Army Medical Department

Thursday was a little more of a slower-paced day, and I found myself not knowing what to do at times.

My last patient of the day was one that surprised me a bit.  I knew the possibilty existed, but didn't think the wisdom teeth would be too difficult to get out.  But due to the age, race, and time of day (last patient - Murphy's Law) - it ended up not being quite as straight-forward as I would have liked.  Every tooth had to be sectioned (cut into pieces) and removed to get it out - even though they were fully erupted.

In the end we had done:  4 exams, taken models for a temporary partial denture (flipper), removed 6 teeth on 3 individuals, delivered 1 crown, and did 2 fillings.  I also had another canceled appointment from the new Soldiers that are learning their jobs.  This is starting to bug me since it is becoming fairly regular.  The staff that is in charge of them recently changed over, and does not seem to be on top of their game like the last set of NCOs.  I spoke at length to one of the NCOs and hope that the situation will be remedied.

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

AEGD-2 appreciates our assistants! Without them we are useless. 8-12 March 2010 is DARW (Dental Assistants Recognition Week) so we took our assistants bowling. We work hard and need to play hard, too. Here you can see we did – lots of laughs, team building and a break from the clinc.

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  It has been awhile since my first post, Recruiting Command demands a lot of my time!

  I last left off talking about my first unit, the 514th Ground Ambulance Company at FT. Lewis, WA.  I was there from 1994 to 1999, and I had a good time.  Finally though, it was time for me to move on.  I was a newly promoted E-5 and I wanted to challenge myself both mentally and physically.  The opportunity arose for me to Reenlist for Germany!  I jumped at the chance, and willingly rose my Right Hand.

  My unit of assigment was 2nd BN, 2nd Infantry Regiment, part of 3rd BDE, 1st Infantry Division.  I was proud to be a part of the Army's most prestigious and battle tested Division.  I arrived in Germany to find out that my unit was in Kosovo.  My first deployment!  I was excited to go!  I was made a Platoon medic in Aco, 2-2IN.  I LOVED my job, it was everything I was hoping it would be.  I was "Doc", the guy to come to when you were sick, or injured, or just needed to talk.

  I spent 6 months in Kosovo and returned to Germany to refit and train for our next deployment, which ended up being back in Kosovo, to the same place as before.  By that time I was the Senior Medic for Aco.  I was the head medical authority of the Company, the Commanders right hand man when it came to his Infantrymens' medical health.  I was in charge of 3 Platoon medics, and two M113 Tracked ambulances and the crews.  We had another succesful deployment in Kosovo, and watched the initial invasion of Iraq on the T.V.  our deployment was extended by 3 months, and we just knew that our turn would come to go to Iraq.

  February 2004 we were on a plane headed to beautiful sunny Iraq.  We all knew that this would not be like our deployments to Kosovo, this was the real deal this time.  The Big Red One was ready, we were going to make our mark in Iraq, and in the history books.

  We were based at FOB Normandy, near Muqdadiyah, in the Diyala province.  The BN had many fights during our time there, and always came out victorious.  We lost many good friends and leaders, especially during Operation Phantom Fury in Fallujah, but they did not die in vain.  The 2nd BN 2nd IN regiment will forever be in the annals of history, and in my thoughts.  I am proud to have served.

  My medical skills were tested the whole year in Iraq.  I had a great Physicians Assistant, and BN Surgeon.  I learned so much there, that I could operate independently if the need arose.  I knew my stuff, and the men of Aco respected me and trusted me with their lives.

  I reenlisted in Iraq, and upon our redeployment  I was moving back to FT. Lewis.  My next blog will be about my experiences as a medic in one of the Army's newest units, a Stryker BDE............

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Saturday was the birthday ball for the North Atlantic Regional Command at Ft. Belvoir.  The guest of honor for the ball was Major General Czerw.  You can see from COL Pannes' posting that he is a busy guy trying to support the Corps.

At the ball were several other current and retired general officer's as well as current American Dental Association president Dr. Ron Tankersley.  With it's location in the national capital region, there were many attendees from other services that came out to support.

We were also able to have many HPSP students (dental students on Army scholarships) that were able to attend.  The students came from as far away as VCU on the south and Tufts on the North with many others represented in between.  Hopefully they had a fun time and look forward to coming on active duty.

This was the receiving line prior to the ball beginning.  Starting on the right.  COL Priscilla Hamilton was the mistress of ceremonies (current regional commander - incoming DENCOM Commander). Next to her was MG Czerw, and COL Ted Wong (outgoing DENCOM Commander).

My wife had to attend a function for my son, so my daughter became my date.  Standing in front of the windows in the ballroom with the Potomac in the background.

Standing in front of the birthday cake.

Dr. Ron Tankersley current ADA president with retired Major General Bill Lefler.

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

I'm sure by now if you are in any way involved with the Army be it an officer, NCO, enlisted, future soldier, cadet, warrant officer, whatever you may be you know what LDRSHIP stands for. The Army Values: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity, Personal Courage. We also all know what a leader is, both good and bad. I would like to give my perspective as a PFC to anyone who would like to listen.

