Gospel Bluenotes Bring the Spirit to COB Adder

They couldn't of come at a better time.  It was between Christmas & New Years, December 27, 2010 to be exact, and people's spirits were getting kind of low.  Most of the soldiers were thinking of their families and friends that they weren't go to see this year.   Nobody really expected salvation but salvation did arrive and it came from the most unlikely source. Another entertainment group called "THE GOSPELL BLUENOTES" was going to be performing that night and they were going to be joined by a group of soldiers who sing at church services here at Adder.  I am embarrassed to...

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See the latest pictures!

Major Marty and Physician Assistants, Susan Harcke and Vijay Soprey receive their 'Combat Patches' in a ceremony held in front of the assembled brigade. Colonel Lisa Costanza is seen placing patches on their right shoulders. ...

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Happy Holidays!

This is almost my entire Medical Staff. To my right are my two physician assistants: Susan Harcke and Vijay Soprey. Next (in sunglasses) is captain Gabriel Fabian, the Commander of the unit. All the others are medics: Sean, Annmarie, Erika, Nolan, and Glenn. Several others are missing from the pictu...

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USO Show Brings Heavy Metal Band to COB Adder

I don't believe I've ever seen a live Heavy Metal concert and I never considered that to be a loss or something I'd go out of my way to check out.  But when the USO brings entertainment to you on a deployment you'd have to be a complete geek to avoid it.  You have no idea how boring it can be out here.  We work practically seven days/week and unless you're on a mission you never go outside the wire.  There is absoulutely no alcohol allowed, including beer, even when your off duty and officially you're always on duty even when you sleep.  So it's hard not to go when you hear that a rather big name is coming to your...

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Pictures from Latest Mission

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In a season of firsts, I celebrate my first Hanukkah in Iraq

One of the ways the military gets you through your deployment is by keeping you very busy. They have to keep you busy because if you had idle time that might create mischief and of course that's the last thing you want to have because it would divert you from your mission. The week is organized so that all the days blend into each other and there really is no difference between the weekdays and very little difference between the weekdays and the weekend. In fact all the military offices are open 7 days a week. I recognize that I may of lost you there but even though this is considered a war zone we do have different offices. For example, we...

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Army home grown Ultimate Fighters bring out huge crowd at Adder 'fight night'

I wasn't surprised when I heard soldiers saying that fight night brings out a bigger crowd than at any other event.  I know quite well that young males and females love to go to a whole variety of different types of martial arts.  I've attended WWF/WWE wrestling events with my kids and big groups of their friends.  We've also attended many of the amateur boxing events held in Western Massachusetts most of which I'd be the officiating ringside physician. I never attended any of the Ultimate Fighting events that have recently become so popular and feature both very little in the way of rules and the fighters are allowed to fight...

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Thanksgiving Day Entertainment for the Troops

In the tradition of Bob Hope we had some pre-holiday entertainment when a Country & Western Performer called Aaron Tippin arrived on Tuesday, November 22 to entertain us. I've never heard of Aaron Tippin but apparently many soldiers did and there was certianly a core group that were over the top thrilled. Tippin felt right at home with the troops at COB (combined operations base) Adder and he's had a tradition of traveling to military bases to entertain the troops during the holiday seasons. Tippin also stated that when he first started doing these trips, about 20 years ago, he traveled with Bob Hope so he's a living link to Bob Hope's...

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Major Marty's Newest Pictures!

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In case you we wondering, THIS IS WHERE I LIVE

This is my CHU, or Containerized Housing Unit. Notice the size of each of the three units. Mine is the one on your left. Amenities include bomb shelter and blast walls. Earlier in the blog I described first going to CONUS (Continental United States) Replacement Center at Fort Benning, Georgia and I included two pictures of myself along with my three bunkmates.  This is a permanent structure and we were staying in a real building aka a "hard building" which means a permanently constructed building.  When I got to Kuwait that base has probably been open a few years and maybe after the mission in Iraq is over it will...

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Sick Call At The TMC (Troop Medical Clinic)

The soldiers were waiting for me in great numbers as soon as I arrived.  Of course not for me personally, they are waiting for the "doc" and trying to take advantage of their down time.  In return for joining the military and agreeing to serve wherever they are sent soldiers are assured that they will be provided with all their basic necessities including medical care.  Getting it to them is the responsibility of their officers while in this case they simply have to show up.  Once they've checked in they can take advantage of their down time.  Soldiers often have to work extremely hard but they are...

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The way to Iraq starts in Kuwait

I can’t say exactly when but I arrived in Iraq a few days ago after extensive additional processing in Kuwait. The two countries border each other and the distance was not that great however, the ordeal of traveling by military aircraft (the cargo bays get transformed into patient areas where you huddle down sitting on beach chair webbing secured with straps, ropes and clips) kept you on your toes. Additionally, we wear all our battle gear including full flak jackets, helmets, weapons and ammunition. It was actually a lot of fun but we were already sleep deprived and this ordeal started at midnight and wasn’t over until noon the next day. It was stressful but it was so much fun and I wouldn’t have missed it for all the sleep in the world. The military doesn’t want you to simply fly...

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CONUS

Welcome to the CONUS replacement center. For those who do not know, CONUS stands for Continental United States. The term CONUS replacement center has a lot of significance in army circle...

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