445th AW reservists participate in Operation Arctic Care 2010

  • Published
  • By Stacy Vaughn
  • 445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Eight reservists from the 445th Airlift Wing had the opportunity to help Alaskan natives in need of humanitarian medical, dental, optometry and veterinary care during the 2010 Air Force Reserve Command lead Operation Arctic Care April 9-23.

Reservists from the 445th Logistics Readiness Squadron, 445th Services Flight, 445th Civil Engineer Squadron, 445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, and 445th Aerospace Medicine Squadron joined more than 280 military active duty, Guard and Reserve members from the Army, Navy and Air Force in treating a total population of 7,800 Alaskan natives in 12 remote villages in the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska.

Operation Arctic Care is an annual joint forces medical readiness and logistics training initiative conducted under the auspices of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs Innovative Readiness Training program, working in tandem with the Maniilaq Health Corporation, a civilian organization with cognizance of health care delivery in the Northwest Arctic Borough of Alaska.

AFRC was the lead agent this year for Operation Arctic Care. The site rotates to a different part of Alaska and the lead agent changes to different branches of service every year.

As the operations officer for Operation Arctic Care, Lt. Col. Jennifer Wedel, 445th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, selected the leads for 11 villages, communicating with each daily with issues regarding personnel and safety.

"This mission is important because the people of Alaska have limited access to medical, dental and veterinary services due to their remote locations and would not be able to receive it otherwise," Colonel Wedel said.

Because the remote villages have no roads, the best means of transportation to reach the villages was by using the Army National Guard UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters.

Major Vollmer was assigned as the officer in charge of logistics. He had a team composed of 11 individuals from Pope, Travis, McChord, Tinker and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The group was based in a hangar in Kotzebue, Alaska, 33 miles north of the Arctic Circle on Alaska's Western coast. Their main day-to-day mission was processing people and supplies flying in and out of the area.

"This was a great experience and a team effort. And what a great team it was. Our job was coordinating logistics for the operation, which included ground transportation and coordinating with the Alaska Army National Guard the use of their Black Hawks to move people and supplies to the various villages," Major Vollmer said.

Major Vollmer also coordinated with the Army National Guard for incentive helicopter rides for the top performers during the Army's training sorties.

During the exercise, participants saw more than 1,675 medical patients, treated 1,400 dental patients, created and distributed more than 900 pairs of glasses, and vaccinated more than 730 dogs.

"I love being part of helping others. The people of Alaska were very appreciative of the care we provided," Colonel Wedel said.