The Cloud of Mosquitoes
Remembering...
After the ten day block leave (including travel time), I flew to Gulfport, MS in order to get back to Camp Shelby. My connecting flight was through Dallas. When I arrived in Gulfport I began to see all the familiar military. I had mixed feelings, but for the most part it was good and within moments I gladly resumed my role as their chaplain. I greeted the soldiers warmly and asked many about their time away. Some shared stories of packed itineraries taking off with their families to various destinations. Others told me how it was good to spend down time just lying around and catching up on rest. After waiting for a while, we were told it would be another hour or so until a van arrived to pick us up. One sergeant apparently met a Navy serviceman who was willing to offer rides in his pickup truck. “Over here, chaplain. We have a seat for you.” So, I schlepped two heavily packed duffle bags, a hand bag, a rucksack, a laptop case, and a “ditty” bag over to where his pickup was parked. I had the most baggage. (As we prepared to leave Shelby we were instructed to “take everything” with us. I left a locked trunk behind, but still carried most of my equipment back to PA. I initially went down with far more than I needed and then the Army kept issuing things that weren’t really needed for the deployment and finally issued some of the things there were.)
When I first arrived at Camp Shelby back in April, I was initially assigned to the Replacement Unit until those of us just reporting in were processed and received “Go’s” on our Common Task Training Stations--CTT (Everything from calling in Medevac to throwing grenades.) Eventually, I was assigned temporary quarters, but when I went to look over the situation what I found was an overcrowded barracks at an even more desolate end of the camp. I decided to go back and squat at the Replacement Unit officer’s barracks until someone decided to kick me out. For a number of days I was being hounded by some SSG to get packed and going. My reply was that I there wasn’t any room for me in my regular unit housing. (This was accurate according to my intelligence!) Eventually, they completely forgot that I was there to the point when I went to check out they couldn’t find any record of me even being there…) So, when block leave was over and it was time to go back to our assigned barracks, I went back to the Replacement Unit where I was very comfortable. Yes, my housing was non-air conditioned and over a half mile away on foot in the sweltering Mississippi heat, but it was pleasant, quiet and comfortable until…
One morning I woke up with what I thought was a pimple on face. I didn’t pay it any heed and just noted that I had a small break out. The next afternoon I decided that it was time for a mid afternoon nap. Naps are hard to avoid when the weather is so oppressive. So I took my shirt off, took book in hand and lie down on the wrinkled and damp sheets to enjoy my down time. Grogginess had its way with me within minutes and I was drifting away until I felt bites on my chest and arm. I made note of the problem and covered myself with a sheet for the rest of the nap. I reported back to the unit in the late afternoon, had dinner and came back to the barracks in the dark. I put some repellent on and hit the sack. The next thing I remember was grabbing my pillow and trekking the half mile back to the chapel and lying on a van bench. I thought I was safe in the air-conditioned chapel, but I made the mistake of lying down right under a window that was cracked open for ventilation. The nasty blood suckers attacked me here too. (Before I left on block leave there hadn’t been one mosquito. I was rather amazed because the lush environment is perfect for mosquitoes. They must have hatched while I was on block leave.)
The next day I decided to do some research on the little miscreants. According to the latest science, it is true that mosquitoes prefer some individuals over others. Researchers have found that there are some compounds in our blood that is attractive to mosquitoes. The compound apparently has to do with cholesterol regulation. Also, mosquitoes find humans by the carbon dioxide that we give off during respiration. Some mosquitoes can sense a human target for a blood meal as far as forty miles away!
The next few nights I used the Army’s permetherin spray all over my van bench and applied the standard repellant and made sure the chapel window was closed. Some soldiers were curious why I was sleeping in our make-shift chapel. I told them that it wasn’t because I was trying to become more holy, I was run out of my barracks by the cloud of mosquitoes. As a child I had be terrorized by the little SOB's. In Greece we would buy several coils of "Katol" and burn them around me at nightime as if I were at my own funeral. I would wake up at night or the next morning finding out that no one else in my family was afflicted. I'd walk around with big welts from the reaction that my body had to their feasts. I'd scratch until bleeding. I'd put on salves and creams and ointments. As an adult, I've learned to ignore them and restrain my self as much as possible. At Shelby some soldiers commiserated showing me their itchy bumps and scratches. God even connects us through the sharing of our minor miseries.
