The call to duty was fast and unexpected for U.S. Army soldier Major Melissa Riester-Hartsell, commander of the 155th Medical Detachment (Preventive Medicine), stationed at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
“They said pack your bags and come right now,” said Riester-Hartsell. Two days later, Riester-Hartsell was at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. “If you’re ready, and something happens, they’re going to take the unit that’s ready. Our training gave us a little bit of everything, and we were ready for it.”
Riester-Hartsell’s small team of ten Soldiers deployed to Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar in support of the U.S. Department of State and Task Force Liberty that housed and processed Afghan evacuees as they traveled to the United States.
Since August 2021, the 155th functioned similarly to a public health department. “We’re actually preventing things instead of just cleaning up the messes,” said Riester-Hartsell. The unit conducts ongoing air quality, sanitation, pest control inspections, and even tests mosquitos for malaria, leishmaniosis, and West Nile virus.
The 155th tested over 100,000 gallons of water for drinking, hygiene, and cooking. Riester-Hartsell’s team also inspected food for 800 U.S. service members and 1,200 civilians, and nearly 20,000 Afghan travelers, completing nearly 200 inspections. The team also screened travelers for over 120 flights that passed through Qatar. “This has been an awesome way to apply all our skills and really put those to the test,” said Riester-Hartsell.
Riester-Hartsell’s team built a special rapport with the Afghan travelers and even hosted a Halloween party for them. “It’s hard to do public health without the public, and if we don’t have their buy-in, our efforts won’t be successful,” Riester-Hartsell explained.
“We’ve had a global impact here. The mission has been awesome. I’ve learned a lot about inter-agency cooperation which has been eye opening.”
| Date Taken: | 03.24.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 03.25.2022 08:19 |
| Story ID: | 417151 |
| Location: | FORT BRAGG, NC, US |
| Web Views: | 200 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Small Unit Makes a Big Impact in Qatar, by CPT Robert Hughes, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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