JBER Airman measures radiation after Japan disaster

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Matthew Chism
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  The sergeant's view from the coastline was nothing less than awe inspiring. Evidence of the wave's violence was the only disruption of the serenity.

He thought of his family and remembered his daughter loves to collect seashells. "I'll pick her up five," he said, nodding to himself.

Dragging his boots through the dense sand, he found his slightly veiled treasures. The thin, tattered strap from his atmosphere detector tore into his neck and reminded him where he was, why he was there.

He passed the five discarded shells to the radiation technician he had transported into the evacuation zone. An undecipherable mix of hope and desperation set upon him. The specialist's eyes slowly found his, nothing needed to be said.

"I couldn't take one shell back, they all were bad," he said.

This was one snapshot of the experiences Tech. Sgt. Martine Robinson, 773d Logistics Readiness Squadron, relayed from his recent deployment to Yokota Air Base, Japan.
Robinson worked as a team lead vehicle operator with a team of five others as base support in "Operation Tomodachi." Translating to "Operation Friend," the effort is the joint armed forces assistance operation for disaster relief in Japan.

"You don't really get to know people until you deploy together," he said. "You have a mission to accomplish, you're away from home, away from family and all you have is each other. I am thankful that I had a good team that went over there and did an excellent job and took care of each other."

That unity became priceless as their deployment continued.

"(Our) role got interesting when we received a tasking dealing with the folks who go out and do the radiation measurements; which happened to be a civilian team from the department of energy."

The team went as close as 40 miles to the damaged nuclear plant.

"The first time was probably the hardest time," Robinson said. "Because you don't know what to expect, and you're thinking to yourself did I make the wrong decision, is this going to be safe.

"You're not comfortable, but at the same time you feel like it's a worthy cause," he explained.

Robinson said they were each given a dosimeter, a device which is worn by personnel who might be exposed to radiation, to ensure they were not being exposed to unsafe levels.

"It was a risk, but I felt like it was one of those things I had to do," Robinson said. "I could have said 'No,' but I wanted to say 'Yes.'"

Robinson mentioned his team was given the opportunity to volunteer for the assignment. He said he didn't decide immediately. He tentatively put his name on the list and, after about 15 minutes, he finalized his decision.

"I thought to myself, I can sit here until something kicks off on base or I can go ahead and jump out there and try to make a difference," he said. His internal desire to be progressive stems from the reason he decided to remain in the Air Force.

"I'm a military person, I like the structure, and I like to wear the uniform," he said. "I like that I have my career in my own hands. I like that my next stripe has more to do with me than anyone else. I love that system."

"This deployment to Japan was special," said Robinson, who also supported the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts. "My advice for any junior Airman is to be aggressive towards their career. Come up with a plan as far as where you want to go, how far you want to go, and what it's going to take to get there. Once you develop a plan stick to the plan."

At Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Robinson is the Vehicle Operations Control Center Support supervisor, and handles the management of manpower within the Logistics Readiness Squadron.

In his free time, he said he has other priorities.

"I am a family man; I love to spend time with my family," he said.

His commitment to family and service is what gave Robinson the greatest joy at the end of the mission.

The readings collected from their mission were sent to the Department of Defense. The information aided in determining a safe time for the displaced military families to return to their homes.

"I didn't plan to be a part of anything that big, it just happened," he said. "I am really proud of what I was able to accomplish along with everyone that was there."