Combat Lifesaver = Pain

So yesterday morning at an early hour, those of us who had been to RTC last month were rewarded by being taken out to this post's replica FOB. The purpose? We started the first of 4 days of the Combat Lifesaver Course (CLS). It's kind of like a compressed EMT school. Of course, we hadn't been warned that the course was being held out at the FOB, where there is no mess hall, so we had a very short window to make our way back to main post for lunch. But that was small potatoes compared to discovering the requirement to insert a nasal airway tube, and on day 3, to start an IV...and be stuck in the vein(s) by our fellow students. It has been difficult for experienced medics/nurses to draw blood from me, since my veins are very hard to find. Now this painful process will be made even worse... The nasal tube experience was also excruciating. The only high point of the day was a visit to our class from actress and author Mariel Hemingway, who was on post for a book signing. She was very gracious, signed photos for us, and even was the first to have the nasal tube inserted. I've enjoyed her films for 30 years, and she's a class act, to boot. Last night we were out until 10:30 p.m. doing the Humvee rollover simulator...again...More bruises. Leprechaun Out.