Reid Kincaid: Bear Whisperer, Alaskan Medicine Man and Army Doc

Where did you grow up? And what were your childhood premonitions regarding your future occupation? How old are you now?

I grew up a military brat. My father was career air force, ultimately retiring after almost 40 years on active duty. I grew up moving a lot and always really enjoyed it. Every move was a fresh start and a new place.

I always thought I would be a veterinarian, but switched a few times as an adult. I ultimately settled on becoming a PA because it appealed to my sense of the importance of service. It was also very practical and an important type of work for living in the rural settings my family prefers.

I am 39 now with two children.

Tell us about joining the Peace Corps. Where did you envision serving and where did you end up?

I had just graduated from my undergraduate program in English when my wife and I joined the Peace Corps. It was my first full time job after graduation, but something my wife and I had wanted to do since early high school (it was one of the things we first had in common actually). It took a year to line up a Peace Corps assignment for us both as a couple, during which time I worked full time on my first published book. We envisioned going to Africa, which I suppose is the image most people have when they talk about the Peace Corps. I had only one requirement, that I wouldn’t teach. We ended up going to Poland as teachers. Go figure. Despite that, it was a wonderful, exciting, meaningful experience and I wouldn’t trade it or change it. It remains a profoundly influential experience in our life.

What forces or factors influenced your decision to change career paths and enter the medical field? Why PA over MD?

I didn’t entertain medical school except to initially research the basic differences between a PA education and practice and that of an MD. I entered medicine specifically to work in rural medicine and found that a PA education would provide me with all the autonomy and privileges I needed for professional satisfaction with one half the additional time in school and with none of the prolonged specialty training. Since I wanted to be a generalist in rural practice, medical school did not offer me enough additional training to warrant the additional investment in time or money. Having now practiced rural medicine for almost ten years, I believe my original impression has proved correct.

Tell us about that first job in Alaska as a PA. What were the logistical challenges to living and working on the island?

My first job in Alaska was the PA on Shishmaref Island in the Chukchi Sea. I was employed by the native health corporation who ran the clinic there. Unfortunately, the house we were to live in was heavily damaged in the 1997 beach erosion on that island and we had a job but no housing. Housing is very limited in many small isolated Alaskan communities, and Shishmaref was no exception. Without good housing options on the island, we had to look for other employment options. We eventually accepted a position in Metlakatla Alaska, the only recognized American Indian Reservation in Alaska. It is located in the panhandle of the state, 11 miles from the southernmost Canadian border. It is the only community on Annette Island, 11 air miles from Ketchikan Alaska (also on an island). We loved living and working there. Our house looked out on Purple Mountain, a large rounded mountain which turned purple in the sunset. It was truly a cross cultural experience and we had many friends and acquaintances in the community. Some of our closest adult friendships came out of our time there. The population was several thousand when we arrived, falling to under a thousand before we left (after the communities primary employer, the lumber mill, had closed). My children learned some of the local native dances, we had a boat to take ourselves to town or fish during nice weather, and we lived two houses down from the clinic. I was on call a lot, and patients would sometimes stop by and knock on the door after hours rather than have me paged, but it was a unique and familiar way to live. I could leave for work at 8AM and still be on time at 8AM.

The logistical challenges to living on the island was the lack of ground transportation. We could take a state ferry to Ketchikan once a week, or fly by float plane to Ketchikan. We could then catch Alaska Airlines flights from Ketchikan to Seattle or Anchorage. Trips to the East Coast and our families usually took 24 to 36 hours, depending on connections. We would occasionally be stranded by weather in Ketchikan (once for an entire week), so leaving the island in the winter meant keeping a very flexible schedule. Most people go their entire lives without flying in a float plane, and we took thousands of flights over six years across some of the most beautiful coastline in America. Going “out on the town” for us meant flying to Ketchikan for a couple days of shopping and dining out, as we had no restaurants and very limited grocery shopping on the island. Once a year one of us would fly to Seattle and rent a van to do major shopping. We would buy things that we couldn’t get in Ketchikan (electronic parts, computer supplies), bulk dried food and household supplies (popcorn seed by the bag, laundry soap by the tub) or things that were just too expensive locally (light bulbs, charcoal). We would send that up on a barge that would arrive in Metlakatla a few weeks later and last us for the year.

Was the experience in AK your major inspiration for your first book?

I had actually completed my first draft of the book prior to moving to Alaska. I was inspired to write the book during an undergraduate technical writing course when I was researching edible plants for a report. I enjoyed the topic so much I began researching the broader area of survival skills in general. This led to the initial draft written during our year of waiting around for a Peace Corps assignment. By the time I arrived in Alaska I had become a PA and subsequently added the comprehensive survival medicine section of the book, plus additional chapters and sections on survival skills. By waiting a few years between writing the initial draft and the final draft I was able to bring a lot of good personal experience and training to the project and, I believe, created a far better book as a result.

Can you describe your encounter with a bear when you left something important on your boat?

