JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J. -- The 514th Air Mobility Wing is teeming with Reserve Citizen Airmen who perform above and beyond to accomplish the wing’s mission: to recruit, train and sustain Reserve Citizen Airmen to fly, fight and win.
An integral component of the 514 AMW is the 514th Aerospace Medicine Squadron whose peacetime mission is to provide clinical evaluations to ensure the operational and medical readiness of the 514 AMW.
The Airmen of the 514 AMDS help our reservists stay medically ready to execute their missions in the air, but they are seldom afforded the opportunity to fly themselves.
This may be surprising to civilians who are unfamiliar with daily obligations of the Air Force Reserve, but not all Airmen have the opportunity to fly depending on what job they occupy.
Fortunately for the 514 AMDS, the leaders of their squadron work to ensure their Airmen could obtain such experiences.
“We felt that it was imperative to be able to offer our members the chance to observe another aspect of the mission, understand how they fit into that mission and to build relationships,” said Chief Master Sgt. Marguerite Hellwhich, superintendent of the 514 AMDS. “The AMDS clinical staff will better understand occupational health challenges, clarify why certain conditions can be considered duty limiting and strengthen their skills when it comes to counseling members of the 514 on aspects of health and wellness.”
This exposure to other activities within the 514 AMW is part of an effort for the 514 AMDS to develop well-rounded and more situationally aware Airmen that will improve their own work within the wing.
“Part of our responsibility in developing our airmen is to teach them about how we fit into the National Defense Strategy, reinforce their understanding of the Air Force’s Five Core Missions and generate a frame of reference regarding the Air Force’s Priorities,” Hellwhich said. “We are certain that each time we are exposed to other activities in our wing, it serves to reinforce our sense of how we fit in to the mission of the 514, the Air Force Reserve and the Air Force as a whole.”
While being exposed to part of the larger Air Force Reserve mission, there are opportunities for medical personnel to identify how they can improve their interactions with the Airmen of the 514 AMW regarding their health and well-being.
“The AMDS clinical staff will better understand occupational health challenges, clarify why certain conditions can be considered duty limiting and strengthen their skills when it comes to counseling members of the 514 AMW on aspects of health and wellness,” said Hellwhich.
One of the passengers was Staff Sgt. Radcliffe McDonald, a dental technician with the 514 AMDS. He had held positions of responsibility above his pay grade on multiple occasions and is the kind of Airman his squadron believes will learn valuable lessons from his exposure to other squadrons.
“I didn’t know what to expect but was pretty excited about it,” said McDonald. “I was a little worried about how my section would have to work without me, but they told me to go enjoy the flight and they would be fine.”
McDonald was even treated to a view of an in-flight refuel provided by a KC-10 Extender from the cockpit.
“My favorite part was definitely getting to see them do the refueling,” McDonald said. “They had to be so precise when they were lining up their fuel line with us.”
The 514 AMDS expects a reminder of what some of our squadrons do daily and being able to see those awe-inspiring capabilities in action is something that pay dividends when executing their own missions.
“When our AMDS members are engaged and inspired, they are motivated and become problem-solvers,” said Hellwhich. “Perhaps they will find an innovative way to overcome some of the technical challenges of managing medical records in times of a pandemic or other disaster, or formulate a plan to mitigate a supply chain delay that will keep the members of our wing able to continue the mission.”
“Seeing firsthand what the flight crew does up there makes me realize how important our job is here at medical,” said McDonald. “Those planes need to be in the air and the crews need to be medically qualified to keep them in the air”