Saturday, January 1, 2011

Happy New Year - The 909th Is CONUS!

909th FST with 1st group of PROFIS
THIS IS IT!!! THE 909th HAS ARRIVED STATESIDE!!! HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!

This also marks the final posting of FaST Surgeon (as promised). Below are just a few shots... some from SSG P ... one from CPT J and one last one from me.
909th at Bagram
The 909th didn't get to depart straight home from FOB Shank... no... they had to endure a long journey. First they went to Bagram and stayed at their luxury suites.
SSG P with SPC N (Codename Kato)
They had some time to spend together .. enjoying the fact that they no longer had to answer to the thumping sound of MedEvacs arriving.
CPT A
CPT A got time to sit and Facebook :)
CPT M
CPT M .. I'm sure took the time to prepare arduous lesson plans for his students back home :)
SPC D (Codename DelFlo)
DelFlo... had time to be DelFlo :)
909th at Bagram
The above photo reminds me that everything you have... you have to carry. AND IT'S A LOT OF STUFF.
Manas, Kyrgyzstan
They finally left Bagram and arrived in Manas, Kyrgyzstan for another long lay-over. But the accommodations were reportedly somewhat better than in BAF.

As of this writing.. I see that the team has been stateside for at least the last 6 hours. I couldn't be happier... knowing that they won't have to be in a place that needs guard towers - like in the photo below.
Guard Tower, FOB Shank (guarding against a pack of wild goats?)
Airborne Hill, FOB Shank
I wish I could have put together something ... I dunno... cooler? better? Something for a last post that really would be timely and meaningful. But guess what. This is life. One chapter closes. Another opens. CPT J's image of a sunset will just have to do. It's a great closing shot. He has told me that he will publish a video for the team... but he's busy trying to get out of Shank himself... that's great news!

So this is it. No more posts from the FaST Surgeon. Thank you all for all the comments here and on Facebook. Thank you all for the personal emails that you sent. I wasn't sure that this blog was worth anything to anyone ... but all the responses that I received were very appreciated.

I will close (sew this up) with the sign-off that Dr. Aldridge liked to use..

Peace out my brothers (and sisters)!