379th Air Expeditionary Wing

Story by Airman 1st Class David Dobrydney

Here in Southwest Asia, the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron handles nearly every passenger and piece of cargo that travels through the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Recently, the cargo they handled would, soon enough, find its way to every servicemember in the AOR.

The 8 EAMS Airmen shipped the first half of the U.S. CENTCOM allotment of H1N1 flu vaccine November 8 to military servicemen and women forward deployed in support of operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom.

The vaccine was shipped out within 20 hours of its arrival here, said Master Sgt. Robert Kruger, NCOIC of Special Handling for 8 EAMS.

The vaccine arrived at the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Center located at nearby Camp As Sayliah, which projects theater medical logistics in support of the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

After receiving the vaccine from USAMMC Medical Logistics, the 8 EAMS members entered it into the global transport and executive system to be assigned to an outgoing flight.

The cargo they were tasked to move on the mission necessitated special handling requirements.

To maintain safety, the vaccine had to be kept in refrigeration prior to being loaded on the plane, Kruger said.

"We had to monitor the icing times on the vaccine and if we couldn't get them on a specific flight, we would have to re-ice the packs," he said.

However, within hours the vaccines were loaded and on their way. The speed of the operation impressed U.S. Army Maj. Martin Russell, USAMMC pharmacy consultant.

"If a warfighter in the CENTCOM AOR gets the vaccine, it was possible due to the hard work of the Airmen in the 8 EAMS," he said. "I can't say enough good things about them."

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