7th Medical Group welcomes new commander

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joel Mease
  • 7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
DYESS AIRFORE BASE, Texas --  The 7th Medical Group welcomed a new commander during a ceremony at The Heritage Club July 6.

Colonel Kent Helwig replaced Col. (Dr.) Richard D. Trifilo, who retired after 26 years of service.

The new commander and his wife, Kay, are making this their first stop at Dyess after he served as the deputy command surgeon at Headquarters, Pacific Air Forces, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.

Colonel Helwig earned a Bachelor of Science in finance from the University of Illinois in 1984 and a Master of Science in public health from the University of North Carolina in 1986. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in 1986.

While the colonel and his family came from Hawaii, he said that they have been very impressed with base personnel and the community of Dyess and Abilene.

“From what I heard before I came, I understood that the community had a very strong support of the base,” Colonel Helwig said. “We’ve been at other bases where the community had strong support, but they were nothing like the support I’ve seen from Abilene.”

While serving as the commander, he said his job is to give the 7th MDG tools to succeed allowing them to take care of others at Dyess.

“I like to step out of the way and let them do their job,” he said. “In the end, it’s really me who's working for them.”

When coming to the 7th MDG, the colonel said he understands that not everyone is in the best of moods when visiting a doctor. That is why he said his staff makes every effort to make every person’s visit to the 7th MDG a pleasant one.

“This is a job that is very personal in nature,” Col. Helwig said. “The staff here makes every effort to make your visit to the 7th MDG a positive experience. From what I’ve heard from base personnel, they are already doing that, but we will look to continue to refine it.”

In addition to providing quality healthcare, the 7th MDG maintains a military mission, he said.

“It is our top priority to ensure that all active-duty personnel are ready to deploy,” Colonel Helwig said. “On top of that we have to ensure our medics receive the training they need so that they can be ready to deploy.”

So far the experience at Dyess has been very good, he said.

“My wife and I are truly very happy to be a part of Dyess – Abilene community,” Col. Helwig said.