Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska -- Two Air Force staff sergeants from the 673d Aerospace Medical Squadron went above and beyond their duties during the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division’s Operation Spartan Cerberus in October 2016.
Staff sergeants Joseph Carter, a public health technician, and Jimmie Buckner, a bioenvironmental engineer, performed the duties of Army preventive medicine specialists by conducting medical inspections and solving several discrepancies while embedded with C Company, 725th Brigade Support Battalion.
The two Airmen inspected many things, from water filters to potential disease attractions like ruts filling with standing water. They also trained Army water treatment specialists how to identify additional hazards in their water supply during the exercise.
The overall mission of the field training exercise was to complete chemical, biological, radiation, and nuclear training, operate remotely and complete individual tasking in sub-zero temperatures in preparation for an upcoming rotation to the Joint Readiness Training Center, said Army Capt. Bryan Pamintuan, Commander of C Company, 725th BSB.
Due to undermanning in preventive medicine, the Army requested an Air Force equivalent. After months of planning, two medical noncommissioned officers were selected to participate in the training exercise.
“It enhances mission capability by being able to grab from another military service without loss of effectiveness,” Carter said. “It also shows adaptability to be able to support the mission by [using outside] resources for an effective team.”
When conducting the preventive medical inspections, Carter and Buckner used the Army Prev-Med paperwork and found many familiar practices within their line of work. Both bioenvironmental engineering and public health inspect different things to reduce illness, disease, and other health hazards.
“If mission demands it, the Air Force could do the same thing the Army did with us; if we don’t have a ‘Bio’ or ‘PH,’ we could just grab a ‘Prev-Med’ and still have mission success,” Buckner said. “We always forget just how similar we really are.”
These two Airmen completed their mission to evaluate, inspect, resolve health hazards, and trained water treatment specialists how to identify the additional unseen threats during the field training exercise.
“The Airmen … represented the Air Force so well that we’ve been asked to support in the same capacity for upcoming exercises in the spring and summer,” said Air Force Capt. Phillip Hoyt, 673d AMDS occupational health element chief.
Airmen and Soldiers will gain a real-world application of joint operations in the later field training exercises, mastering their craft and testing their adaptability for future mission success.