As I said last week, I had drill this weekend and was sure I was going to have stories to tell. Many things happened over the weekend that are worth noting, but due to OPSEC, I'll try to stick to generalities. Ready? The primary focus of this weekend for my company was land navigation as part of our pre-deployment checklist. Yes, that scary word no one wants to say, deployment. Anyway, land nav is probably one of the easiest parts of being a soldier provided the right tools and a little common sense. However, missing either one of these makes things VERY interesting.

This is where the different forms of leadership come in to play. My company is fortunate to have multiple NCO's who have been on one or more deployments with each other and other companies, allowing each of them to bring unique experiences and life lessons to the table each drill. I believe this is what makes a good NCO from an enlisted point-of-view, someone who is confident but not cocky, self-aware, not afraid to admit when they are wrong, I could go on all day. Pretty much all good soldier skills, some confidence, some leadership experience, and of course common sense. The best example of leadership this weekend I saw was an E6 squad leader who after he sent his two teams on the course rounded up the pre-basic soldiers that were there to learn and get a jump start on soldiering before basic training and walked them through pace counts and actually accompanied them on the course teaching them about the landscape, shooting an azthmus, and just general terrain association. It was enlightening for me to see an NCO putting forth all this extra effort for a few kids who weren't even officially in the Army yet. He could have left them in the rear or just stood around with them, instead he took it as an opportunity to learn. That is good leadership if I have ever seen it.

So where does LDRSHIP fall into place? Being medic on-site gave me an opportunity to watch all three platoons go through the course and watch the way the different line leaders approached the situations, and some of it suprised me. I watched enlisted soldiers who knew what was going on more then their team and squad leaders- all corporals and above- get ignored because the NCO's were so determined to do it their way and I watched enlisted members who had no clue get left out to dry because they either didn't speak up or tried to speak up and were ignored.

Now in no way am I bashing anyone in my company, I believe my company is one of the best around with one of the best company commanders and first sergeants around. I am however trying to highlight one of the greatest faults there seems to be among the lower ranks. Now back to LDRSHIP. Each letter could easily have fallen into play this weekend on the course if it would have been given the opportunity. Loyalty to each member of your team and/or squad ensuring not only they knew what they were doing but could keep up physically as well, Duty for the same reasons, Respect for all members of the company utilizing an opportunity to train up the pre-basic soldiers and refresh the memories of some of the soldiers who haven't done this type of thing in awhile, Selfless Service for all the reasons listed above plus just regular desire to serve, Honor to the system, our fellow soldiers, and the country, Integrity is another good example I'll highlight in a minute, and the Personal Courage of the NCO's to admit that they were a little rusty and of the enlisted that knew what they were doing to speak up. Each of these did make or would have made the land navigation experience one everyone could have and did benefit from.

Integrity- Former Infantry Corporal getting ready to reclass to MP swore up and down he didn't need anyone's help on anything because he "did this all the time." Needless to say he and his team emerged from the woods about 30 minutes after everyone started on their courses completely lost because he read the map wrong. Even though he knew he had been to cocky and made a fool of himself he was not too cocky to admit he was wrong and promptly take his team back to the starting point to start again.

I guess if I had to sum up the above paragraphs in as few words as possible, they would run something along the line of "NCO's and all line leaders are to be respected and learned from. However if you know you have something to contribute and are afraid to speak up because your enlisted, IT DOESN'T MATTER! SPEAK UP! trust me, your team will thank you for it when you aren't the last team wandering in the woods."

Until next week, be strong, be safe, and be smart.

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Another great reason for looking at the Army as a "long-term" career plan has been implemented within the last couple of years.  In 2007 Congress implemented a loan forgiveness program that individuals can use if they are employed in public service for 10 years.  The military qualifies for this loan forgiveness.

This program combined with the Post 9-11 GI Bill that allows you to transfer educational benefits to family are great enticements for a career in the Army.

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Thursday was great.  We have several dentists that are/will be gone for training.  Because of that things will shift a little at the clinic.

Thursday I was able to treat one of the tallest patients I have seen. He is completing training in AIT and will be graduating this summer and going on to play college ball.  He was 6"7".  Not sure why he wasn't smiling - he was happy both before and after the picture :)

In the morning I was on exams, and we did 16 exams.  In the afternoon we did: pulp testing and placed desensitizing material on two teeth, extracted 2 teeth, delivered 1 crown, 6 fillings on 3 patients. 

