Aug

9

AF Medic is OAY!

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The Air Force selects twelve enlisted members each year as “Outstanding Airman of the Year” (OAY), and the competition, as you can imagine, is pretty tough. This year, an Air Force medic named Tammy Shaw has been honored as one of the 12 OAY:

Tech. Sgt. Tammy Shaw…(a) noncommissioned officer laboratory technician at the base medical center, Shaw was recognized for her on-the-job leadership and job performance as well as her community involvement. One of her working accomplishments was to pilot the Department of Defense’ largest DNA collection site, 38,000 samples, with only a 0.02 percent rejection rate. Partly because of this, her laboratory was named “Best in DOD.” In addition to her working feats, Shaw completed 28 hours towards a bachelor’s degree in health sciences while carrying a 4.0 average. She also completed a Community College of the Air Force degree and became a nationally certified lab technician.

Interestingly, last year saw Airman Aubrey Linn selected as one of the 12 Outstanding Airmen, and she, too, is a laboratory technician. Chalk up another victory to the 4Ts!

Jul

30

Retired AF Medic on McCain/Obama Flap

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Military physicians are usually not afforded “spotlight” treatment by the media; that accord is usually reserved for operational (ie, Line) officers, and usually flag officers at that. But recently retired (2006) Air Force physician Colonel Katherine Scheirman has made some headlines lately by being an outspoken critic of the Iraq war, and most recently regarding the political hay over Senator Obama’s trip to Germany:

“In Germany, Senator Obama made the right decision to respect wounded troops, and the doctors and nurses doing crucial and time-sensitive work, by not making a visit that was characterized as a campaign event by the Pentagon. Senator Obama should be thanked for putting our military above politics. And, I would hope that John McCain would think in those same terms, the next time he is put in a similar situation. Senator Obama has voted for the troops when John McCain has not, most recently on the new GI Bill. I am happy that Senator Obama puts the welfare of our troops above politics.”

I hate to bring up “politics” here on Air Force Medics, but seriously — her role as Chief of Medical Operations for USAFE/SG has virtually nothing to do with what occurred (or didn’t) last week with the Obama & McCain camps. As a physician, she may have been concerned about troop welfare, but political visits by high-ranking officials are pretty routine. If a sitting Senator wants to visit troops, then he can and will. Her “expert” opinion as USAFE/SGO means very little, in this context.
And I say that as someone who worked with Dr Scheirman (very briefly) during our respective active-duty careers and found her to be a very nice, professional lady. It’s just that, in this instance, her comments are irrelevant, no matter what the Daily Kos kids and Democratic Underground wackos think.
Unrelated - but possibly of interest - Col Scheirman is also a graduate of the Baylor MHA program.

Jul

25

RIP, Colonel (Dr) George Martin

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It’s not too often that Air Force medics perish in a plane crash, but the B-52 crash in Guam last week that killed six Airmen sadly claimed the life of Colonel (Dr) George Martin. Col Martin served as the deputy commander of the 36th Medical Group, the Air Force clinic at Andersen Air Force Base in Guam. By all accounts, Col Martin truly loved everything about the Air Force, both within Earth’s orbit and above it.

As a student at Ohio State, George Martin had posters of the galaxy on his apartment walls. Astronauts were celebrities to him — he seemed to know all of their names. He wanted to fly. He joined the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps and graduated in 1980. A bad knee kept him from space, but he still craved it, one of his classmates said. He went on to medical school at OSU, and he later specialized in emergency medicine and aerospace medicine. He became a flight surgeon.

The Barksdale AFB website has a memorial page for the six Airmen; five of them were assigned to Barksdale; only Col Martin was assigned to Andersen AFB. Colonel Martin leaves behind a pregnant wife and young daughter. RIP, Col Martin.

Jun

26

Air Force Medical Promotions!

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One of the happiest days in any Airmen’s life is finding out that you have been selected for promotion, and today the Air Force Personnel Center released the list of personnel who have been selected for promotion to the ranks of Technical Sergeant (TSgt) and Master Sergeant (MSgt). Here is the entire TSgt list, and here is the entire MSgt list. If you only want to know about the MEDICAL promotees, keep reading here…!

Jun

12

AFMS News Roundup

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You’ve read about CCATT here before, and now you can buy some nifty CCATT gear from some folks in Ohio at the CCATT Shop.

Some optical news: a team from Wilford Hall (WHMC), Sheppard AFB, and an Army unit deployed to St Kitts - tough assignment! - and provided optometric care to hundreds of villagers. The good folks at Lions Clubs also helped by providing donated eyewear. And retired Colonel Stephen Waller, the former chief of ophthalmology at WHMC, is still serving in a new capacity; he “deployed” to Iraq with a mobile “crash cart” to provide care to hundreds of Iraqis.

And the long march towards consolidation continues: Wilford Hall Medical Center and Brooke Army Medical Center, the two bastions of military medical care in San Antonio, are moving closer to becoming an integrated “San Antonio Military Medical Center” (aka SAMMC). Of course, if you were in San Antonio in the late 80s/mid 90s, this might sound vaguely familiar: you might recall “JMMC” - the Joint Military Medical Command. This current effort to integration, however, is likely to be permanent, as it has the force of BRAC behind it.

May

23

Assocations

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While all Air Force medics are part of a like-minded organization and corps, there are also “civilian” organizations designed to promote, educate, and entertain them. Here’s a few of them:

Society of Air Force Physician Assistants: unfortunately, most of this website is for members-only, but if you’re and AF PA, definitely worth checking out.

MSC Association: although this organization is primarily devoted to retired Medical Service Corps officers, they have recently begun marketing to active-duty MSCs.

Society of Air Force Nurses: open to all AF nurses, including Guard, Reserve, and retired.

Armed Forces Optometric Society: this one is targeted not just at Air Force optometrists, but also our sister services.

If you know of any other AFMS-oriented organizations, let me know.

May

11

AF Surgeon General: After the AF

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three star general

What do Air Force Surgeon Generals do when they retire? Serve as policy advisors, educators, and public speakers, in addition to consulting for both private enterprise and government. Here’s a look at the three most recent former AF/SGs:

Former AF Surgeon General “Peach” Taylor spends his time at the Potomac Institute for Policy Studies; this is in addition to recently being hired by Northrup Grumman as the “vice president for the Information Technology (IT) sector’s Health and Human Services division.”

Former AF Surgeon General Paul “P.K.” Carlton is staying busy; in addition to spearheading the homeland security program at Texas A&M, he was recently hired as a consultant for Telemedicus: “…testing and research for TMDI’s products and business concept.” More about General Carlton here.

Former AF Surgeon General Charles “Chip” Roadman serves on the board of trustees for Altarum, which aims to “…drive a shift in the pattern of health care spending in the U.S. from programs consumed by cost of care to systems centered on the value of health.” He also spends time on the board of directors for Assisted Living Concepts, Inc.

Isn’t it cute that they all have nicknames? Peach, PK, and Chip - sounds like some sort of fraternity!

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