Photo By Tech. Sgt. Melissa Chatham | Alabama Air National Guard members from the 117 Civil Engineering Squadron,...... read more read more
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By Tech. Sgt. Melissa E. Chatham
Air National Guard Readiness Center Public Affairs
DEMOPOLIS, Ala. – Air National Guard service members along with the Air Force, Navy and Army provide medical, ophthalmology and dental support services to residents as part of an Innovative Readiness Training mission Alabama Care 2012 May 1-10 in Selma, Hayneville and here.
ANG members conduct readiness training in local communities and they are expected to assist more than 1,200 residents who are in need of medical services as part of Alabama Care 2012.
Three field-operated medical facilities were set up in the medically underserved and economically-depressed communities of Selma, Demopolis and Hayneville as part of the IRT Alabama Care 2012, which is a program established to provide deployment and readiness training to service members while simultaneously providing free medical, dental, ophthalmology services to the community.
“This is a remarkable mission for [ANG] members to be a part of, said Lt. Col. Dwight Hall, the IRT program manager. “They can work alongside of other branches of the military, conduct training that they may not be able to receive at their home units, enhance their job skills within a deployed environment without bullets flying over their heads and also help the community all at the same time. The people we help are so gracious, which really makes the mission even more rewarding as well.”
The Alabama Care 2012 health care initiative is a premier world-class field training event for military service members. The mission provides significant, valuable and realistic training in a deployed environment. Lt. Col. Hall’s goal is for service members to focus on training their junior enlisted and officers, allowing them to gain knowledge and enhance their skills in a deployed environment.
IRT missions provide value by allowing an opportunity to train on military career skill sets while working with real patients and special equipment, all while assisting communities with free medical care.
“It is wonderful training for enlisted folks, our officers, and our nurses … from a leadership and organizational standpoint, said Lt. Col. Gary Foskey, a doctor from the 178th Medical Squadron, Ohio ANG. “It’s great for everyone from training perspective. We would never do this at our home unit because we just don’t have the patient population. By continuing IRT missions, we are much better prepared if we do need to deploy somewhere for a flood, hurricane or combat environment; we can also identify problems within the community so that they can get help.”
Incidental to military readiness training, Alabama Care 2012 provides medical, dental, and optometric care and civil engineering support to assist local health and municipal authorities to addressing underserved, unmet community health and civic needs while increasing the quality of life for local residents.
“If you look at the line we have today - it’s a true blessing that ya’ll [the military] came here to help, and I want to thank God for the military being here,” said one Alabama resident. “It is so beneficial … we have a lot of people with diabetes… people need to go to the dentists, but can’t afford it, I thank the military and Selma Mayor [George P.] Evans for allowing Alabama Care to come to Dallas County, Selma!”
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 05.09.2012 12:42 |
| Story ID: | 88156 |
| Location: | DEMOPOLIS, AL, US |
| Web Views: | 105 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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