FMF

Last night I was in a tent with 2 other Navy officers sitting across the table from 3 FMF board members getting drilled for nearly 2 hours on all aspects of the Marine Corps. Why you ask? It was the final step for me to get my Fleet Marine Force (FMF) designator pin. You want to know who the first Marine Corps pilot was, I got your answer. You need to know the date and birthplace of the Marine Corps, no problem. Who is the 13th commandant of the Marine Corps, lets just say there is a camp on the East Coast named after him. You having trouble with your SALUTE reports or or SMEAC orders, I got your back. Maybe you need to know the distance the M16 is accurate to for a point target, 550 meters, that was easy!

Anyhow, I had already done the physical fitness test and the hump with a loaded ruck sack so this was the acme of the program and.............I passed. Yeah me! Three of us entered, but only two survived. Now the commanding general signs the order and I get to wear a shinny pin on my chest and have yet one more thing on my uniform that can catch on the seat belt.

The real reward is that I get to throw away all the notes and now concentrate on pleasure reading and videos. Maybe a little patient care.

I included a picture of the main hallway of a tent hospital behind the British hospital. This tent hospital seems to go on forever. At each junction between the subsequent tents in series (in line) there are 2 tents that jut out to each side to form different wards (lab, radiology, surgical, ICU....). It occupies a good piece of realestate. It serves two purposes. If something happened to the current hospital the they could theoretically move resorces into the tent hospital. It also serves as an overflow in case business picks up with operational tempo.

Tired of pictures of me yet? Or maybe you do not see me, I am camouflaged.