Q&A Series/ Sickness in Combat Question from Michael Manscill: While you and your team is out on operations and time is critical, how does your team handle sickness? SEALs seem almost super human, but I wonder if your team has ways of warding off the typical illness that befall most people that keeps us from performing optimally, or if when it hits you guys, there are measures you can take to push past the illness easier so that your attention is all on the mission and not the flu or cold that has potentially befallen you? Any personal story that sticks out in your mind where you were dealing with some illness but you pushed past it to complete the mission objective? My Answer: There is no crying in baseball, and there is no getting sick in combat! I wish it were true. We suffer the same ills like everyone else. That said, we have worked through events like Hellweek and others that teach you that your body can push much farther than you think. I also feel that the human body almost has an internal or psychological understanding of needs and protects us against colds, flu and other ailments so we can do our job. Now the body cant hold out indefinitely, but I have a sense that it knows when to push and when to shut down. I have had buddies get sick to the point that we needed to bench them for a few missions or days. That often happens when we are in a part of the world where you need to watch what you eat or drink for fear of getting a case of some very nasty stomach issues. That is the worst I ever experienced overseas. I do remember a specific trip I took to Quito, Ecuador for an advance scout of a training mission we had planned in the area. I was on my own, which is very rare, and I ate out on the town that night and like a rookie, drank something with local ice. The sickness that erupted that night and into the next day may be the closest to death I have ever felt. It was unbelievable. I had to call in an SF (Green Beret) medic to my hotel and he almost rushed me to the hospital. I was in bad shape. Now, there are all sorts of ways to purify water on the road and I recommend having a couple when on foreign soil. Onward. RTD
Posted on: Wed, 16 Jul 2014 20:10:30 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015