Photo By Staff Sgt. Delaney Gonzales | A Military Working Dog lays on an operating table at the Fort Eustis Veterinary Clinic...... read more read more
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The U.S. Army’s veterinary services offer a variety of services to propel the mission of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. Its multifaceted approach strengthens force readiness by providing veterinary public health capabilities through veterinary medical and surgical care, food safety and defense.
“Our primary mission is to take care of the Military Working Dogs and serve the community, said U.S. Army Capt. Eric Dombou, Fort Eustis branch chief, veterinary services. “Everything we do ultimately focuses on the warfighter and their families.”
The U.S. Army Veterinary Corps’ enlisted Soldiers are divided between two career specialties, animal care specialists and food inspection specialists. These two occupational specialties play a vital role in readiness operations.
“We provide preventative care and emergency treatments to the Military Working Dogs,” said Pfc. Michaela D. Wilcox, Langley Veterinary Clinic NCO in charge. “We also contribute to providing medical care and surgical services to service members' pets.”
The food inspection specialists play unique roles in the veterinary services’ operations. While the animal care specialists focus on the health of its furry friends, food inspection specialists focus on the well-being of its service members.
“Our main mission is to ensure the health and welfare goals of our military members is adequately met through food inspections and food defense,” said Sgt. Rysper Sirma, Fort Eustis Veterinary Clinic food inspection NCO.
“We inspect food establishments on base such as the Exchange, the Commissary, Burger King, MWR facilities, the Child Development Center and more,” added Sirma.
The dynamic mission of JBLE’s veterinary clinics makes it an integral part of base operations. Active duty, reserve and retired service members can fully take advantage of the multitude of services provided for their own pets at JBLE.
JBLE’s veterinary clinics currently offer numerous services including wellness visits, sick-call, surgery, health certificates (both international and domestic), vaccinations, micro-chipping, radiology, in-house laboratory tests, heartworm prevention, flea/tick prevention, over the counter supplements and prescription medications.
Health certificates are key for a successful transition to an overseas location for any service member who is a pet owner.
“This is an amazing benefit we offer our service members,” Dombou added. “We are familiar with the health certificate’s process as it is a service we often provide the most. Army veterinarians are trained and accredited by the USDA to issue health certificates for domestic travel and a couple of international destinations as well. We encourage service members to always reach out to us when anticipating PCS orders. Preparing pets for domestic and international travel can be a lengthy process depending on the final destination.”
JBLE’s veterinarian team works closely with the base’s hospital for the prevention of zoonotic diseases such as rabies
“One of our important preventative medical measures is immunizing pets against rabies and coordinating animal bite treatments with human physicians,” Dombou stated. “This helps to prevent the spread of Rabies, a deadly zoonotic disease, which means it can be transmitted from an animal to a person.”
The Soldiers who work in the veterinary treatment facilities are dedicated to providing excellent care for family pets.
“Providing support for animal care is to honorably serve the people in my community by being able to provide quality care to their pets,” Wilcox concluded. “Pets are valuable members of the service members’ family, and we serve to help maintain the health and welfare of our community.”
For more information about veterinarian services at JBLE contact (757) 878-5824 for the Fort Eustis location and (757) 764-5678 for the Langley Air Force Base location.
| Date Taken: | 06.26.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 06.26.2019 11:03 |
| Story ID: | 329221 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 49 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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