Travis Tailwind: Dec. 30, 2022

TRAVIS TAILWIND

Travis community can BE FIT in the New Year with tips, resources from exchange online hub

Army & Air Force Exchange Service Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE

BASE — The Army & Air Force Exchange Service is making sure military communities around have health and fitness resources at their fingertips all year with the online BE FIT 360 Hub.

The Exchange’s BE FIT 360 program focuses on holistic wellness, and the BE FIT 360 Hub offers all the tools for a healthy lifestyle in one place, including workout videos; fitness tips; healthy eating guidance; links to activewear and gear; wellness information; and more.

“The BE FIT Hub is a bulked-up all-in-one resource for making healthier choices,” said Travis BX General Manager Phonda Bishop. “With the Hub, the Exchange can be a partner in helping keep those New Year’s resolutions all year long.”

The BE FIT 360 Hub, which is updated often with new workouts, nutrition and wellness content, can be found at ShopMyExchange. com/BeFit.

Army team helps Smithsonian Zoo protect endangered Red Pandas

Walter Ham U.S. ARMY

FORT DETRICK, Md. — A U.S. Army medical team contrib uted to an investigation into the cause of death of a Red Panda at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Insti tute.

The findings will ultimately help to protect the endangered species.

Maj. Mathanraj Packiam, PhD, from the 1st Area Medical Laboratory and U.S. Army Med ical Research Institute of Infec tious Diseases, worked with Maj. Jeffrey R. Kugelman and Raina Kumar from the Center for Ge nomics; Dr. Janice Williams, Lt. Col. Curtis R. Cline and Col. Paul R. Facemire from the USAMRIID Department of Pathology; and Dr. Neel Aziz, a veterinary pathologist at NZCBI on the investigation.

“Red Pandas are endangered and legally protected in India, Bhutan, China, Nepal and Myanmar,” said Dr. Aziz. “Their primary threats are habitat loss and degradation, human interference and poaching. Learning the specific genus and species of pathogens that affect Red Pandas will help conservation medicine at the wildlife domestic animal interface and wildlife human interface.”

The USAMRIID’s pathology

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team conducted transmission electron microscopy studies on Formalin-Fixed, Paraffin-Embedded (FFPE) tissue from the Red Panda’s brain in an effort to identify and speciate the protozoa in the brain tissue.

The USAMRIID’s genomics team extracted the DNA from FFPE brain sections and performed sequencing and identified the protozoa to the species level, said Packiam, who earned his doctoral degree in Microbiology

and Immunology from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.

Packiam said the mission was special because of the agent and sample type.

“Pathogen discovery or detection of an unknown pathogenic agent in a sample is my passion,” said Packiam. “The primary suspected agent at the beginning of the investigation was Toxoplasma gondii, for which cats serve as the most likely source of infection in

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a zoo setting.

“After the identification of Sarcocystis neurona as the etiological agent, for which opossum is the most likely source of infection, the zoo could take appropriate measures to protect the Red Pandas,” said Packiam.

Originally from Trichy, India, Packiam spends his time between the Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland-based 1st Area Medical Laboratory and the Fort Detrick, Maryland-based U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases.

Packiam recently passed the demanding American Board of Medical Microbiology exam that has a historical 20 percent success rate for non-fellowship candidates. The six-and-a-half hour, computer-based exam has 200 multiple choice questions on clinical lab testing, administration, safety, security and consulting functions.

The 1st Area Medical Laboratory is part of the 44th Medical Brigade and 20th Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, Explosives (CBRNE) Command, the U.S. Department of Defense’s premier all hazards formation. Soldiers and U.S. Army civilians from 20th CBRNE Command deploy from 19 bases in 16 states to take on the world’s most dangerous hazards in support of joint, 11 Puzzle

CONTENTS

Worship services

Classifieds 16 Parting shots

ON THE COVER

A C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 437th Airlift Wing, Joint Base Charleston, S.C., flies above Wake Island Dec. 6.

Mathias Appel courtesy photo

A U.S. Army medical team contributed to an investigation into the cause of death of a Red Panda at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, and the findings will ultimately help to protect the endangered species.

