Upcoming deployment
September 9, 2010
I don't recall if I had mentioned it before, but for the past year I have been volunteering to deploy. In the Dental Corps it is not as easy as you would think for a specialist. I had had several opportunities that came up beginning in March 2010, but they kept falling through as the troop draw down was beginning. After the last one was canceled back in April I was able to get a spot with the 2nd rotation of dentists with one of our dental companies (257th out of Ft. Bragg) for November. They will be going to both Iraq and Afghanistan - I will be in Iraq (don't know where). My family and I have been planning for that - not much to do other than to begin some of the transitional things - bills, bank accounts, etc... Last week the time table was moved up by a few weeks, we will now be leaving the end of October (6 weeks away).
One of my other friends here in the clinic - MAJ Ben Ross our Prosthodontist also recently volunteered to go, as well as one of our newer dentists - CPT Taeme. So the 3 of us will be leaving together. We currently have one dentist deployed (returning in January) - so for a few months our clinic will be short 4 dentists. We have 9 1/2 dentists normally (7 1/2 military docs), so it will be a big change. You may wonder how we have a 1/2 dentist - she is our Periodontist, and she is at Ft. Belvoir 3 days and Walter Reed 2 days.
Fortunately there is the ADDP program available so that patients can be sent off base to civilian dentists for authorized treatment. Therefore patient are still receiving timely care.
We just got our 1st phase of preperatory things we need to get done, still don't have orders or the additional things we need to do. So I will be starting to blog more and more about the deployment as the time gets closer.
Caleb
Sep 8, 2010 8:52 AM