29.08.2014 Views

Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

Warriors in Peace Operations - Strategic Studies Institute - U.S. Army

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

site given to us was under about two feet of snow. After<br />

do<strong>in</strong>g some m<strong>in</strong>or snow removal by shovel to determ<strong>in</strong>e<br />

where the edges of the concrete pad ended, we marked off<br />

where we would erect our EMT, operat<strong>in</strong>g room, and central<br />

materiel supply (sterilization equipment). The next issue<br />

would be snow removal from the aircraft pad.<br />

The fact that we were the first unit of any size to arrive<br />

at the ISB resulted <strong>in</strong> the nonavailability of a number of<br />

resources. One resource we could not get was snow removal<br />

equipment. It was now 2200, and we tried to determ<strong>in</strong>e<br />

what our options were. If we shoveled the site out the next<br />

day, we would lose valuable daylight hours that could then<br />

result <strong>in</strong> construct<strong>in</strong>g part of the hospital <strong>in</strong> the dark. This is<br />

not necessarily a critical issue, but the risk for <strong>in</strong>jury would<br />

<strong>in</strong>crease if we were construct<strong>in</strong>g the external facility <strong>in</strong> the<br />

dark. It was at this po<strong>in</strong>t that I noticed a snow plow out<br />

clear<strong>in</strong>g the runway some 1,000 meters from us. I <strong>in</strong>structed<br />

one of our soldiers to drive out to the runway and tell the<br />

snow plow operator that we were <strong>in</strong> urgent need of snow<br />

removal from the site we were to establish the hospital on.<br />

In a matter of a few m<strong>in</strong>utes, the plow was follow<strong>in</strong>g the<br />

CSH vehicle off the runway and over to our site. He began<br />

plow<strong>in</strong>g the area for us and approximately 2 1/2 hours later<br />

had the aircraft pad and the surround<strong>in</strong>g area completely<br />

cleared.<br />

We returned to the barracks and got to sleep at about<br />

0200. At 0345, I was awakened to be told that the second<br />

tra<strong>in</strong>load of <strong>in</strong>dividuals had just arrived. The primary staff<br />

got up to greet the two busloads and assist them <strong>in</strong><br />

unload<strong>in</strong>g their equipment, secur<strong>in</strong>g weapons and<br />

protective masks, and plac<strong>in</strong>g them <strong>in</strong> specific rooms. I<br />

<strong>in</strong>structed them to get to sleep, and that they would be<br />

awakened at approximately 1200 to have lunch and then<br />

proceed to the site to assist <strong>in</strong> establish<strong>in</strong>g the hospital.<br />

We then got the first tra<strong>in</strong>load of <strong>in</strong>dividuals up and off<br />

to breakfast. We held a post-breakfast formation at 0730<br />

and then moved everyone to the site. We broke the unit <strong>in</strong>to<br />

223

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!