Travis medic rescues man while on honeymoon

Senior Airman Alexander Merchak 60TH AIR MOBILITY WING PUBLIC AFFAIRS

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — Vacations are typically a chance to unwind, but what happens when there is an emergency in paradise? While enjoying time off in Hawaii, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Harris Belmonte, 60th Inpa tient Operations Squadron criti cal care shift lead, rendered lifesaving aid to a stranger in need.

Belmonte and his wife took leave and went to Hawaii for their honeymoon. They were heading to Halona Beach in Ho nolulu, Hawaii, on Nov. 3, to take photos of the local scenery and no more than 30 minutes later, they heard screams for help.

“I rushed over immediately and saw an individual lying down appearing to be unconscious,” said Belmonte.

Upon arriving, Belmonte saw roughly eight people gathered where the yells originated from. He noticed a nurse directing good Samaritans helping, but they were performing improper CPR techniques.

“I felt at that moment, that it was my responsibility to take charge of compressions and have someone else focus on giving breathes,” said Belmonte.

“Training kicked in.”

As a critical care technician, Belmonte says situations like these are practiced at the hospital frequently and afterwards the unit will debrief to discuss what went well and what didn’t.

According to Belmonte, he

rendered two cycles of CPR, and after an assessment of the patient, a weak pulse and breathing was observed.

“We turned him over and put him in the recovery position,” said Belmonte. “We tried talking to him while rubbing his back,

but he wasn’t responding.”

Belmonte noticed that while the man was in the recovery po sition, he was demonstrating ag onal breathing – a reflex of a per son who isn’t getting enough oxygen and is gasping for air.

As the situation continued, Belmonte heard the nurse shout, “We don’t have a pulse!”

“At this time everything got si lent and my only focus was on the patient,” said going to lose this man’s pulse.”

Belmonte administered one more cycle of CPR until the first responders arrived and took over the man’s care. The paramedics were able to maintain a pulse and transported the patient for fur ther treatment.

ooking back, it really did feel like we were at the right place at the right time,” said Belmonte.

Belmonte explained that he and his wife planned to get an earlier start to the day and visit a different area but noticed a lot of people at Cockroach Cove, so they decided to check it out.

“He was so calm and collected as he ran over to assist the man that was taken out of the water,” said Betty Belmonte, spouse of Harris Belmonte.

According to Betty, this is just

who Harris is.

“Our son always tells my husband that he is his superhero,” said Betty. “That day, he showed his superpowers!”

If you are interested in serving in the Air Force medical field, visit here, or talk to your local recruiter.

SrA Alexander Merchak/U.S. Air Force

ABOVE: U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Harris Belmonte, 60th Inpatient Operations Squadron critical care shift lead, poses for photo at David Grant USAF Medical Center, Dec. 15.

Courtesy photo

Staff Sgt. Harris Belmonte and his wife, Betty Belmonte, at Halona Beach in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 3.

‘I’m not going without you.’ Ukrainian lovers defy the rules of war

Cole LOS ANGELES TIMES

KHERSON, Ukraine — Several weeks before Russian troops captured the provincial capital of Kherson, Ludmila Taranov was scrolling through an online dating site, looking for someone to have coffee with – someone to take her mind off her troubles.

Taranov, 31, was teaching disabled children at a public school, and, with a master’s degree in English and Russian, she also taught English on the side. Divorced, she lived with her mother, her sister and brother-in-law, and their infant son. When she wasn’t at school, she was taking care of her mother, who’d been ill.

Taranov needed to get out of the house.

“I like sports,” she’d written in her profile. “I’m active, and I work out a lot. If you’re OK with that, maybe we can meet for coffee.” She posed at the gym for profile photos in black tights and top; her makeup and long blond hair were immaculate.

She’d been looking at one particular dating profile for four years. His pictures weren’t very good, Taranov said, but she eventually decided it was time to reach out. He called soon after to invite her on a coffee date.

Viacheslav Slavov – or Slava – remembers the first time they spoke on the phone, mostly because Taranov seemed to be more interested in the computer game that appeared in one of his profile photos than she was in him. He’d never met a woman who was as into e-gaming as he was, and – jokingly – he asked her to marry him.

