Day 12

0430 wake up – and yes, still hurting. I went straight to the gym – no point in marching out to the pad just to have to walk back again. At 0545, I returned to my room, changed into my uniform, went to the RAC to daven Shacharis, and waited downstairs for the base taxi (they are free – sort of like a shuttle service) to take me to the doctor.

I saw a PA (Physician Assistant), who simply listened to my compliant, and then ordered some 800mg Ibuprofin and Robaxin. I said, “Any chance I could see a chiropracter?” She seemed surprised. Turns out there is one there, but first she sent me for x-rays. After the x-rays, I went to the chiroprater desk (the place is like a Doctor Mall – it’s a long beautiful atrium with desks for each specialty – awesome! The radiology office already had the order for the x-rays – and when I get to the end – the pharmacy – I just scan my DoD card and the order comes up… Wow!) and they got me in right away. The doctor looked at my x-rays (they were already in the system ready to pull up), and he did an adjustment. I IMMEDIETLY felt better.

When I got back, I had to meet my flight at the Project X facility. There is no easy way to explain this place, but I will try. The most important part of this entire course is teaching leadership, personnel management, and problem solving skills. At this facility there are about 20 bays, each with a specific challenge. Our flight was assigned four of them, and I returned in time for the last two. My particpation was limited to non-physical parts, like time-keeping and observing.

The challenges work like this. Six of the 15 flight members are chosen to be the participants, one person is timekeeper, one person is observer, and the rest are safetys. The participants are given a briefing fo what they will do, and their limitations, and then they have 20 minutes to finish. Easy, right.

The first one (their third) that I saw consisted of the following: A pool of water 4’ by 6’ ending at a wall about 6’ high. They had a 4x4 that was about 9’ long, and two long pieces of rope. The water represented a lake that was highly radioactive, and they had to get all 6 people and all the stuff (wood and ropes) across the water and over the wall in 20 minutes. Nothing could touch the wall (except for the top 6 inches) or the sides or the water, or you got an immediete 30 second penalty. It was unbelievable. They failed the mission, after which an analysis was done over what they did right and what they did wrong, etc. I am not allowed to say much more, as we were sworn to secrecy over the contents of the facility. Sorry.

We got back and went to lunch at 1200. As I shared earlier, we have to sit at a modified attention while eating. That means sitting only in the front 2/3 of the chair, back straight and feet flat on the ground. That has been hurting my back terribly, and I received a waiver from my Flt/CC. Well, as I am sitting there with my back on the chair, one of the staff members sitting at the staff table yells across the room, “Captain Friedman! (they all know me!) You are at modified attention! GET YOUR BACK OF THAT CHAIR!!” I did so, and when I was finished, I walked up to the staff table to explain. BIG mistake. The protocol, when approaching the staff table, is to greet everyone first, then ask for permission to make a statement or ask a question. When done, you say, “Will that be all, sir/ma’am?” They say, “That will be all” and you say the greeting of the day (“Good morning, sir/ma’am” or “Good evening…). If outside, you salute when saying the greeting. But it gets more confusing when you have different ranks there – for example, if there was a Major and three Captains it’s “Good afternoon, ma’am, good afternoon, gentlemen.” When I went up there, I was still so fluttered from being jacked up in front everyone (“jacked up” is a BIG military expression – get used to it!). I saw a female major and a slew of male captains. I said, “Good afternoon, ma’am, good afternoon, gentlemen.” He said, “Do you not see the major next to me?” She immedietly had my back, saying, “He greeted me.” I told him that I had a profile (a waiver) for my back and that sitting in that position was very painful. He said, “Let me see the profile.” I knew enough to carry it on me at all times - but I thought I had it in my pocket – and when it wasn’t there I was just getting more and more flustered. I pulled out the pouch we all wear around our necks that carry our documents and gave him the profile. He said, “It doesn’t say anything here about sitting. Have the seargent (the medic) update this.” I said that I had received permission from my Flt/CC (who outranks this bozo), to which he said, “Fine, I’ll get with him.” Following protocol, I said, “Will that be all, sir?”

“That will be all.”
“Good afternoon, sir.”
“What about the major?”
“Good afternoon, Major, good afternoon, sir.”
“What about everyone else at the table?”
“Good afternoon, ma’am, good afternoon, gentlemen.”
“Captain, did you not notice the colonel sitting right next to you??” (He was sitting with his back to me, so I didn’t even notice him)
“Good afternoon, sir, good afternoon, ma’am, good afternoon, gentlemen”
“Good afternoon”

I walked out of there sweating like a dog…