An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

American Lung Association honors MacDill reservist

  • Published
  • By Capt. Shane Huff
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Office
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The American Lung Association gave one of its top awards to a medical service corps officer in MacDill's 45th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.

Maj. Mark D. Carey was one of three volunteers nationwide to receive the American Lung Association 2009 Volunteer Excellence Award in San Diego June 26.

Major Carey has been a volunteer with the association's Central Florida Chapter for more than 12 years. He was nominated for his volunteer work with the "Open Airways for Schools" program.

"This is an excellent service that ALA offers to kids with the goal of teaching them how to manage their asthma," he said. "The program is designed for elementary aged school children grades 3-5 who have asthma. We are always in need of more volunteers."

Goals of the programs are improving asthma self-management skills, decreasing asthma emergencies, raising asthma awareness among parents and guardians, and promoting broader asthma management coordination among physicians, parents, and schools.

When not serving as a reservist in Air Force Reserve Command's 45th AES, Major Carey is director of the Respiratory Care Program and professor of Respiratory Therapy at Seminole Community College in Sanford, Fla. His college students help conduct the classes in this program, which meets one day a week for six weeks.

"I enjoy seeing how much these kids learn in our classes," he said. "Instructing parents and keeping kids in school and out of emergency rooms is what we are all about. Any public or private school can contact ALA directly about having the program brought to their school."

Major Carey has been assigned to the 45th AES since 1995. The squadron provides theater-level command and control for all aeromedical evacuation activities supporting the Worldwide Aeromedical Evacuation System. The 45th AES routinely sends reservists to support moving patients in the United States and overseas. (Air Force Reserve Command News Service)