The bear encounter you speak of involved a trip we made to Alaska’s Annan Bear Preserve in Southeast Alaska in 1999. We flew by floatplane from Metlakatla to Ketchikan to Wrangle and finally to the Annan Bear Observatory. We had rented a USFS cabin on the island for several days. It’s a really wonderful place to visit during salmon spawning, as there are bears everywhere, all have migrated to the large salmon spawning streams for the salmon run. The observatory is a really well placed platform on a bluff overlooking one of the streams where you can look down on the bears as they fish. There are dozens of bears there at any given time, including cubs, and it really is the most incredible sight. To get to the platform you have to register with a park ranger, who calls ahead to the park ranger at the platform letting him know you are coming (all the better to notice if you’re missing). Each park ranger has a shotgun and radio. The trail to the observatory is a couple miles long, winding through the woods, along the coast, and up the river. It is a pleasant and gradual slope upwards. We knew we’d be walking through the woods in bear country so had specifically packed a hand gun and bear spray. About halfway to the observatory we saw a female black bear up ahead of us standing right on the trail. We stopped to watch and wait for her to move on.

She did not move on, but eventually noticed us and began walking towards us. We made all kinds of noise so she would know we were human, but she kept walking towards us. We began backing away but still she came on. She followed us up the trail for a good ten minutes, stopping and sniffing at us and growling. At one point we crossed a small bridge and thought we had left her, only to see her splashing across the stream to cut us off. I pulled out our bear spray and dug for the gun, only to realize we’d left it back at the cabin. Several times the bear charged us, coming to stop only ten or fifteen feet away in a cloud of dust.

Eventually, and for some reason we don’t understand, she wandered off and left us alone. The ranger eventually came to find us, as we had not made it to the observatory as expected. I really thought we were destined to be munchies for that bear, and all because I’d left the gun in the cabin. If I’d had it I’m sure I’d have used it.

Given the title of your book,The Extreme Survival Almanac, has there ever been an instant when you thought the moment of your death was upon you?

I’ve had several events when I thought I might have reached the moment of my death, most of them in Iraq. The several that have occurred in the wilds always involved mechanical problems a long way from help or civilization and did give me a sense of what would be good to know before during and after such an event. I used those experiences, plus many gleaned from other sources (personal interviews, survival literature, and academic resources) for developing the scope and content of The Extreme Survival Almanac.

How did you pitch your book to your publishers? What was their initial reaction?

I’m very type A about my technical writing, so I have really worked hard to have a finely polished manuscript, ready to publish. I pitched my book by submitting a standard proposal with sample chapters, including an outline. Paladin responded within three days with a request for the whole manuscript. From there it was just a matter of editing in cooperation with Paladin to prepare it for publication, a process which took about a year.

Did the tradition of serving in the military begin with your father or grandfather? Had you ever felt envious of their experiences in any way?

The tradition of serving in the military began with my grandfather, who was in the Army, although I cannot correctly say that it is a tradition. We were never encouraged or discouraged from joining the military. It is a career choice that has served both my family and my wife’s family well and elevated both branches of the family from poverty to affluence. It has come to be a tradition simply because recurrent generations have chosen, for very different reasons, to serve. For some it has been simply economic, for others a form of public service. My father is a retired Air Force Colonel who spent 40 years working his way up from private. He served all over during his career, including service and receipt of a bronze star during the Vietnam war. My brother spent ten years in the air force before becoming an Army officer practicing law. He earned a bronze star in Iraq in 2006. I never felt envious of their experiences as my father worked in aircraft maintenance and my brother in aircraft maintenance and then law. None of these professions interested me.

Describe your decision to join of the Army Reserves. Did your disposition towards service change after September 11th 2001?

I have never served in the active duty military except when I was mobilized to Iraq in 2003 as a battalion medical officer for an engineering battalion in Operation Enduring Freedom II. I joined the military strictly out of a conviction that military service is both an obligation and a form of service and not for economic reasons. I did not wish to join the active duty military but simply wanted to make my skills available if needed. The reserves were perfect for me, as it allowed me to continue with my chosen profession and lifestyle until I was needed and not before. I joined the Army Reserve well over a year before September 11, 2001. I joined the military after completing my education and settling down in one place for the first time in my adult life. I had considered it for some years as a personal responsibility, but was not in a position to do so until early 2000. I joined the Army because the Army needs medical personnel like the air force needs mechanics. If I was called to duty I wanted to be sure it was because I was truly needed, and felt that was most likely in the service most in need of my skills.

My stance before, during, and since 911 remains unchanged: we as individuals have a duty to serve our country in a significant way in exchange for the incredible bounty and opportunity in which we live. I’ve traveled enough to know what I have. My children share that bounty because others pay the price to keep it available. History would suggest that the loss of any sense of responsibility for the affluence of our lives in this country does not bode well for our future.

