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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan – Around the corner from the entrance of the military hospital on Kandahar Airfield there is a small office that belongs to the medical logistics team from the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team ‘War Horse,’ 4th Infantry Division.
However, that team only consists of one person, Spc. Daimon Silva, a medical logistics specialist assigned to Charlie Company, 704th Brigade Support Battalion, 2IBCT, and although his office may be small, Silva plays a big part in the War Horse Brigade mission.
According to the official U.S. Army page, a medical logistics specialist is responsible for receiving, storing, recording and issuing medical supplies that range from medication to medical equipment parts.
“(Medical logistics) is not an easy task,” said Capt. Steven G. Oliveira, commander for Company C, 704th BSB. “They provide the medics, warfighters and the Soldiers that are far forward the supplies they need to stabilize casualties and ensure they can get back to their Families.”
In order to ensure that the mission is completed correctly the company leadership had to decide who to bring to country to run the mission as a one-person section.
“There was a lot of change going on in the (medical logistics) shop… a lot of Soldiers had orders for (permanent change of station) and (expiration of term of service),” said Oliveira. “My first sergeant and I knew we had to choose someone we felt confident in and Silva showed competence and proficiency in his job.”
As the medical logistics specialist for 2IBCT, Silva is in charge of receiving orders from units within the brigade and within KAF, ordering them to arrive in country, sorting and inventorying the supplies and distributing the supplies to their respective units.
Although the military hospital on KAF has medical logistics personal that staff only focuses on the supply needs of the hospital, not the surrounding units, said Oliveira.
“Initially (Silva) was going to support only the battalions within his brigade, but now his customer base is dependent on the units located on (Kandahar Airfield) as well,” explained Oliveira. “He primarily supports the battalions located on remote outposts and units on KAF that don’t have medical logistics like the (Security Force Assistance Brigade).”
Although being the medical logistics subject matter expert for the brigade is a big responsibility to hold, Silva said he enjoys doing his job.
“I feel like I am ahead of the power curve compared to my peers,” said Silva. “It was challenging at first, especially having to set up accounts or do paperwork that is normally done by my (officer in charge) or (noncommissioned officer in charge) but I asked questions and quickly learned how to do it myself.”
Silva said he attributes his success to paying attention to detail in everything he does to get the supplies to their respective units.
“I have to make sure I order the correct items. Once they arrive I have to inventory all the supplies to ensure I received everything the units asked for,” said Silva. “For the units that are not on KAF, I have to re-package the supplies after inventory, do the paperwork for the supplies to be shipped out and take it to the airfield, but if I get anything wrong the supplies won’t get shipped, which will cause the unit not to have their supplies on time.”
Silva’s leadership quickly noticed all the hard work he has put into making the medical logistics section run smoothly over the past two months.
“He is performing above and beyond his rank and we are extremely proud of all the work he is doing here,” said Oliveira. “He is developing a lot of skills that although may seem difficult to him right now, will benefit him down the road when he becomes an NCO.”
Silva recently completed his promotion board to be recommend to the rank of sergeant and said he plans on re-enlisting and making the Army a career.
| Date Taken: | 05.10.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 05.11.2018 06:44 |
| Story ID: | 276649 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR, AF |
| Hometown: | COLORADO SPRINGS, CO, US |
| Hometown: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 54 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Team of one: Medical logistics Soldier supplies units on KAF, by SFC Neysa Canfield, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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