Adrenalin

Firing RPG's at the Heavy Weapons Range

Amended....

Not sure if any of you know why I decided to leave the job, some do, but here it is.
I still loved the job, but there was nothing else I wanted to do at WPD. My time was up. I used to see guys bitching about this and that, although I was elsewhere for about six years, so I didn't have to put up with the day to day buffoonery, I was still there more than I had to be. And I enjoyed it. Had a good career and worked with some fantastic people. So I had to exit, stage left and make room for others.
But the bigger reason was this. When I used to go on raids, SWAT or drug or anything else, I always got the rush, that adrenalin rush that cops get and look forward to, when you go through the door, (first, last, it doesn’t matter). I’m sure street Cops get it when they go into that great unknown of stopping a car in the middle of the night, (if you don’t your lying or you should re-evaluate). Most dangerous job in LE, the front line officer, I mean SWAT you’re geared up for it, any other specialized unit too, that’s what you’re trained for, right?

But the rush….

Acceleration of heart and lung action
Paling or flushing, or alternating between both
Inhibition of stomach and upper-intestinal action (digestion slows down or stops)
General effect on the sphincter
Constriction of blood vessels in many parts of the body
Liberation of nutrients for muscular action
Dilation of blood vessels for muscles
Inhibition of lacrimal gland (responsible for tear production) and salivation
Dilation of pupil
Relaxation of bladder
Evacuation of colon
Inhibition of erection
Auditory Exclusion (loss of hearing)
Tunnel Vision (loss of peripheral vision)
Acceleration of instantaneous reflexes

That’s the clinical definition, but you know what I’m getting at.

It wasn’t that we had a ton of SWAT call outs, (WPD Operators, you know what I’m talking about), but when you spend pretty much your whole career wearing black, you’re bound to go on some call outs. Drug raids however, well, I lost count. Towards the end after about three or four years with SOG and six years with HIDTA, my heart rate started staying the same, unless there were stairs. I started thinking that maybe that wasn’t a good thing. I was maybe getting complacent and that’s not good. Bomb calls, yes, but there just weren’t that many. Always got it when we were under a 900 ft ship though, but then they stopped calling.
Oh well. So that’s why I decided to leave, wanted to find the next thing. But you know what? Couldn’t find it. Not that I didn’t try, but there just isn’t a big calling for what I wanted in RI. So after a year of learning about the dark side of RI politics, I flew 7000 miles from home to get that rush again,(uh oh, sounds like an addiction). That might explain the whole jumping out of a perfectly good airplane all those years ago, (right Dave?)

Every time we leave the wire here, ( leave to FOB), there’s that rush, it doesn’t last the whole trip, but certain things you see or hear, perk you up. So, if any of you junkies over there are missing something, there’s plenty of work in this vast wonderland called Afghanistan.

Hey, do you know the difference between a fairy tale and a war story?
a fairy tale starts with "once upon a time" and a war story starts with
"no shit, there I was"

See ya