Her name is Miyuki McAdam, a unique blending of the strong Scottish single malt flavor of her father with the more subtle and exotic nuance of sake from her mother's Asian heritage. Her unique first name was in homage to her maternal-side Japanese roots that spanned four generations. There were five possible f to her first name: "beautiful happiness;" "deep snow," "beautiful snow," "beautiful reason for history," and "good fortune." Miyuki (or Yuki as she preferred to be called) was the embodiment of all of the possible meanings without even trying.
My name is Logan Campbell...Major Logan Campbell. I was recently assigned to my Air Wing's base hospital to serve as the medical service officer who oversaw the hospital's specialty care group that offered women's health, psychiatry, radiology, pharmacy, clinical laboratory, and physical therapy.
Soon after my arrival, the group's longtime contracted civilian physical therapist (PT) informed me that he had filed his papers to retire in two months. This was problematic since PTs were the hardest to recruit of all of the medical specialists in my group. There was a general shortage of available military PTs which forced the Air Force to hire contracted civilian PTs to provide much-needed medical services to its airmen.
Working closely with the Wing's Personnel Support, I immediately began the recruitment process and quickly learned how difficult it would be to fill the vacancy. The position has a slew of requirements that explained the shortage of military PTs. Additionally, the Wing's rather remote location and the sparse population of the surrounding area made the job opening seem less than desirable.
Two months came and passed, and there were no takers for the now vacant position. I had to resort to using the outside rehabilitation agencies in the closest city some 75 miles away. This meant transportation costs, airmen being out of duty for long periods of time, and a severe strain on my operational budget and relationship with the higher-ups.
Just when I was at my wit's end, my group clerk, Staff Sergeant (E-5) Joe Johnson, met me on a Monday morning, beaming, "Sir, this will make your day...no...year!" and with that he handed me a large manila envelope from the Wing's Personnel Support. As I opened and took out an application and attached resume, my clerk who could barely contain his glee chirped, "She's one hell of a doozy, sir."
And do you know what? He was right. "Oh, my god!" I exclaimed as I quickly reviewed her application and then her resume, "This Miyuki McAdams is the embodiment of what we have been looking for and more so. She was graduated from an accredited physical therapy program at a well-known university and as a Doctor in Physical Therapy at age twenty-three. A year later Doctor McAdams got her PT nationally certification as well as her unrestricted license to practice in all fifty states and territories. This McAdams woman is twenty-eight years old and has got almost five years of top-notch PT experiences in different settings and with glowing letters of recommendation to back it up."
"But, sir, Miyuki McAdams? What kind of name is that? The last name is Scottish and I think the first name is...Japanese? A Japanese-Scot?"
"I don't know, Joe. Her application's marital status says 'single' but she could have married some Scottish guy and divorced. All I know is that as long as she can do the job, she could have three eyes and be purple, and I won't care. Let's see. It's zero-eight-thirty (8:30 a.m.) now...I think the East Coast is two hours ahead of us...hmmm, should I take a chance and call her at work?"
"Ah, sir, I would recommend you wait two hours. That way, Miyuki...what a funky name...should be on lunch break and on her own time."
"Yeah, you're right. You make the call on the hospital's landline so that it will be official, and when she picks up...hopefully, she does...you patch me in to speak to her. In the meanwhile, I review her application and resume more thoroughly and develop some interview questions."
"Hmmm, sir, if I might suggest, you might want to express an interest in her and then set up a Zoom interview so that you can see what you're getting and vice versa. We have her email address and I can forward to her the necessary contact information, date, and time. And, oh, a weekend might be better because she can do it on her time...that is if you don't mind coming in, sir."
"Hey, if it means that I can land us a PT, I'm game. And Sergeant, if you help set up this Zoom session and are on hand while we do it, it's a weekend pass for you."
"Yes, sir. It'll be my pleasure. I'm dying to see what our new PT will look like. I can set the Zoom session up where I can see Dr. Miyuki McAdams without her seeing me."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
I struggled to remain calm as I rehearsed my interview questions and nervously waited for my possibly new PT to log into the Zoom session. Suddenly, she did and I was enchanted. Before me was a nice-looking young white woman with warm brown eyes, freckled cheeks, a toothy but inviting grin on her lips, and straight brown hair. Before I could say anything, I heard, "Hi, call me Yuki. You must be Logan...or should I call you Major Campbell?."
"Nah, the military rank is only for show when the brass is around. In the specialty care group, we're pretty informal since the professionals are unique experts in their own field." With that, we began a loose and rather candid interview in which I explained in depth the range of her duties and pay and job benefits. In return, Yuki spoke of her education and work experience that more than satisfied the job requirements.
"What was that, Logan? Do I have a problem working with airmen and the Air Force? Funny that you should ask because my current employer is in a contract to provide physical therapy for the employees of a major airline. I have worked with pilots, flight crews, mechanics, and maintenance personnel. Although the airline is commercial and not tactical, I would imagine that the range of ailments and treatment strategies would be very similar."
The fact that we clicked on multiple levels left no doubt in either of our minds that Yuki was our next physical therapist. "Yuki, I'm impressed and will make a highly positive recommendation to the powers that be to hire you at the highest salary range possible. No guarantees, but I am reasonably sure that my recommendation will be approved. So, when can you start because we're in dire need of a physical therapist?"
"Well, if you need me that bad, how about a month from when I receive a letter of employment from you folks. Once I accept and sign the necessary documents, I will give my two-week notice, sell my car, terminate my apartment lease, and pack up so that I can ship my belongings to a storage facility closest to the base. I'll bring with me what I need to live out of the suitcase until I can buy a car and find a place to live until my stuff arrives."
"Ah, regarding a car, there are several used car dealerships in the surrounding communities. When airmen rotate out, they end up selling their cars rather than shipping them. I can take you around and am sure that you can get a reasonable deal if you're willing to haggle a bit."
"Haggle? Ha, when I want something, I am persistent and can talk one hell of a mean streak."
