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It didn’t seem real until that nighttime helicopter ride. Lights out, machine guns up, and skimming a mere 50 feet over rooftops at over 150 miles per hour. We were en route to the Combat Support Hospital (CSH) located in Baghdad at the frontline of the Global War on Terror. That is when we came to the full realization that we were joining a long line of neurologists going to war with U.S. forces that stretches back at least to Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, who joined the Union Army during the Civil War. In 2005, it was our turn—one of us in the spring (figure 1) and the other in the fall (figure 2).
Figure 1. COL Maher checking results in the CSH clinical lab.
Figure 2. The Neuro team in full battle rattle outside the 86th CSH front entrance in Baghdad, Iraq. (From left to right) COL Geoffrey Ling (neurology and critical care) and COL James Ecklund (neurosurgery).
Why send neurologists to war? Simply, neurologic disease is found everywhere, including the modern battlefield of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Among severe battle injuries, head wounds lead. Even among non–battle-related injuries, neurologic causes are common. Headache, seizure, neuropathy, alteration in mental status, and back pain are as frequent in this community as elsewhere.
It began with a phone call—one that put the rest of our lives on hold. With a couple weeks’ notice, we had barely enough time to find clinical coverage, cancel appointments, and hug our families. Our odyssey officially began at the Continental United States Replacement Center or CRC. Here, we were issued three duffle bags full of equipment. Notably, we each got weapons—typically a 9-mm pistol and/or M-16 plus full “battle rattle”: a helmet, armored vest with ceramic plates, holster, and the other accoutrements of the properly attired …
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