After the ten day block leave (including travel time), I flew to Gulfport, MS in order to get back to Camp Shelby. My connecting flight was through Dallas. When I arrived in Gulfport I began to see all the familiar military. I had mixed feelings, but for the most part it was good and within moments I gladly resumed my role as their chaplain. I greeted the soldiers warmly and asked many about their time away. Some shared stories of packed itineraries taking off with their families to various destinations. Others told me how it was good to spend down time just lying around and catching up on rest. After waiting for a while, we were told it would be another hour or so until a van arrived to pick us up. One sergeant apparently met a Navy serviceman who was willing to offer rides in his pickup truck. “Over here, chaplain. We have a seat for you.” So, I schlepped two heavily packed duffle bags, a hand bag, a rucksack, a laptop case, and a “ditty” bag over to where his pickup was parked. I had the most baggage. (As we prepared to leave Shelby we were instructed to “take everything” with us. I left a locked trunk behind, but still carried most of my equipment back to PA. I initially went down with far more than I needed and then the Army kept issuing things that weren’t really needed for the deployment and finally issued some of the things there were.)
When I first arrived at Camp Shelby back in April, I was initially assigned to the Replacement Unit until those of us just reporting in were processed and received “Go’s” on our Common Task Training Stations--CTT (Everything from calling in Medevac to throwing grenades.) Eventually, I was assigned temporary quarters, but when I went to look over the situation what I found was an overcrowded barracks at an even more desolate end of the camp. I decided to go back and squat at the Replacement Unit officer’s barracks until someone decided to kick me out. For a number of days I was being hounded by some SSG to get packed and going. My reply was that I there wasn’t any room for me in my regular unit housing. (This was accurate according to my intelligence!) Eventually, they completely forgot that I was there to the point when I went to check out they couldn’t find any record of me even being there…) So, when block leave was over and it was time to go back to our assigned barracks, I went back to the Replacement Unit where I was very comfortable. Yes, my housing was non-air conditioned and over a half mile away on foot in the sweltering Mississippi heat, but it was pleasant, quiet and comfortable until…
One morning I woke up with what I thought was a pimple on face. I didn’t pay it any heed and just noted that I had a small break out. The next afternoon I decided that it was time for a mid afternoon nap. Naps are hard to avoid when the weather is so oppressive. So I took my shirt off, took book in hand and lie down on the wrinkled and damp sheets to enjoy my down time. Grogginess had its way with me within minutes and I was drifting away until I felt bites on my chest and arm. I made note of the problem and covered myself with a sheet for the rest of the nap. I reported back to the unit in the late afternoon, had dinner and came back to the barracks in the dark. I put some repellent on and hit the sack. The next thing I remember was grabbing my pillow and trekking the half mile back to the chapel and lying on a van bench. I thought I was safe in the air-conditioned chapel, but I made the mistake of lying down right under a window that was cracked open for ventilation. The nasty blood suckers attacked me here too. (Before I left on block leave there hadn’t been one mosquito. I was rather amazed because the lush environment is perfect for mosquitoes. They must have hatched while I was on block leave.)
The next day I decided to do some research on the little miscreants. According to the latest science, it is true that mosquitoes prefer some individuals over others. Researchers have found that there are some compounds in our blood that is attractive to mosquitoes. The compound apparently has to do with cholesterol regulation. Also, mosquitoes find humans by the carbon dioxide that we give off during respiration. Some mosquitoes can sense a human target for a blood meal as far as forty miles away!
The next few nights I used the Army’s permetherin spray all over my van bench and applied the standard repellant and made sure the chapel window was closed. Some soldiers were curious why I was sleeping in our make-shift chapel. I told them that it wasn’t because I was trying to become more holy, I was run out of my barracks by the cloud of mosquitoes. As a child I had be terrorized by the little SOB's. In Greece we would buy several coils of "Katol" and burn them around me at nightime as if I were at my own funeral. I would wake up at night or the next morning finding out that no one else in my family was afflicted. I'd walk around with big welts from the reaction that my body had to their feasts. I'd scratch until bleeding. I'd put on salves and creams and ointments. As an adult, I've learned to ignore them and restrain my self as much as possible. At Shelby some soldiers commiserated showing me their itchy bumps and scratches. God even connects us through the sharing of our minor miseries.
posted by Chaplain (CPT) Fokas at 4:28 AM
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