Daddy out in the Field

Lee’s residency program has sent him away for the next two weeks to play “Doctor in the Field”.  There is a training exercise set up at Ft. Polk, LA to give troops (mostly reserves for their 2 weeks a year) some practice in how life would be in a deployed situation.  In full uniform, including BCGs (birth control glasses, they are that ugly), he is barely recognizable.

                                                               

They are pretty serious about the whole thing.  They issue him a weapon and say that if he strays from the compound he will be captured by the enemy.  To me it sounds like a bunch of boy scouts who want to get together and camp.  There are about 300 men, and the compound is about a 1/2 mile perimeter.

So, we call in a “Clinic in a Box”.  They set up their tent, and began pulling things out of boxes.  The chair is fully collapsible, along with every other piece of optometry equipment.  They have a full and complete set up here where they can give full exams, including dilation, and even make their glasses and have them finished while they wait.  Pretty astounding.  And since most of these men are reserves, they probably don’t have another chance to get a free eye exam.  Lee says that he is very busy.

 

 

There is one main sleeping tent, but there was no room there for the optometry staff (5 men), so they are sleeping in their exam tent and vehicles.  Most nights everyone else opts for the vehicles and Lee has the tent to himself and the phoropter.  (That sounds like a dinosaur, but really it is the big thing they use to read your prescription.)

We are missing him, and him us, but we get to text and call, so it is alright so far.  Two more weeks to go….

 

Oh, and the picture of Darian is just because he is so darn cute.