Pour A-1 Sauce on Carrot Cake for Accountability

By Dr. Jose Peralta

As I finish packing my last bag to leave Theater, I reflect on my time here, four months that looked like forever but were gone in a blink of an eye. It has been a tremendous honor to have deployed with such highly educated, motivated people that many make fun of as “weekend warriors.”

Our group of Providers: A trauma surgeon head of the Trauma Department at a Level 1 Hospital in a major metropolitan city, I’ll abbreviate as DM. An orthopedic surgeon who trained at Johns Hopkins — DH. An anesthesiologist who’s a senior partner at a large group in the Midwest — GF. An interventional radiologist who does complex surgeries — HL. An active-duty emergency room physician at a large army hospital — JS. A 30 plus year critical care physician — JM; and a board-certified pharmacist with a doctorate — TW; and me, a dentist.

These “weekend warriors” leave their hectic lives to put on an M-9 and travel into a combat zone. They leave their family, friends and comfortable lives in the name of freedom, God and country.

So, what does A-1 sauce on carrot cake have to do with accountability? We’ll get to that. These weekend warriors are a different breed of people. They are outstanding, hilarious and highly competitive in their professions. They do not tolerate mediocrity and demand excellence from those around them. Yet, the amount of banter and “F” bombs thrown at the DFAC (dining facility) is like teenagers in a locker room until it gets real.

For example, we are having dinner, and the trauma surgeon, DM, calls the anesthesiologist, GF, and says, “we’re up.” GF’s face went into a walking-out-of-the-tunnel look. Seconds later, the pagers go off, everyone else’s face also changes, and everyone gets up, dumps their full trays, and walks out in double time to the hos- pital. So what happened? Gunshot wound to the abdomen; the patient is critical and is being medivacked in, and all hands on deck are needed to save a life.

Where does the dentist fit in? At the time, I was the only dentist in Theater covering two countries. I had the chance to see and do facial traumas and significant infections, as well as bread and butter dentistry like routine exams, fillings and extractions. My assistant, a tough, quiet kid from Compton (KC) and I go on missions to different locations in Theater with our equipment and do our jobs. On a trip set for Friday, our destination was missile attacked three days prior. They approached us and said “the area is hot, we have to adjust, and we will Humvee you in the last leg. Are y’all OK with that?” I look at KC and give him the nod, meaning, “what do you think?” He looks at me, pauses for two seconds, and says, “Let’s roll.” They look at me for a final decision. I paused longer than two seconds to think of the magnitude of the situation, asked a question to which I liked the answer, and replied, “I guess we’re rolling.” l Are you only taking continuing education for dental, or are you incorporating classes in medicine like traumatic combat casualty care (TCCC)? It is given to civilians. How many suture techniques do you know how to do? l Who is in your circle of friends or family holding you accountable for your goals, dreams and aspirations?

As I share that story with my wife, I can feel her getting angry, and she says, “Please tell me you said NO.” As it seemed to happen, the mission was moved to another day for other reasons. They could not guarantee an exact date of our return, and it was too close to my departure from Theater to come home, so I didn’t go, but I set it up for the next dentist who was replacing me — a dentist with 17 years of Army experience. As I explained to him the mission, he looked at me and said, “cool,” with a smirk.

In my previous articles (to view the Nov/Dec 2016 article, go to bit.ly/3IW5fOy; to view the Jan/Feb 2017 article, go to bit.ly/3iJc3Ei) I wrote about what I have learned in the Army that I carry into civilian life professionally; in this one, I want to add what I’ve learned personally.

Let me explain about the A-1 sauce. I have had a stubborn 10 pounds that I can’t seem to lose, or better said, I keep running into carrot cake that won’t let me get there. I also tried to lose inches off the waist and add muscle to this old body. While having a piece of carrot cake in the chow hall, pharmacist TW walks by and pours A-1 sauce all over it. I looked at him with a “what the heck” look. He looked at me and said, “You can thank me another day when you reach your goal.”

What kind of person has the soldier mentality/drive?

Let me give you an example of this mindset. It’s 1800 (6 p.m.), we’re having dinner, and we just found out that there is an award that was going to be given if you completed a 40-kilometer (24-mile) ruck march in two sessions of 12 miles, each in two days. We agreed it was something we could do, so in conversation, it was asked when we would start. Long story short, I was outvoted to start at 1900 (7 p.m.) that night! I’m thinking they had lost their minds, that’s just shy of two half-marathons. The next day we’d start at 4 a.m. and knock it out early because Sunday is a pancake breakfast morning. Younger soldiers see that two older ones have said yes, so they up the ante and say, “Well, I’m doing this in boots,” and another says, “Well, I’ll add more weight.” This one-up level of competitiveness is way too common in everyday soldier mentality.

What started as a conversation at 6 p.m. was finished in two sets of 12 miles of three hours each and completed in one night, not two days. After finishing that night’s 12 miles in under three hours, I went to my combat housing unit to pack everything for the following day, set the alarm for 0340 for the 0400 start, and took four ibuprofin. We finished the next 12 miles at 7 a.m. The number of pancakes with syrup, butter and berries we ate that Sunday was impressive. I lost a toenail in my left foot but gained admiration for what can be achieved when you surround yourself with lunatics — I mean, highly motivated people.

The question still stands: Who in your circle of friends or family will push you to achieve your goals, dreams and aspirations? Who is willing to pour A-1 sauce on your carrot cake when you fall off the wagon or take the wrong path? Next time you see a reservist, be very careful to call him or her a “weekend warrior.” They might be the most motivated, educated athlete you’ll ever meet.

As I finish the last part of this article, bags have been loaded, customs have cleared us, and we will board an Air Force plane to take us out of Theater.

Do you have what it takes to do this? Are you willing to leave family, friends and comforts to volunteer and put the uniform on and trust that the person next to you on your right or left, male or female, young or old, who has signed a blank check to Uncle Sam with a total amounting up to life in the name of freedom, God and country? If you do … #ArmyReserve.

By the way, I lost 12 pounds, all my clothes are too loose on me and I have hit a personal best in almost every weight exercise I do. I did say thank you to TW.