Ft. Benning and Kuwait- February 2009

I left on my deployment Saturday, 7 February, 2009. Janet dropped me off at at Reagan Airport, where we saw Rose Ressner, another Walter Reed Infectious Disease doctor, who was also heading downrange to Iraq. We both had orders to the same place, so that made the uncertainty easier to deal with.

Janet & Marty at Reagan National Airport, 7 Feb 2009

At Ft. Benning, there about 80 soldiers and 240 civilians deploying with us. They pretty much kept all of the medical people together (so we wouldn't screw up the formations?), but I met some amazing people with diverse jobs, from artillery to civil affairs, infantry to intelligence. There was a 74 y/o ENT surgeon leaving on his 3rd deployment, this time to Afghanistan. Mary Jo Wright, an accomplished trauma and breast cancer surgeon from Tulane, became my "battle buddy" for the next 10 days.

Me and Dr. Mary Jo Wright at Benning. MJ went to a Forward Surgical Team in Iraq.

We got our 3 duffels and 1 rucksack full of (mostly extraneous) equipment, and trained at Benning for about a week. Then on Friday the 13th, we packed up and headed to Kuwait.

Early morning 13 Feb 09. Getting ready to load up for Kuwait.

After a long flight with a long layover, we arrived in Kuwait and got to swipe our cards (offically starting our deployment) just before midnight of Valentine's Day.

Early morning in Kuwait, Feb 2009.

Training in Kuwait lasted 3 days, and we got to experience a little of the environs,

The trip back from the range. Everything I saw in Kuwait looked like this
At the range, Kuwait.
Waiting by the MRAPs. These 2 psychiatrists were NOT assigned to me. Really.