First a brief insight into the climate for the week following Thanksgiving.
MAJ Cortese (orthopedic surgeon) and COL Hicklin (psychiatrist/DCCS)
The weather thankfully breaks, and the frost began to thaw. For a few days there, I thought I had been relocated to some remote atmospheric monitoring outpost in lower Antarctica. This past Sunday, two buddies and I decided to "walk the perimeter" and enjoy the weather, get some exercise and maybe memorialize our surroundings on digital print. Simple, right? Maybe.
Mount Duke as seen over Camp Bondsteel
MAJ Cortese and my roommate CAPT Layne (CRNA) proving they are "Army Strong"
Mount Duke from another vantage point
Kosavar Countryside
Yes... we love Mount Duke here at Bondsteel
The last image is of a typical Kosavar Village, as seen from Bondsteel. Notice the minaret/mosque in the center. The ethnic Albanians are predominantly Muslim, which is a testament to the years that the region was under Turkish Ottoman rule.
Just as this last image was acquired, I heard a voice from above say, "Hey, you there!" I looked up to see one of the guards in the watch tower staring down at us. Just as a point of fact, the perimeter guards are hired contractors, but most are former enlisted. This guy seemed quite excited, had his hand on his weapon (still holstered) and instructed us to "stand fast". Of course, not having a clue what his issue was we approached the tower. We could hear frantic radio traffic and he was describing "three perpetrators". This guy was tripping over his words and was about as excited as a rent-a-cop at TJMaxx when someone sets off the door sensor. He stutters, "You.. you can't take pictures here!" "Why not?" we reply, as there were no signs to support his claim and we had never been told that. No pictures of the aircraft, flightline or gates we knew. But the perimeter.... hmmm. Again he bellows "Stand fast... the MPs are enroute!" At about this point we begin to realize he's serious and simultaneously my pager goes off. The hospital is calling for me to do a CT on a head trauma patient. "You have to wait... MPs are on the way!" he repeats as if we didn't get it the first time. Finally the MP arrives and begins to question us as if we had Lindbergh's baby.
I asked what I thought was a rhetorical question "Do you have a phone or radio so I can call the hospital, I'm a physician and I've been paged for a patient." The MP looks at the rent-a-guards, they look back at him... more radio traffic. "No sir, we are unable to call the hospital on our equipment". Great, so now I'm being detained for taking a picture of a hill, and I can't let the hospital know where I am. I thought about asking how I would be able to post bail, but I thought that might be inflammatory... these guys we as serious as a heart attack.
We had to wait again, so CID (Criminal Investigations Division!) could arrive. My patience and good will was wearing thin, and I demanded to see the written policy or "reg" to support this charade. Of course, they could not quote or produce it (see... I'm learning the Army) and I started to take down their names, wherein the original rent-a-cop began to vagal (doctor speak for starting to faint... yes, you'll learn medical vernacular too!) CID arrived and put the whole issue to rest. They got a good laugh out of my pictures, and gave me a lift to the hospital. Turns out the rent-a-guards had allowed a local national to take pictures all around the perimeter recently without so much as second look, and were summarily chewed out. Hence, a new "policy" that had never been clarified, passed through JAG or disseminated to the Task Force. Sure did make for an interesting day though, and a lot of laughs after the fact.
Maybe I'll try for another walk this Sunday....
Maybe not.
Till we speak again,
Muller out.
