Air Force Surgeon General visits Beale

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Luke Johnson
  • 9th RW Public Affairs
BEALE AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (ACCNS) --  The Surgeon General of the Air Force visited Beale AFB July 6 to learn about the mission of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing and to witness firsthand how the 9th Medical Group is taking care of Airmen and their dependents.

During his visit, Lt. Gen. Bruce Green and Chief Master Sgt. Charlie Cole, Air Force Chief Medical Enlisted Force advisor, addressed 9th MDG Airmen during an all call at the base theater. Both discussed how the Air Force has made rapid improvements in aeromedical evacuation, and also the exceptional patient care 9th MDG Airmen have provided to Team Beale.

"We came out here today to make sure you know how important you are to our mission, and help you understand what role Air Force medics play in the overall Air Force mission," said General Green.

He explained that the Air Force is very much part of the "send me" culture in the U.S. military.

"When disaster strikes or something bad happens in the world, we say 'we are trained and ready, send us,'" said General Green.

He talked about how rapid improvements in aerospace medical evacuation have increased survival rates of those seriously injured in combat - up to 96 percent regardless of severity of injury at Air Force theater hospitals in Balad and Bagram, which has contributed to the lowest died of wounds rate in history for any conflict.

"The patients are not only surviving in theater, but they recover faster when we bring them back for rehabilitation because it makes a huge difference when you have a loved one holding your hand and encouraging you to fully recover," said General Green.

General Green has challenged Air Force leaders to look at ways they can improve the process of in-theater patient care and aeromedical evacuations.

"We need to continuously improve the EMEDS (expeditionary medical support system) to look at fast setup tents to see if we can treat the first patients within an hour, and do the first operation within three hours," said General Green. "How do we push the envelope to achieve even greater capability?"

Chief Cole challenged 9th MDG Airmen to make a difference in someone's life, whether it is a patient or coworker.

"General Green says we have the ability to make someone's life better," said Chief Cole. "We just need to do it! What I ask of you is when you get up in the morning and are coming to work, think about how you can make a difference in someone life, not just a patient's life but a coworkers life."

At the conclusion of the all call, General Green said that 9th MDG Airmen are part of an important intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission at Beale. He also stressed the importance of taking care of your Wingman.