Well, I just finished day Three of the DIA Deployment Qualification Course – DDQC. It’s a pretty comprehensive, in-depth course designed to prep us for going downrange.
Monday was pretty lightweight, largely sitting and listening to an instructor, covering all the administrivia of a deployment.
On Tuesday, things got interesting. After sessions on IEDs and convoy ops, among other things, we went through emergency vehicle egress training using stationary Humvees. We went through this drill three times, wearing body armor and helmets. Did I mention that it was really freakin’ cold? Probably mid-20s, before thinking about the wind chill factor from winds gusting up into the 30 MPH range. Anyhow, the first time around, I was “helped” out of the vehicle. Unlike a good paratrooper, my first point of contact was my face. Thank God for the helmet and protective goggles! I only ended up with what appears to be a sprained knee, with lots of pain, swelling and limited range of motion. Oh joy. The next two practice runs were much less damaging.
In the afternoon, we wrapped up the day with a nearly three-hour-long session on psychological factors, focusing on PTSD. You get immune hearing about it in an abstract sense on the TV news, but when a warrior and PTSD victim stands in front of you and pours his soul out, it gets personal. We all left the classroom that day very much sobered, with lots to think about.
Today we got ito the nasty stuff. We started with the basics of Chemical-Biological-Radiological-Nuclear warfare, then on to the proper care and use of the gas mask. I can get it on pretty fast now. The rest of the day (and, indeed, the rest of the week-long course) was dedicated to medical issues. First aid, medical care, you name it. Dealing with injuries and trauma of every imaginable sort. Candy-ass that I am, what with my blood and needle phobias, I need to be really careful while I’m deployed. As I sit here writing this, looking back on the afternoon, I’m surprised I made it through all the pressure bandages, tourniquet practice and trauma slides and video without depositing my lunch on the floor.
It’s times like this that I ask myself what I’ve gotten myself into …
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