Deploying Already?! Pre-Deployment
I know, I know... I just joined! How did I get a deployment already?! From what I hear, deployment assignments have been difficult to come by in the past few years for those who were seeking them. However, the life of a medical officer is a bit different from that of a combat soldier. I'm a member of the 44th Medical Brigade, which responds to a lot of humanitarian needs and medical training exercises. For example, while I was in BOLC, many soldiers from the unit I was assigned to were sent to Texas to respond to the COVID relief effort. I arrived on base just as they were returning! Also, there is an annual training event for austere medicine in Senegal that I also missed out on while I was at JECC. There are opportunities out there! For me, I was eager to get some experience under my belt and I wanted to venture away from the hospital whenever possible. During a training exercise in the field, I told my commander that I was eager to contribute and my home life was in a great pos