He who lives by the LOA dies by the LOA..

First, thanks to all of you who sent snail-mail. Also thanks all for the cookies and tea. The staff loves the cookies. They all drink coffee so the tea is all mine. I am set for life for tea. Really. Thanks. No kidding...no more tea...please...man, I have to pee..
Living on a military base, nae a NATO base requires the following of certain rules. Driving at 20kph is one example. Another is the fact that you don't leave "the house" without a least 4 forms of identification. Seriously. If you look at our pictures we all have these things hanging around our neck or hanging on our arms. I gave up the armband for the neck version. Just don't have the guns for it. They contain our KAF cards. ID for KAF. Our Dynacorp company ID. My new meal card so I can eat, possibly a CAC card. That card means you have passed a background check and can go to "special places." You also have your passport and shot record and, most importantly, copies of your LOA. Letter of Authorization. This tells you what you are entitled to. From food to transportation to medical care. Every time you want to do something someone wants to see your LOA. Mucho importante. If I have to take you to Role 3 hospital for medical treatment they check your LOA to make sure that you are eligible for care. Which leads me to my crisis of the night. Last night, just I was leaving a man came in with severe testicle pain. Gizmo ran up and said, Sir, there is a man out there just like me." Of course there is. Sure enough this poor man had bad pain in his testicle traveling up to his groin area. In this case your first concern is testicular torsion {I'll wait while you look that up on wikipedia} The way to rule this out is with an ultrasound. Where is the ultrasound? Yup, you guessed it, the role 3. I asked the gentleman for his LOA; turns out that he has applied but has not yet received his LOA. What's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, Shit. I gather his paperwork and drive down there to plead may case. No LOA, no treatment unless he's been shot. Bad ball not included. I wonder over to the urgent care part and find a Doc. I explain my situation to him and he agrees with my treatment so far. He says the testicle feels hot so it's getting blood and probably not a torsion. His last piece of advice,"ice his nuts." Ice his nuts, aye, sir. It is a Navy hospital, after all. I return to the clinic, start him on antibiotics, give him pain pills and
break out the ice packs. He leaves with stern orders to return in the morning and to call me if things get worse. If it becomes an emergency then I'll figure some way of getting an ultrasound.
He returns later the next morning feeling much better. The magic of the tablets. And ice pack. I am able to do a better exam and diagnose epididymitis. Treatable with antibiotics. Ladies, you may have more complex plumbing, but sometimes it sucks to be a boy...

My ID card holder. The LOA is tucked into one of the pockets
There is a new challenge coin in the middle. One of the FOB medics gave that to me.