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

We celebrated the Army Dental Corps’ 99th birthday this week on 03 March! This is the best Army Ball that I’ve been to – and we’ve been to quite a few. The highlight of the week and the Ball was our guest speaker and Corps Chief, MG Czerw. We also had dentists visiting from Canada and New Zealand to teach at our annual Forensics Course. COL Trengrove is the Senior Staff Officer Health for all military medical services in New Zealand (first dentist ever to hold this prestigious position!!) and has extensive Forensics experience with the military and the police. I first met him at a conference in Singapore 2 years ago and we started talking about an exchange program for Army dentists. It is amazing that we’ve gotten it off the ground! His contribution to our Forensics Course was monumental. And I can’t wait to go to New Zealand :) MAJ Les Campbell is a Detachment Commander in Canada. I first met him at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas where we were both serving as Mock Board Examiners for the ABGD Board Exam. We instantly hit it off with our common interest in dental continuing education. We have continued to cross paths at the annual Academy of General Dentistry Meeting and Les will be a speaker for me at the meeting this year in July. I recently sent him an email requesting materials due and received an “out of office” reply saying he was in Haiti in response to the recent earthquake. I immediately thought how valuable his experience there would be to our Forensics Course and contacted his Commander to see if we could get Les to Hawaii after he returned from Haiti. MAJ Campbell had one day notice to go to Haiti and not much more to come to Hawaii. This week he has delivered the most moving presentations of his work identifying Canadians that perished in Haiti. His work could not be more current or applicable and has been invaluable to everyone this week. He has even been able to bring his wife and daughter to Hawaii and is getting important “reconnecting” time with them. I cannot thank COL Trengrove or MAJ Campbell enough!

This also goes to show the incredible networking that is possible in the Army. The most casual conversations and interactions turn in to amazing events for so many people.

MG Czerw, MAJ Les Campbell (Canada), COL P, COL Hugh Trengrove (New Zealand), COL Lavin, COL Bachand

I’m always SO proud of our residents! The Ball was at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki Beach. The residents and their spouses looked outstanding and we couldn’t have had a more incredible setting.
 

MAJ Chun Chan (2nd year), COL P, Mary Rondeau, CPT Alex Smith (2nd year), CPT John King (1st year), MAJ Ken Jo (1st year), Jihyun Park, COL Mark Kuba (1st year), Young Kuba, CPT Tin Le (2nd year), COL Dan Lavin (Director). (We missed CPT Le’s and MAJ Chan’s wives this year)

A bonus to the evening was being able to renew my wedding vows with my husband. We actually do this every year…we’ve both been married before and we agreed at the beginning of our marriage to dedicate all the time and energy we could into keeping it strong. It’s easy to lose focus but renewing our vows every year helps keep us from losing perspective. It’s a little thing but it works for us and has become a fun and special tradition. We were actually married on 29 February 2000 (the last day it was legal for Officers and NCOs to marry) and since the Army Dental Corps Birthday Ball is always so close we often perform the ceremony at the B-Day Ball. Other locations have included Santorini, Greece (the best!), Key West, KoleKole Pass/Hawaii, and Ko Olina/Hawaii. This year is number ten!!

My husband even arranged for a rainbow to shine over Diamond Head :)

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

I had a chance last week to go down to Baylor College of Dentistry in Dallas, Tx to speak to students there.  SFC Edward Gall invited me down to speak.  We had a great turn out , and 1 lucky student even won a snowboard.

I even had a chance to visit with one of my oral surgery mentors who retired from the Army and is teaching at Baylor.

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

  Ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to be a soldier.  My Grandfather was in WW2 in General Pattons' prestigious 4th Armored Division.  I remember sitting on his lap entranced by the stories of his time in Germany during the War.  He was my hero, always was and always will be.

  I enlisted into the Army's Delayed Entry program the minute I turned 18.  I remember telling my folks that I was going in the Army, and they were not to thrilled at the idea.  My Dad wanted me to join the Air Force because it was "safer".  I knew in my heart of hearts that the Army was were I belonged.  I knew that ever since I sat on Poppas lap and listened to his stories, saw the tears in his eyes.

  When I took the ASVAB, I had no clue as to what I wanted to do in the Army, I never really thought about it.  I just KNEW that the Army was for me.  Once my scores came back and I sat down with my Recruiter to pick out a job, only one of those jobs really stood out to me: 91B-Medical Specialist, (Now 68W-Healthcare Specialist).  My Recruiter was a grizzled old Infantryman and he said that Medic was the best job in the Army according to him.  He told me of all the great things his Medics did during Desert Storm, how they are some of the bravest soldiers he had ever seen.  I knew at that moment that this was the job that would make my Poppa proud.  MEDIC!

 After a glorious 8 weeks at FT. Leonard Wood MO., I went to FT. Sam Houston for training.  10 weeks of shots, IV's, practicing bandaging, Emergency Medical Technician training, etc.  I found the training easy, and it just reinforced my thoughts that this was the career I was destined for.

  My first Permanent duty station was the 514th Medical Company, Ground Ambulance, at FT. Lewis Washington.  I was expecting, HOPING that I would be sent to and Infantry Battalion, where "Doc" was the man, the guy that was always there to help. Patching up bullet holes, stitching up bar fight injuries on a Saturday Night.  Definitely not the case!  I was assigned as an Ambulance driver, and did a lot of Range covereage, medical coverage for the Washington Special Olympics, Cobra Gold in Thailand, etc.  It wasnt what I was expecting, but I still loved my job and thought I was making a difference.  Me making the decision to enlist and serve my Country was the first step.

Stay tuned for part 2!

 Email

 Print

 Comments

• Share:
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
•