U.S. Army Flight Surgeon Course - Week 2

WARNO: This blog probably has more pictures than any other blog I've ever posted.  It was a very busy week and people were taking lots of photos.  If you have dial up...you might want to go get a coffee....at a store....and come back later.

Week 2 began on a Tuesday morning at 0545 when we all formed up to run up and down stairs for an hour...I was sore for days afterward but it was fun (looking back...not so much during).  Then we had our first exam to start off the morning.  I got an A, but that's not saying much, it was one of the easier tests that I've taken.  If you managed to stay awake during the slow powerpoint death, then you would have gotten an A too. 
 
We started to learn a little bit about altitude physiology and did some pretty cool stuff this week.  It was only a 4 day week, but in that time I spent an afternoon flying on a CH-47 Chinook, one afternoon in the altitude chamber getting hypoxic at 25,000 feet and another afternoon flying the Blackhawk simulator, it was a very busy and very fun week.  I even squeezed in some golf over the weekend. 

As always...the pictures:

We started the week out by learning about spacial disorientation and how errors are made in the cockpit and what happens if you try to correct them without going on.  One particularly dangerous vestibular illusion is "The Coriolis Effect" in which you make an abrupt head movement after a prolonged constant-rate turn that has ceased.  It creates the illusion of rotation or movement in an entirely different axis.  To demonstrate it, the instructors put me into this rotating chair and asked me to put my arms up as if the Patriots scored a touchdown.  Then they spun me around for a bit and then asked me to do that again....as you can see....I was way off center.  (Unlike the Patriots, who are now 6-0 baby!)  If this happened in an aircraft, you would probably go into a spin and crash.

 

 

So after demonstrating the Coriolis effect and realizing my days may be numbered....I decided to model a Samuel Adams Oktoberfest, one of my favorite beers!

 

I forget what night it was, Tuesday maybe...about 10-12 of us went out to this little Italian restaurant called "Italian Food", haha.  It was actually a gem in the rough and was very good.  The next night we went to a Japanese Hibachi restaurant which was very good also.  I've definitely been doing my share of eating while I've been here.  This was at the Italian place...vodka martini or chianti?  Hmm...why choose?

The next day my squad went out for our CH-47 Chinook helicopter flight.  That's the big helicopter with the 2 rotors.  It looks like a big bus, but it's actually the fastest helicopter in the Army because the 2nd rotor provides counter-torque, therefore it generates 100% lift.  It's also the only helicopter capable of carrying itself (for example, it can sling load another Chinook).  Just some interesting little facts that I've learned in school, haha. 
Here's the slow motion movie shot of some of us walking out to the flight line.

 

3rd Squad!

It was a nice flight and I was able to see Alabama from the air.  The great thing about flying on such a perfect day was that both the crew windows were off and the back ramp was down a bit so we had a great breeze coming through and could hang out the window and get a good look around.  Here's some pics from the flight.

After a while we came across a good sized river so we dropped down and flew along it a little below the tree level, it was fun.  The pilot was a student CW2 that was changing aircraft, he used to fly Apaches.

We all took turns riding in the jump seat to observe the pilots and plug into the ICS (internal communication system) with our helmets.

We stopped in a field that had different weighted blocks for the pilot to practice sling-loading.  We got out so we could take pictures of it from the outside (and take a leak!)

I wasn't a huge fan of the new motto "Army Strong", but here's my impession...

Here's the Chinook student practicing his sling load...

The next day, we went into the altitude chamber where we had to go up to 25,000 feet and then take our oxygen masks off to experience hypoxia and identify how many symptoms we had.  They gave us a quiz to take once we took our masks off and they were very basic questions, including addition and subtraction, but it got very difficult very quickly.  Your mind slows down rapidly when you have decreased oxygen pressure, it's pretty weird.

After the altitude chamber, I went to fly the Blackhawk simulator with the instructor pilot.  It was probably one of the coolest things that I've ever done.  There are different video screens projecting onto each window, so you can see in front and to the sides, just as if you were really flying.  It also moves like a real helicopter, giving you some sense of G forces. 

Finally, we ended the week with some golf.  Here's one of the medical students, Ryan Knight, with his beer coozy that he carries everywhere...

Me, victorious after a long putt!

The four of us at one of the last holes we played.  We took forever and didn't get all 18 in before we had to return the carts.  It was relaxing though and we had a lot of fun. 

 

Thanks for reading!

U.S. Army Flight Surgeon Course - Week 1

I was barely able to unpack my bags from Iraq when I arrived in Germany before I had to pack up my luggage and hop on a plane to Alabama for the Flight Surgeon course.  Well...nearly to Alabama.  The Army only flew me to Atlanta, Georgia so they could save a few hundred dollars and then had me drive about 4-5 hours to Fort Rucker, Alabama from there.  They gave me a rental car for the duration of my course though, so I'm not complaining. 

Well, I arrived and got checked into my hotel without event.  It was a little strange to be back in the USA driving around.  That took some getting used to.  Between Korea, Germany and Iraq, it had been a while since I was alone driving on a highway.  I had the windows down and I was rocking out to everything on the radio, haha. 
 
Class started at 0545 on Monday, October 1st.  That was a long day...we were in class for about 10 hours getting inprocessed and starting to learn about rotary wing aircraft. 

