Dinner jackets

Tuesday 20 October 2009

“There are dinner jackets, then there are dinner jackets.

That…. is a dinner jacket.”

-Vesper, Casino Royale

I used to think that a deployment was pretty much a deployment. I saw them as a binary thing; either you had been deployed, or you hadn’t. I now see that there is an infinite variety of deployments. Your experience depends on where you are, what your job is, the timing of the deployment, and multiple other variables. The experience of my colleagues here at Balad is really in no way similar to that of my colleagues at Bagram. Both, honestly, are valuable, life-altering experiences, but in incredibly different ways. I couldn’t comprehend that variability before this deployment, and the unique opportunity to travel extensively throughout Afghanistan and fairly widely in the Iraq theatre has been an insightful experience.

I smoked a cigar up on the roof of the Balad Hospital last night with a group of friends. I’ve done this throughout Afghanistan and Iraq, and the “smoke shacks” on top of the various hospitals are as diverse as the deployment experiences, themselves. All have been both unique and enjoyable. The Balad smoke shack is nicknamed “OR-5” (the hospital actually has 4 OR’s) and is probably the most famous of the cigar smoking areas in theatre, having been featured in an Article in Men’s Health. It is sort of a deployed surgeons’ tradition to gather for a cigar in the evening after surgical cases. Balad’s smoke shack is actually more of an attractive lanai than a shack, with a well-built deck, walls, and chairs. It accurately mirrors the mature nature of the hospital. Bagram’s smoke shack is just that, some rough lumber that has been nailed together and covered with camoflauged netting. Again, appropriate for its environment. Balad’s lanai was largely built, incidentally, by a general surgeon who is now stationed at Bagram. What a great legacy he left behind here at Balad. I’m sure it is just one of many.

By the way, while my perfect day generally involves one in which I never have to don a shirt, I kind of miss the dinner jacket. It is appropriate attire for a dinner with Vesper.