Buckley stands up Operational Support Team

BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, CO, UNITED STATES

11.03.2023

Story by Airman 1st Class Aleece Williams 

Space Base Delta 2

While Guardians are at the heart of Buckley supporting the missile warning mission, Airmen are working alongside them to assist their efforts. As they do this, the Operational Support Team (OST) is being implemented to ensure their readiness is taken care of.

The OST is a small five-person medical team composed of a psychologist, clinical social worker, strength and conditioning coach, physical therapist, and team lead. These positions allow this team to come together and establish workplace safety, educate units on risk prevention, and reinforce resources to bolster mental health resilience.

“Ultimately we are creating a sense of ownership from commanders to take what we've implemented and run with it in their own way to increase readiness but more importantly, morale and satisfaction of the military members here at Buckley,” said Matt Boettcher, OST team lead.

While this team is still establishing their services to Buckley, one practice they implement is embedding themselves into high-risk units, or units that are eager to work with them. The embedment lasts approximately 3-6 months and allows the OST to engage with Airmen while they execute their designated mission requirements. This allows them to gather firsthand information about the types of risk factors members are exposed to on the job and formulate care measures to prevent any ailments.

As the team progresses, they plan to work with other OSTs to ensure their practices are in alignment to obtain maximum success; the Buckley Guardian Resilience Team (GRT), to ensure they are taking all the steps needed to care for the Airmen who are more isolated in restricted areas on installation.

“We want to work with the GRT to make sure we’re taking care of all of our Air Force people and sharing resources with those people in a restricted area,” said Capt. Hannah Rizley, OST physical therapist

Team Buckley’s Operational Support Team is currently a four person team as they await their incoming strength and conditioning coach. While waiting for their new member, they are working with the 460th Force Support Squadron and 460th Logistics Readiness Squadron to validate the success of their practices. In their infancy, they aim to ensure their interventions are in alignment with the squadrons’ needs and the commander's goals for the squadron.

“Ultimately we’re creating a sense of ownership for commanders to take what we've implemented and run with it in their own way to increase readiness but more importantly, morale and satisfaction of the military members of the service members here at Buckley,” said Boettcher. “Not only are we advisors, but we want to be their advocates as well. So if there's issues that they're seeing base wide, we can be a sounding board to higher command to allow us to speak on their behalf or speak alongside them on some of their concerns.”

• Date Taken: 11.03.2023
• Date Posted: 11.06.2023 11:25
• Story ID: 457269
• Location: BUCKLEY SPACE FORCE BASE, CO, US