A Day in the Life of Al Asad PART 1

It’s 10:15 and like one of Pavlov’s dogs I awaken to the sound of my electronic alarm on my digital watch. (3 beeps is usually all the watch will sound before I locate it and hit the off button). I sit up in bed and the old springs in my rack make enough of a squeak to make my sleeping roommate who works nights stir. I grab my towel and head for the showers. The clock starts ticking…30 minutes until the bus leaves.

I get to the sink, take out my toothbrush and at that moment realize for the 61st day in a row that I can’t use the sink water to brush my teeth. So half naked I walk out to the hall and grab one of the many bottled waters that line each windowsill…I get into the shower with my shower sandals and say a quick prayer that when I touch the water it will be hot and not cold. Right before I start I do a quick look to see who else is in the small closet-sized shower with me, ah, just 3 mosquitoes today, splat, splat, splat. After the shower comes the shave, and I ask myself, how is it that our policy states that we can use the sink water to make open cuts to our face shaving with the water, but we can’t brush our teeth with it. Anyway, I let it go. I take a quick look in the mirror to see if my 8 pack is coming in then back to the room to dress. Quietly I re-enter my dark room. By memory I can tell exactly where the nail is that I hang my towel. I put on my skivvies and my Flight Suit then I wait a few seconds until the air conditioner makes its really loud noise (it occurs in 3 minute cycles). Once it does, I sit on my bed to put on my boots (remember the bed squeaks really loud and I don’t want to wake my roommate with every move). I grab my backpack, walk out of the room and say “Good Morning” to the guard standing duty at the door. I sign out with him to work and sit out front to wait for the bus…3 minutes to spare, but alas, the bus is late again.

This is one of my moments. Every chance that I am waiting for something I either play some nice relaxing music on my IPOD, like Jack Johnson or I go through all the things that I’m grateful for in my head (got that from The Secret). This sets a positive tone for the day and makes me appreciate all that I have in my life.

The bus arrives and I make my way out into the sun – it hits you like a ton of bricks. Do you know when in the dead of summer, you drive to the mall on a nice sunny day to go shopping? Well, do you know how when you return from a long day of shopping and get back into the car and since you forgot to shut off the A/C when you shut off the car, it gives you a full blast of super hot air in your face when you first turn on the car? That’s what the heat is like here every day. –But I don’t mind, I’m still in happy Jack Johnson land, smiling as I walk to the bus.

After a brief 10 minute bus ride and 1 Ugandan checkpoint where I flash my ID card, I arrive at work. I greet my corpsmen and walk to “Skinny’s”, the self-appointed nickname of our mini chow hall where we all eat at. There are several treats to look forward to at Skinny’s. First, the chow is either pretty good (Fried Chicken, BBQ Beef Brisket, Mac and Cheese, Corn on the Cob) or a combo of REALLY bad items (Sweet & very Sour mystery meat with cauliflower and red beets). But the real treat is to see if they have the Otis Spunk Meyer Cookies (White Chocolate Macadamia Nut is my favorite). Then we sit and there’s a randomly placed super nice plasma screen TV mounted in the middle of this rickety chow hall. 90% of the afternoon time some form of UFC or wrestling is on, but the other 10% there’s a movie playing. (2001: A Space Odyssey, Old School, Signs, 50 First Dates – the mix is very eclectic and it’s always a crap shoot what’s coming on next, which kind of makes it exciting). I finish lunch in 20 minutes flat, talk with some of my Marines and head back to my office (a 5 minute walk away). On my way back I look out at the Flight line and see how many helicopters are getting ready to launch.

Turning on both computers in my sick bay takes about 5 minutes before everything loads up, and this gives me a chance to do some of my daily routines. First, I grab a cold bottle of water from the Fridge, being mindful to replace it with another bottle we keep next to the fridge (this is an especially challenging thing for me to remember because if you know me at all you know I’d always take the last few drops then put the Britta pitcher back in the Fridge empty) and take a Propel packet to dump in it…Lemon? Berry? Nah, today Kiwi-Strawberry. Then, I take off my pistol and hang it on the wall. Next, I make some fresh coffee, but usually only drink ½ cup of the pot I make. (I just like the smell of it). Then, I grab my vitamins to take. While swallowing, I look around at all the pictures I have hung on my walls, of my friends, family and Soldiers Angels. I crack a grateful smile and am reminded of my purpose. Next I rip off my day-by-day learn Hawaiian calendar. Today, the word of the day is kokua, which means to help. Finally I get turnover from my corpsmen on the night’s events. Now, the afternoon is about to begin…!