166 Days: My Journey Through The Darkness by Jennifer Clark Read Free Book Online Page A

cocky,” Becky said.
    “Great! Just what we need,” I replied. “For an SF guy to say that, they must be pretty bad.”

CHAPTER 4

Day 5
The Flashing Light
    1 May 2008
    I finished getting my B-Hut squared away the next morning and then decided it was time to go to the gym for a workout. Prior to this deployment I had really let myself slip in the physical fitness department, mainly due to stress, time, and any other excuse I could find. I had been “lazy” since I started PA school and it had become a bad habit since. I hated sitting in my exam room with my patients who had chronic medical conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol and preaching the latest American Heart Association guidelines on physical activity, yet not following the same practices myself. I vowed before I left to make the lifestyle change while I was deployed, and continue the practice back home. So far the renewed activity had been a welcomed change. I loved getting back into my routine at the gym. I would leave feeling so good about my workout and what I had accomplished….that was until this day.
    I was midway through my run on the treadmill and in my “zone” when Tony arrived. “How long has that red light been going off?” he asked me.
    “What light?” I asked. He pointed to a flashing red light on the north wall of the gym. “Oh, that light. I have no idea,” I said. “Why?”
    “That light is an alert that’s used to let us know that there is some sort of active ‘contact’ with our SF guys outside the wire,” he explained.
    “When you say contact, what do you mean exactly?” I asked.
    “Anything like an IED, sniper fire, a fire fight, maybe the firebase getting attacked, or any other form of enemy attack or encounter,” he explained.
    I had no idea such a system of alert was in place. Throughout the remainder of my workout I couldn’t keep my eyes off of that light, praying it would stop flashing, but it didn’t. I looked around the gym in amazement at the lack of response to this “beacon of danger” from the Special Forces guys working out around me. Why weren’t they terrified and running from the building to assist their friends? Why were they laughing and joking with each other and carrying on as if nothing was happening?
    Then it hit me. This was a form of normalcy for them. This was what they did every day. This was a routine day in the life of Army Special Forces troops, a day they spent years training for.
    My new awareness of the light was haunting. I didn’t ever want to see it flash again. Unfortunately, the reality was I would see it again; many times over, and there was nothing I could do to change it. The one thing I could do was to continue to let it affect me the way it had that day. I never wanted to react any other way.

CHAPTER 5

Day 6
Medic Warriors
    2 May 2008
    In the morning I went to Sick Call with Becky and Martha. The Sick Call was a one-hour clinic in the morning and again in the afternoon, which was typically technician run, yet I was bored and figured what the heck? While I was there, I got to talk more with the PA, Bob, and the leadership of the group about some things to expect out there.
    “The most common types of medical conditions you can expect are things like acid reflux, arthritis, dehydration, asthma, malnutrition, and a lot of dermatology and orthopedic conditions. You are going to see plenty of traumas, so be prepared,” Bob explained.
    “What kind of living conditions can we expect?” Becky chimed in.
    “You will likely be in a fixed facility. Each firebase is different, but most are somewhat better than the B-huts we have here,” he said. “Bathrooms are hit or miss. So is the food. Most firebases try to have some kind of workout area, but usually it’s not much.”
    “What about safety?” I asked, knowing the answer was not going to be what either Becky or I wanted to hear.
    “Again, it depends on where you go. You will likely travel to