I know a lot of people don't know what a Flight Surgeon is, so hopefully I can explain it simply.  We are health care providers (Docs and PA's) that are specially trained to treat aviators.  All military aviators must be seen by a Flight Surgeon for all their health care.  From the people on the ground flying the unmanned aircraft by remote control, to the helicopter and fixed wing pilots and crew to the astronauts in NASA, they are all treated and evaluated by Flight Surgeons.  We are trained to know what medicine we can and cannot prescribe to them, how to correctly perform a flight physical examination.  In addition, we are also trained on how aircraft work, how they fly and how to fly them.  Of course, we're not out there flying them around, but it's important to get a basic understanding so that we can better understand what the aviators and crew are going through, thereby enabling us to take better care of them.  Since we will be part of the crew when we finish, flying with our units a minimum of 4 hours per month, we also must undergo some survival and crash training while here as well as learn how to use all the safety equipment, from our special uniforms to things that are on the aircraft.  That was a bit longwinded...but hopefully helpful. 

The Flight Surgeons Creed is posted on the wall as you walk into the classroom

The first few days of class were a combination of death-by-powerpoint slides and visual demonstration.  Here we were being taught about how the collective and cyclic change the angle of the rotor, thereby changing the attitude of the helicopter.  I learned a lot that I didn't know.  Note the video in the background of a helicopter crash...talk about motivation to learn.

 
About the 3rd day, we went out to the flight line to get another course and then crawl around on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.  Having been in an aviation brigade and having flown on MEDEVAC Blackhawks in Korea, I was already familiar with the aircraft, but I still had fun getting strapped in to the crew seat and it was the first time that I had ever sat at the controls.

We were taught how to shut off the fuel and shut down the helicopter in an emergency situation.  The cockpit has a lot of switches and buttons and can be very confusing to the unoriented.  Here's one of my classmates practicing shutting the switches off. 

Fort Rucker is where all Army helicopter pilots are taught to fly.  Here are some of the Blackhawks used to train students.  Like the "STUDENT DRIVER" sign that you had on your car when you were 15...these helicopters have orange doors although it's hard to see that in this picture.

Another one of my classmates.  This is Phil.  He's in his 60's and fought in the Vietnam War.  He's a PA now and was asked to help the 160th at Fort Campbell, KY.  The 160th is an elite Special Forces Helicopter group and they are known for "owning the night", so Phil was very honored to continue his service to his country and he is one of the funniest people in my class with lots of amazing stories from the Vietnam War.

The Flight Surgeon Course is run by the Army at USASAM (US Army School of Aviation Medicine) but it's an interservice course.  You can see an example of the diversity in my class.  We have Army, Coast Guard, Air Force, Department of Defense Civilians and even 2 officers from the Netherlands. 

 

We were all here learning how to make a "Dakota Hole" during one part of our survival training.  It's basically an underground fire so that you can cook on it, but you must connect an adjacent hole to supply oxygen.  We all watched the demonstration and then made our own and boiled water. 

We also got up every morning at 5am to do PT (physical training) so we were pretty tired by the end of the week since classes went to 5pm each day.  Five 12 hour days in a row will wear anybody down...so if you work hard...you must play hard!  We organized a trip over the long weekend (we had the next Monday off) and went to Mobile, Alabama for a big outdoor multi-day concert called Bayfest.  We invited everybody, but only about 8 of us wanted to go (essentially the younger crowd).  There was also a wine festival in Mobile that was on Saturday only, so we were going to go there first and then to Bayfest in the evening.

Friday night, still in the Fort Rucker area enjoying some Mexican food and margaritas the size of a human head.  Yum. 

We left Fort Rucker at around 10am on Saturday morning and headed south and west.  We had to go down to Florida first and then drive west on I-10.  It was a nice trip and a beautiful day until we came to a bridge where traffic was stopped  forever and it was hot...

Well, we ended up missing the wine festival because of the traffic, but that's okay.  We arrived in Mobile and checked into our hotel.  We stayed at the Battleship Inn which faces the USS Alabama, go figure!

We went out to eat and had some great seafood and steak.  We asked around about which bars to go to in downtown Mobile near Bayfest and somebody recommended this place called "The Garage". 

Here we are after dinner, ready to go out.  From left to right it's Jason, Wayne, Warren, Shirley, Cal, me and Tanya.  Cal and I were in Korea at the same time, he was the Brigade Surgeon for 1st Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division.  I was in Fires Brigade. 
 

Here's Cal at the Garage.  It was actually a garage that was made into a bar and wasn't really that cool.  We had a beer and then took off.   The highlight though, was that there was a toddler in the bar.  Alabama!

We took off and headed toward civilization.  On the way...I found my furniture store!

We stopped into another bar at around 2230 and it was great.  They had a live Jazz band that apparently thought they were a reggae band (although the saxophone player was great).  People bought us pitchers of beer because we were in the military, so that was cool.  Here's the bar...not sure what was up with the black and white.  We had several cameras going, so some were set to different settings just to mix it up.

There was a 2nd floor balcony where you could watch the drunk people below.  As the night went on, the streets filled up with the Bayfest people (we never made it there, haha) and it was pretty entertaining to watch.  Some views from the balcony.  I like the second picture...

Finally, we ended the night at a martini bar which, strangely, had some Jagermeister girls there handing out free T-shirts and free shots of Jagermeister.  The shirts said "Jagermeister and under it said 'Bayfest 2007'", haha, so we got the shirts even though we didn't go.  Here are the girls posing for a picture with us.  It turns out that one of the girls' mom is also a PA, so that was pretty cool and may have helped us get more free shots.  :)

 

After the martini bar, we were pretty trashed and grabbed a couple taxis to take us back to the hotel where we crashed out.  The next morning, we stopped at the Waffle House and ate a big fat breakfast before heading back to Rucker to study for our first exam and get ready for Week 2.  Thanks for reading!