CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C –
Editor's note: The Airlift Dispatch will recognize additional award winners as names are released in later editions.
The Air Force and Air Mobility Command continues to recognize Team Charleston members for all of their hard work in 2007.
Members of the 437th Medical Group were recently presented with a number of Air Force and command-level 2007 Medical Service awards.
The following individuals won awards at the Air Force level.
Staff Sgt. Melissa Copeland of the 437th Medical Operations Squadron was awarded the Air Force Physical Medicine Craftsman of the Year Award for overcoming a 33 percent staffing shortfall while maintaining the treatment of 3,500 patients and $215,000 in billed services. Sergeant Copeland spearheaded clinic renovations by designing and guiding the $119,000 project as well as facilitating cutting-edge rehabilitation. She also managed monthly joint Air Force and Navy physical therapy inservice program, reducing redundancies and sharpening skills, saving $5,000 a year.
Airman 1st Class Lee Olson of the 437th Medical Support Squadron was awarded the 2007 Outstanding Medical Material Airman of the Year Award for his support to Operation Enduring Freedom where he directly enabled more than 150 surgeries and the treatment of more than 2,000 patients each month. He stood up the area of responsibility's first Joint Theater Hospital and postured $24 million in medical assets. Airman Olson also thoroughly received and delivered $150,000 weekly in pharmaceuticals and supported more than 170 patient prescriptions.
The following individuals won awards at the AMC level.
Maj. Joann Frye of the 437 MDG was awarded the Field Grade Nurse of the Year award. Major Frye deployed for 126 days in support of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom, during her deployment she was a troop commander for a team of six and mastered in theater command, control and communication leading mission successes. She also served as an expeditionary leader where she was a shift leader for 15 members of a contingency aeromedical staging facility and expedited 160 aeromedical missions and 848 ground missions.
Capt. David Luke III of the 437 MDG was named the Junior Clinical Dentist of the Year. Captain Luke energized the dental flight's flying program. The flight has a 99.8 percent dental readiness for rated members, making the 437 MDG Dental Flight number one in AMC. He also executed the Air Force Dental Readiness Awareness program and surpassed the Air Force participation goals by seven percent. Captain Luke performed 12 weeks of 24/7 emergency coverage allowing patients to receive pain relief after-hours.
Capt. Christopher Palumbo of the 437th MDSS was named the Outstanding Medical Logistics Company Grade Officer of the Year. Captain Palumbo supported 92 wing accounts, which led to 51 C-17s flying 21,000 sorties and 92,000 tons of cargo to war, making it the highest in the Air Force. He also led the deployed Medical Control Center. With 11 staff members, he directed more than 160 aeromedical evacuation missions and moved more than 1,000 patients 100 percent on time.
Tech. Sgt. Melanie Berry of the 437 MDG was named the Outstanding Bio Engineering NCO of the Year for providing superb occupational health services. Sergeant Berry was a superb alternate flight NCO in charge; she led 12 Airmen, 48 programs and $1.3 million in assets. She developed a flight handbook to codify processes, which increased operations efficiency and reduced human-error potential.
Patricia Clark of the 437 MDG was awarded the Dental Civilian of the Year Award for invigorating dental productivity, which resulted in a 30 percent increase from 2006 and is on target to beat the AMC goal. She managed templates for five dentists and eight technicians while clinic productivity netted more than $2.8 million and appointment utilization rate stands at 98 percent. Ms. Clark used creative scheduling to optimize patient care and access for more than 4,000 patients. She was also awarded the 2007 Air Force Association Outstanding Civilian Employee of the Year Award in the civilian program specialist category.
Louis Wong of the 437 MDSS was awarded the Medical Information Systems Award for maintaining 10 servers and 300 workstations while securing vital data for both doctors and patients. He spearheaded the Air Force-mandated standardization of computers. Mr. Wong migrated more than 50 systems in one month with zero mission impact. He also managed more than 100 customer system maintenance requests and revamped the service process, which cut response times by 50 percent.
The 437 MDG was awarded the Outstanding Bio Engineering Flight of the Year for resolving a 12-year problem regarding transient hazardous emissions for an adjacent fertilizer plant that was affecting security forces members. Medical group members inspected the plant, identified the source and worked with state regulators and the plant manager to solve the problem. The 437 MDG led the health and safety integration with the Navy and built Joint Base concurrent operations with no manning impact. AMC said this was the "Best plan seen yet."