Memorial affairs reservists provide comfort at sea

Published July 8, 2008
By Staff Sgt. Steve Lewis
512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Air Force reservists from the 512th Memorial Affairs Squadron here took to the seas near Charleston AFB, S.C., June 7-22 for a joint training exercise called Global Medic 2008.

Global Medic, an Army Reserve exercise, involved more than 2,500 reservists from the Air Force, Army and Navy. It simulated medical treatment operations taking place during Operation Enduring Freedom.

The main goal of Global Medic was to ensure the survival of injured Soldiers by providing expedient care on the front lines and airlifting them to locations such as Ramstein Air Base, Germany, for advanced medical treatment.

In this phase of the exercise, medical care began on a simulated battlefield at Bush Air Field, Augusta, Ga. From there, the injured were taken to Charleston AFB and aboard the U.S. Navy Ship Comfort for treatment.

The USNS Comfort, which was anchored off the coast of Charleston AFB, was where Airmen of the 512th MAS played their roles in the exercise.

A MAS team of 10 services specialists spent 10 days aboard the USNS Comfort conducting operations in the ship's galley. In a joint effort with the Army and Navy, the team provided four meals per day to nearly 450 servicemembers aboard the ship.

"We worked to prepare over 1,300 meals throughout the course of the exercise," said Master Sgt. Dana Grove, 512th MAS first sergeant and exercise participant.

"Even before and after the exercise, we had to work every day to feed everyone on the ship," he said. "We were essential to mission accomplishment."

The experience was unique, according to the Air Force reservists who worked alongside Army and Navy reservists during the exercise. It was also the first time the Airmen worked aboard a Navy ship.

"We actually got lost a few times moving around the ship," said Staff Sgt. Roshelle Jones, a 512th MAS member who helped organize and lead the shifts. "There was so much space to work with, and the equipment was actually more advanced than what we're used to working with at the dining hall at (Dover AFB)."

Participating in the exercise with the Army and Navy also provided another first-time experience for the MAS team.

According to Sergeant Jones, the 512th MAS worked mainly with Navy corpsmen and Army medical specialists who had little to no food service experience.

"At first we didn't have enough people to help with the work, so they sent more people from the Army and Navy who ended up in the galley," she said.

During the first day of the exercise, Sergeant Jones said it was challenging for the MAS team to provide food service training to the Army and Navy servicemembers and feed the ship's crew at the same time. Despite this challenge, the services workers' efficient training ensured dining patrons continued to receive excellent customer service, said Sergeant Jones.

"The exercise took a lot of people out of their comfort zone," said Sergeant Grove, who added that the Soldiers and Sailors learned the job quickly. "By the second day, everything started meshing well."

Senior Airman Donice Lewis, 512th MAS, was in charge of the night shift that also consisted of medical specialists and corpsmen who had no food service experience.

"I had so much respect for the Army and Navy personnel," she said. "They worked so hard and never complained."

As the last of the injured troops were transported to the USNS Comfort, marking the end of the exercise aboard ship, Sergeant Grove said he felt the team did their jobs well.

"Our core values were evident in the team," he said. "And, no one starved aboard the Comfort." (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)