WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- The 445th Airlift Wing is authorized over 1,500 Reserve Citizen Airmen who must be ready, including medically, to deploy with 72-hour notice.
While it is every Airman’s personal responsibility to make sure they are deployment ready, the 445th Aerospace Medicine Squadron works diligently to ensure Airmen’s medical readiness.
“Our mission is vital to the wing and the individual Airmen here,” said Master Sgt. Christian D. Terrill, 445th AMDS medical standards NCO in charge. “We handle so many different aspects of health, from flying standards to medication reviews. Ultimately, medical readiness for each member of the 445th is our top priority.”
To maintain current medical standards, all Airmen must complete multiple health screenings. Airmen receive notifications through the Aeromedical Services Information Management System, or ASIMS, informing them of any medical requirements. An ASIMS report is also sent to the commander and is vital for his or her ability to direct Airmen in support of the needs of the Air Force.
“We need to be able to give our commanders the ability to see who is able to deploy in the required timeframes,” Terrill said. “Ultimately, we need to know what our wing’s capabilities are to complete our mission, and when we send Airmen into a deployed environment, we need to know that they can perform to the best of their ability.”
The 445th AMDS uses the information in ASIMS to schedule appointments for members to attend during the unit training assembly or provides additional information if an alternative is required.
To stay “green,” reservists must complete an annual checkup with their civilian dental provider along with military dental checkups every three years. They are also required to complete an annual physical health assessment questionnaire, or PHAQ, and mental health assessment, or MHA, that gauge physical and mental health respectively.
“All traditional reservists have two different lives, military and civilian, and at AMDS, we marry those two lives together with the goal of overall health and mission readiness,” said Senior Airman Brooks A. Lyle, a 445th AMDS aerospace medical technician. “That’s essentially what we are doing here, but we want to make sure people are healthy as well and getting the care they need as individuals.”
Additionally, Airmen have lab work done as required, including bloodwork, hearing tests, and vaccinations. The 445th AMDS tracks the completion of these screenings and feeds the information back into ASIMS.
Their work highlights the continual importance of ensuring that the wing is able to accomplish the mission.
“If we are thinking from an operational standpoint, we give or refer care with the purpose of making the individual healthy because there is a consolidating effect whereby healthy individuals make the wing healthy,” Terrill said. “Essentially, the wing is better able to perform its mission effectively with the most effective personnel.”