Greetings from the Sandbox

Hello to all from the sand and heat in Kuwait, just over the border from Iraq. As expected, the trip over is by far the most stressful part of this experience - and no better on the third try. We still have some movement to go before we get settled further north. That will be good as it is at least 10 degrees hotter here (115 on a good day, and sometimes no better that 94 in air conditioning). Just some snapshots of feelings so far:
-joggin in the muggy air of Ft. Benning, Georgia, just happy to feel the Appalachian woods again
-Walking first and alone out onto the tarmack to board the big DC-10 - they put me of all people in charge of the troops for the flight - thankfully everyone behaved - I got a good response from tired troops when they asked me to give some parting words - all I said was, "I'm just looking for a quiet flight."
-Strapping on the M9 (Beretta) pistol again - is the world really safer once this nearsighted physician is armed? No bullets of my own yet though- at least they have some sense
-our first mediacl crisis - funny how the commanders did not take our comments about health and sanitation seriously until the diarrhea/gastroenteritis hit full strength and threatened to take out a big part of the unit - as usual I empathized by catching it myself - everyone is coming through it, but it has taken some effort to teach these Apache attack command types that you can't always find a bullet or rocket to kill these bugs - as usual there is a high level of anxiety to see that everything goes right and calming the commander down is a trick
-an amazing array of fellow soldiers - my first reaction is always "he or she is not like me" until we get to talk - thendiscover real people with families and dreams - and many careers - our logistics commander is a shy professor of agricultural scientist; our platoon leader (top notch lieutenant) is a dietician, one of our pilots is a pharmacist; the supply commander at our camp is a project manager for a large financial firm - my medical operations officer is a geologist.
-sitting next to an Englishman on the way to Georgia - the pilot announced soldiers were on board and everyone applauded - the Britishman mentioned this respect and appreciation has impressed him in America and would never happen in England.
-efforst we are making to improve the world that never make the press - I've met a JAG (lawyer) who is heading to jin a 40-nation team of various professionals in Afghanistan dedicated to rebuilding that country- she will be focusing on their judicial system - another team is standing up in Iraq to look for social and cultural ways to reduce violence; that team consists of anthropologists, sociologists, teachers, researchers, a special forces member who has lived 3 years in the varous tribes - thes are exciting indications that maaybe things can change - the atmosphere in Iraq certainly already seems calmer than 3 years ago a parting Hooah shot
-sitting in uniform at the airport on the way to Ft. Benning, I watched families busily walking past, oblivious to the war still on going, happy and excited about their vacations and reunions. Watching the briefings on terrorism and other threats worldwide and seeing first-hand our lifestyle copaired to much of the world, it is clear we have much to be thankful for. The easy-going freedom we enjoy only exists because of the presence of a strong military. We may disagree with a given conflict or political decisions, and certainly may find fault or corruption in our system, but it is still the best on the planet and would cave quickly to the evil forces unfortunately loose on this world. Wishing you all a wonderful end of summer - enjoy the cooling weather! Andy

Andy Bradbury
200 W. 100 N
Blackfoot, Idaho 83221
andybm@yahoo.com

(for those that don't know, this is a letter from Dr. Bradbury who used to work here at the clinic)