MDG plays vital role in operational readiness

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Carolyn Viss
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Editor's note: this is the first of a four-part series on each of the 7th Bomb Wing groups and their roles in the upcoming Operational Readiness Inspection. 

While the primary mission of the Air Force is to fly planes, the reality is that, without a strong and healthy force of Airmen to fly and support the fleet, the mission will fail.
In preparation for an Operational Readiness Inspection Oct. 2 to 8, the 7th Medical Group is working extra hard to ensure the health and readiness of the Air Force's most important asset: its people. 

"We are taking a three-phase approach to deployment readiness," said Lt. Col. Walter Matthews, 7th Aerospace Medicine Squadron commander. "The ORI and ORE are important things to focus on, but we focus on those the same way we focus on getting you ready for a real deployment. Our goal is to get a large group of people out the door to go fight the war." 

The first phase is every day operations. 

""Individual medical readiness is the personal responsibility of each Airman," Colonel Matthews said. "We're here to help. We work every day to ensure people are ready to deploy - that means that they're healthy, they're fit, have all their immunizations and medications, their teeth are healthy, and their gas masks fit correctly, so, if called upon, they're ready to go out the door." 

It is especially important for deployers to be ready to face the hardships of austere environments, and the medical group here does its best to ensure peoples' physical health assessments are up-to-date and they're current on everything they need, he said. But there's more to it than that. To "help us help you," he emphasized Airmen should make sure leadership knows if they're on deployment-limiting conditions. 

"Once we get a deployment or warning order, like we get for OREs, ORIs, or an actual deployment, that's when we shift into 'hyper-speed' mode," said the operational medicine guru. "We make sure each and every person who is on the list is ready to go, with no medical or dental problems." 

Airmen should not wear contacts at all and should show up with their gas mask inserts in hand, he emphasized. Additionally, once that deployment list is released flight commanders should do their best not to change their players in exercises or the upcoming inspection. This helps the entire process go smoothly. 

Once everyone is prepared, Airmen go through actual Personnel Deployment Function line. 

"Ideally, if we do our job the absolute best we can and get maximum cooperation from our unit deployment managers, by the time someone comes through the line to get their chart we check them off the list and that's all we have to do," Colonel Matthews said. 

Of course, if Airmen need medications or immunizations or take labs on the line, "we can certainly do that, and we're prepared to do that, but ideally we want folks to get there and have everything done," the colonel said. 

In order to make that process go smoothly, Capt. Edward Kosterman, 7th AMDS public health flight commander, has developed a new records review process, taken from the Air Force Smart Operations-21st Century concept, that brings each person's record and information to one spot /one screen so that records can be processed "from cradle-to-grave" with more eyes on and less back-and-forth. 

The system has decreased processing time by 50 percent and increased the accuracy of the records' content by 50 percent, according to recent Exercise Evaluation Team reviews, Captain Kosterman said. 

"The most helpful thing Airmen can do to make this process go smoothly is come in to get their medical requirements taken care of as soon as a need," he said. "This is a radical departure from what people have seen before, but it's the best process I've seen in 12 years." 

Airmen requiring PHAs may accomplish those appointments on a walk-in basis the week of the ORE. Smallpox immunizations are given Tuesdays from 3 to 4 p.m. and Thursdays from 7:30 to 8:30 a.m. 

All others should call for appointments. 
Bioenvironmental Engineering - 696-2325
Dental - 696-2304
Flight Med - 696-5490
Hawc - 696-4140
Optometry - 696-4438
Public Health - 696-5480