Photo By Senior Airman Jordan Lazaro | U.S. Air Force Maj. Matthew Waller, 911th Aeromedical Staging Squadron registered...... read more read more
Two mental health nurses assigned to the 911th Aeromedical Staging Squadron trained with the Deployment Transition Center and the 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from July 13 to Aug. 5, 2023, at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. During that time, Maj. Matthew Waller and Maj. Anthony Niederriter brought the skills and perspectives of Reserve Citizen Airmen to an active duty environment.
While embedded with the DTC, Waller and Niederriter aided warriors in reintegrating and helped individuals redeploying to decompress. Having gone through the DTC program in 2017 after returning from a deployment to Afghanistan, Waller and Niederriter experienced the benefits first hand.
“We wanted to give back to the program by bringing the perspective of the reservist Master Resilience Trainer Course to it,” said Waller. “We also wanted to learn about how the resilience model was taught and presented to returning warriors so we could apply those lessons locally.”
As reservist master resilience trainers, they led sessions for troops with an opportunity to enhance their leadership and effectiveness and to learn how to teach resilience skills to service members.
“We wanted to connect the DTC and Ramstein AB to Air Force Reserve assets,” said Waller. “We thought all could benefit from a collaborative relationship, offering more opportunities for reserve members to serve annual tours or deployments at Ramstein and help with manning shortages. The meeting resulted in new options for the DTC and a deeper understanding of funding options to incorporate reservists into the mission.”
The team of Steel Airmen also took part in an AE mission consisting of 50 inpatient and outpatient wounded warriors who required aeromedical evacuation back to the United States. During this time, they lent their expertise to qualify flight nurses and flight medics on critical job-specific credentialing to complete Comprehensive Medical Readiness Program tasks such as in-flight emergencies.
“Working with the active component felt like home for the two of us,” said Waller. “We hit the ground running and made contributions on day one, showing people what we can do, rather than just telling them. That was a great way to build the relationships and show we were all on the same team with the same mission.”
| Date Taken: | 10.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 10.17.2023 11:12 |
| Story ID: | 455956 |
| Location: | PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, PA, US |
| Hometown: | CLEVELAND, OH, US |
| Hometown: | PITTSBURGH, PA, US |
| Web Views: | 134 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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