Ar-Ramadi bound!

Well, I knew I wasn't going to be without a job for long. Actually, we found ourselves gainfully employed the past week cleaning the old hospital and packing up the entire contents. Right down to the last lap sponge!
We used the existing airbase hospital for our operations (the Army built a brand new freestanding modular hospital 50 yards away), and in the basement (affectionately known as the dungeon) are a long series of interconnecting tunnels and secret passageways.....the side entrance is sealed off, but if it was open, I would be able to travel to different parts of the base without ever stepping foot on ground. We were using some of the old entrances for storerooms for our hospital supplies--and we found storerooms we didn't even know we had! When we did turnover with the previous group, apparently they forgot to tell us about all of the supply spaces--and we had to count and account for every piece of medical equipment and/or consumable in our possession! So to make a long story a little shorter, we spent a solid five days accounting for everything we had, hauling every bit of it out of the dungeon to be packed into an endless sea of crates and pallets to be shipped off to another base for future use. No need to go to the gym to find a workout.
Saturday, we squeezed in an Officer vs. Enlisted softball tournament. There was a lot of creative trash talking before the games (we each had two teams) and apparently some bets were made--the losers get their heads shaved by the winners. The officers now are sporting temporary chromedomes--perfect for the desert heat! I have a lot of new pictures to post, and hope to get them on Picasa ASAP.

Tomorrow I fly to Ramadi with a small orthopeadic/trauma "package" consisting of an Ortho physician, OR nurse, OR tech, and myself. We plan to stay in Ramadi for the remainder of the deployment--Ramadi is 1) Urban 2) A direct route from Syria to Baghdad and 3) Busy--we are being told that we are badly needed. I pray the good Lord will continue to guide my hands and feet--there's a lot more work to be done....

New address:
LT Carl Goforth
C Co. 3rd BSB
Camp Ramadi
APO, AE 09396

Many thanks to all those who have sent cards and care packages. And thank you still to those who sent goggles to the swimming pool here at Al Asad. Your acts of kindness touch many that you will never know, yet are actively struggling day and night to protect and fight for what we all believe in......
Signing off until Ar-Ramadi!