation.

The other medical stations were similar. I kept hearing "your shot records are not in the system" so you need a whole new series of Anthrax, Typhoid, Hepatitis, Small Pox, and so on. The whole purpose of carrying your shot records is to insure there is a back up if the system goes down or isn't updated. Finally some common sense won the day when the doctor pulled up my sleeves to see all the recent shot scars.

The most unbelievable moment came when the medical personnel tried to tell me I needed prescription inserts for my gas mask before I could deploy to a combat zone. First, this will be my 5th trip to the Middle East and I have never even taken a gas mask out of the packaging it comes in. Second, there is basically a 0.1% chance that any chemical threat will be experienced in the area I will be going. Even if there is, there is a 0.1% chance that it will be airborne - making a gas mask useful. So lets say I find myself in that 0.1% of 0.1% situation - I would be dead because my gas mask would be packed away at the bottom of a storage box. Even if I did have it with me any type attack would be a very limited and random duration - not the type of attack we once feared from the Russians where we would be conducting prolonged combat on a contaminated battlefield. Ok so lets say I was right at the point of the attack, had my gas mask with me and was able to get it on my head in time to save my life - my inserts are going to be the last thing on my mind and in case you have never done it firing your weapon wearing a gas mask - just imagine trying to get your gas mask on while under attack with your heart beating at about 200 beats per minute and once on your gas mask fogging up because of your hyperventilating due to the fact that you are freaked out about being in a chemical attack - slow, smooth precision fire aided by inserts does not come to mind in this scenario

Did I mention that my inserts were already shipped to the Middle East and are sitting there waiting for me with the rest of my gear? Apparently, the medical staff could care less. They have to actually see them for themselves or somehow they don't actually exist. Instead they want to have new ones made - an efficient use of tax payer funds. Well you can see I am just a bit bitter about the fact that the U.S. military establishes and condones these types of bureaucratic systems. As I mentioned this is my 5th trip overseas and I have never had to go through a full mobilization process - like I am undergoing now. I can't tell you how happy I am that I have been able to avoid this in the past. Oh and apparently I survived all those other times without going through this circus.