There are many valid ways to serve, but you cannot serve incidentally. And even those who serve regularly and with great dedication but without military service should be willing to acknowledge the unique risk taken by those who choose to defend (regardless of why they chose to defend). It’s a lesson I hope Americans learned after Vietnam. I think the general American population did, for the most part, learn that lesson, but I’m not so sure about the political left (of which I am proudly a part). In a democracy, you don’t get to blame the government for bad political decisions (particularly when you elect that government twice). Ultimately the population bears the moral responsibility for the performance of its government. Many Americans still find it easier to hold the military responsible for choices made by the voting public, either by not voting, voting in favor of wars they would never be willing to fight themselves, or by voting against war but risking nothing to help end the war early.

Can you provide a window into your psyche prior to leaving for Iraq. How did this effect your family?

I joined [the Army Reserves] to serve my country if needed. Clearly I was needed once America made the decision to go to war, but I did not choose to join knowing I would be deployed. It was and is always a risk of course, but for me the decision was always clear cut as a medical provider. There is never a moral conflict in providing medical care during wartime, even during a war in which I strongly disagree, and the uniqueness of my skill set carries with it an added responsibility during wartime - to ensure that our soldiers are not left begging for the people needed to bring them home. We owe it to our soldiers to provide them the best chance of coming home alive and healthy, particularly if we have been careless enough to send them off to an unjust war. It is our responsibility as voters and as the decision makers for war that we maximize the chance that our defenders come home safely. My family has paid a very high price for my service, and I’m not convinced most Americans give a damn one way or another, but of all the things I have done or tried to do with my life, I am most proud of my service in Iraq.

As a Physician Assistant, in what capacity were you utilized during the beginning of your service? Did your role evolve over time or stay the same?

I was deployed as a battalion medical officer but my role evolved significantly once I arrived in Iraq. I was always the primary medical provider for my battalion, responsible for all premobilization and mobilization healthcare and health management. I did take on additional responsibilities during my tour by acting as medical officer for an additional engineering battalion and as a medical provider for a level two field clinic collocated with my battalion. Job descriptions don’t always reflect a persons strengths or weaknesses. I found that soldiers ultimately judge you not by your rank or college degree but by how well you do your job both as a soldier and as a professional. I can’t say I was treated like or unlike other medical providers, only that I tried to be the best field medical provider I could be and that had nothing to do with my job description, my rank, or my professional certification. I considered good soldiering to be secondary to my mission as a medical provider, but I did try to do both well.

Did you ever see combat in the field or did you mostly see the results of combat?

I did not see any direct combat as I was located in a military semipermanent camp. I performed numerous convoys in support of both medical and non medical missions, and was subject to both direct and indirect small arms and aerial projectile fire, but was not a direct combatant. My work involved direct combat medicine and standard field care for combatants and noncombatants, civilian and military, contractor and soldier. During my experience, most casualties were from roadside bombs.

We have been spoon fed news about this war through an unreliable press. What are your thoughts on the media's portrayal of Iraq?

I believe the news media has consistently failed to illustrate anything even remotely notable in terms of progress or improvements in Iraq and did so consistently during my deployment. I don’t really think this is a relevant argument however, as I believe it is a point of view that, while true, is only reiterated by those who actually believe that the minimal improvements we have managed to make on the ground actually offset the tremendous damage we have done to that country and ours, the incredible Iraqi casualty rate, or the very real injuries and deaths resulting among American and allied soldiers. With the exception of the election in 2005, I never once saw nor heard of a single significant event or program whose positive outcome for the Iraqis would make highlighting it a news priority. In fact, I saw so few improvements at all that to report them on the news would simply have highlighted the obvious disparity between the positive and negative aspects of our occupation. I would argue that the lack of good news out of Iraq has had much more to do with a lack of good news in Iraq than it did with press bias.

How long did you serve? Are you currently active?

I have been in the reserves for seven years. I was deployed for 18 months.

Were you received anonymously or with welcoming parades?

Many units return home to lots of fanfare, I did not. Because I was “cross-leveled” from my own unit to a Hawaii unit, I returned alone to Maine and was greeted only by my family and one member of the hospital staff where I work, a gesture for which I am exceedingly grateful.

It has now been a few years since you’ve been back. What was or has been the most challenging part of transitioning back to your life as you know it?

Several things have been challenging, but I would have to say that one of the most challenging is living with the constant reminder that for most Americans this war, for which good men and women are dying and suffering daily, is so academic for most Americans. The only problem with an all-volunteer military is that it allows people who would never consider sacrificing themselves to send others to sacrifice in their place. By removing the threat of real personal consequences from the general population we have empowered them to be careless with the lives of others. For most Americans, this war is a newsclip. For those sent to fight it, it is a real and lasting sacrifice. I am on one side of this equation, and I still have a hard time reconciling with the other.

Is there any possibility you could be called up to serve another tour?

Yes. I remain a member of a regular reserve hospital unit so am subject to redeployment.

Do you plan on publishing another book anytime soon?

Yes, four actually. I am about halfway through a large project for Paladin Press on combat medicine.

I'm sure readers will want to know if you are willing to share your Taco Pie recipe?

Just ask. It’s so simple it would be a crime to keep it secret.