Photo By Senior Chief Petty Officer John Osborne | Army Lt. Col. John Hustleby, left, and Army Col. Vic Adamson of the 350th Civil...... read more read more
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By Petty Officer 1st Class John Osborne
Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Public Affairs
CAMP LEMONIER, Djibouti – After 34 years as a veterinarian and an Army Reservist, Col. (Dr.) Vic Adamson has traveled the world and performed his job in virtually every type of location under every condition imaginable. Veterinary medicine and military service are his most fervent passions in life next to his family, and even as he nears the age for collecting social security, this old warhorse shows no signs of wanting to slow down.
"The Reserves have given me the opportunity to come out and participate in projects and perform missions in locations that I would have never had the chance to work in otherwise," Adamson said this fall during his unit's participation in Operation Honest Dart in Djibouti, Africa. "It has always been my pleasure to provide services and programs to people who don't normally have access to the kind of assistance the United States can provide. I have had the privilege over the course of my career to work in Central and South America, the Middle East and now East Africa. It's been a highlight of my professional, personal and military life."
And his work ethic personifies his attitude. Adamson is currently deployed as a member of the 350th Civil Affairs Command from Pensacola, Fla., a member of Combined Joint Task Force Command – Horn of Africa. On Sept. 22, the 350th embarked on a month-long mission into the sweltering heat and rocky terrain of Djibouti, Africa, to carry out Operation Honest Dart as part of CJTF-HOA's Veterinary Civil Action Program. As the only licensed veterinarian on the mission, Adamson led the team on a daily basis into the remote villages of Djibouti's Tadjoura, Ali Sabieh and Dikhil Districts to provide preventative vaccinations and on-site medical care for goats, camels and cows of local herdsmen.
"As a rule, the herdsmen have been very receptive and appreciative," Adamson said after the first two weeks of the mission. "We have vaccinated over 5,000 animals at seven different sites in the Tadjoura District. We look for areas that are under-served by the government and their host nation. We are touching the very basics now, but it still increases the overall health of the animals."
The purpose of the VETCAP, which concluded with the vaccination of over 20,000 animals, is capacity building for the host nation Ministry of Livestock and Agriculture to better prepare them to provide annual health services for their constituents. The common problems with the animals range from basic internal and external parasites to highly contagious diseases that effect health and result in a high rate of mortality. The teams have been giving most of the treatment in the form of two injections (goats and sheep) of water and fat soluble vitamins for general health improvement and then Ivomec to remove internal and external parasites. The larger animals (camels and cattle) have Ivomec applied to them on their skin in a liquid form.
"The vitamins assist in the overall health and maintenance by converting the limited nutrition they have in Djibouti to muscle mass and weight production," Adamson said. "The Ivomec works with the vitamins because when you eliminate the parasites the animals can put on more muscle mass and produce better milk."
Adamson admits it is not veterinarian medicine in the traditional sense that most people think of and it is a far cry from his civilian job for the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Veterinary Services in Montgomery, Ala., but it is the kind of work he has thrived on ever since graduating from Auburn University's College of Veterinary Medicine in 1976.
"Civil Affairs has always been based around humanitarian assistance and humanitarian civic action projects, and what drives me is the ability and opportunity to work with different people in different countries and cultures to help them improve their lives through improving the overall health of their animals," Adamson said. "Many of the owners of these animal owners have not been educated and trained on the preventative medicine programs we are using. They think only in treatment of sick animals, but we are trying to keep them from getting sick in the first place."
This is exactly what Chief of Health of Animals for the District of Tadjoura, Moussa Mohamed Abdallah, sees as one of the key factors in creating and sustaining a stronger and thriving stock of animals for the farmers in his country. As the counselor to the herdsmen of Tadjoura, it is Abdallah's job to educate the farmers on how to better care for their animals. He appreciates the assistance of the VETCAP and would actually like to see it expanded to incorporate a longer lasting American presence.
"My job is to let the farmers know what they don't know and teach them to help themselves," said Abdallah, who has held his current position for the last 10 years. "The Americans' presence is a benefit and it is always a positive experience. I would like to see a continuous mobile team that would stay here and give training to the people on how to care for their herds so that we can give them the medicines to treat their animals after we leave."
This VETCAP concluded, Oct. 22, in the Ali Sabieh District, leaving Adamson satisfied and ready and for the next mission. "I am proud of how well our team worked together and of how much we were able to accomplish," said Adamson, who will also be involved in future CJTF-HOA VETCAPS planned for the coming months and next year in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Yemen.
"We not only helped these herdsmen better the health of their livestock, but also built a rapport and trust that will benefit those who come after us. When I see what we were able to accomplish, I know there is nothing else I'd rather be doing."
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 10.27.2007 12:53 |
| Story ID: | 13380 |
| Location: | CAMP LEMONNIER, DJ |
| Web Views: | 170 |
| Downloads: | 92 |
This work, Thirty-four years later, Reservist still relishes dual role as Soldier and veterinarian, by SCPO John Osborne, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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