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HURLBURT FIELD, Fla., -- The Fort Walton Beach High School Athletics Program hosted the 2021 Military Appreciation football game on Thursday, October 7th, 2021.
The event showed support for service members serving in the local area. Nine Airmen from the 1st Special Operations Medical Group were recognized for their efforts in contributing to COVID mitigation procedures at Hurlburt Field.
Col. Jocelyn Schermerhorn, 1st Special Operations Wing commander, tossed the opening coin at the start of the varsity game between the Fort Walton Beach Vikings and the Escambia Gators.
During half-time, each of the medical group Airmen was escorted to center field by the high school’s Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps students. Once in position, a brief summary of each of their contributions was shared with the crowd.
Senior Airman Juan Vargas, 1 SOMDG Public Health Technician, discussed the level of adaptability that was necessary at the beginning of the pandemic.
"I was in charge of testing people before they went out for deployment, and since COVID caused things to change from minute to minute, we had to be able to adjust on the fly,” Airman Vargas said. “It was challenging at first, but we finally found our rhythm, and I feel honored that we are being recognized by the community.”
Another Hurlburt honoree, Airman 1st Class Shayla Harris, part of the 1st Special Operations Wing Medical Group Health Service Management team, shared her work experience during COVID.
“I was learning my job and learning how to work with COVID at the same time, so it was difficult, but by the end, it was satisfying,” Harris said. “Hearing my numbers read out loud (at the game) made me realize how much I actually did. My reaction was, wow, I did that. It really made my night.”
Although the Vikings lost their game, each recognized Airmen left with a win.
The following is a list of the Hurlburt Medical group Airmen who were recognized for their actions during the pandemic:
Airman 1st Class Shayla Harris
Airman 1st Class Layla Whiteman
Senior Airman Juan Vargas-Garcia
Senior Airman Maycala Williams
Senior Airman Taylor Bedinghaus
Staff Sergeant Shelly Matheis
Staff Sergeant Magnus Russi
Staff Sergeant Tommy Bender
| Date Taken: | 10.07.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.01.2021 10:42 |
| Story ID: | 408425 |
| Location: | FORT WALTON BEACH, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 84 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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