A few days later, on Jan. 18, they met for coffee, “and that was it,” Taranov said, adding, “He was much better looking

in person.”

Then the Russians arrived.

nnn

Troops and tanks started to pour into Kherson at the end of February, crossing the Dnieper River to capture the first major Ukrainian city in the war. When they rolled into Taranov’s neighborhood, the rumble reached a crescendo when four of the tanks stopped in front of her house.

Her 43-year-old sister, Elena, was upstairs holding her baby and watching out the window when a gun turret slowly started to turn toward their home.

“They pointed the tank guns at the window,” Taranov said. “The first time I saw that, I started to cry. When you see the enemy’s guns on you for the first time, you can’t control yourself.”

Her mother, Larisa Taranov, has had plenty of experience with living in challenging circumstances. Her husband is often away at sea, working as a mechanic on cargo ships for long stretches of time, and she has, in essence, raised her daughters on her own. But the invasion went way beyond challenging; it was “terrifying.”

Their large, six-bedroom house, made possible by her husband’s long stints at sea, was almost finished when the war broke out– just the kind of place Russian officers would like to occupy. But Taranov said her 63-year-old mother was not about to let that happen. Larisa transformed herself into a sentry with a broom, sweeping in front each day to make sure they knew the house was occupied, and the officers took over an empty house two doors down instead.

The Taranovs’ large basement – designed as a rec room –became a bomb shelter at the start of the war. There is no running

water or electricity. The bath room next to the kitchen on the first floor is filled with buckets of water, some for flushing the toi let, some for bathing, some filled with drinking water.

The windows throughout the house, covered in black plastic, are double-paned to keep out the long, cold winters, but Taranov said even those couldn’t keep out the smell of burning bodies dur ing the Russian occupation.

“I stayed home most of the time,” Taranov said. “I was afraid they would punch me in the stom ach. They hit people just because they didn’t understand the ques tions.”

The outside world was depressing. “I tried to go out only

Carolyn

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS photos

Ludmila Taranov, left, and Viacheslav Slavov, both 31, met a month before Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion of Kherson in southern Ukraine.

Ludmila Taranov lights candles at home in Kherson, Ukraine, as it gets dark outside. There is no running water or electricity at the house.

Mullen: Women’s health equity is a real focus for DoD

Janet A. Aker MHS COMMUNICATIONS

Health equality for women in service and women beneficiaries is and will remain a top priority for the Department of Defense, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Seileen Mullen made clear during a recent podcast.

Talking to the Army Wife Network on Nov. 30, Mullen said women have unique needs, including reproductive care and gender-specific care issues, because they differ from men in cardiovascular health, mental health, and musculoskeletal injures, among other medical issues.

“We’ve made that a real focus and part of my portfolio and my issue,” Mullen said.

Women are the fastest growing percentage of the armed services at about 18% of the total, and women make up 4.7 million DoD beneficiaries, she pointed out.

Mullen discussed the DoD’s recent focus on contraceptive and reproductive care during the podcast.

Family Planning or Deployment Planning

She spoke about the recent directive requiring walk-in contraceptive services at military hospitals and clinics and the variety of contraceptive choices that are available through the Military Health System.

“That is very critical because you either want to plan your family or plan your deployment,” Mullen said.

On Sept. 27, the Defense Health Agency issued the requirement that military hospitals and clinics offer full-scope, walk-in contraceptive services. By January 2023, DHA hospitals and clinics will specify the location and hours of operation for walk-in services, providing sameday access with no appointment or referral needed.

A 2020 RAND study that was published in 2022, informed much of the increased focus on women’s health, Mullen said.

That study the first on military women’s health in 30 years–highlighted the need for women’s health services “which are becoming some of the top

clinical service delivery lines in the MHS,” she said.

She also pointed to the DoD’s memo on ensuring access to reproductive health published on Oct. 20.

In that memo, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III directs the military to “conduct a comprehensive contraception education campaign to enhance service members’ awareness of the resources available to them and their families, including emergency contraception.”

“That education campaign will also highlight the fact that the Department of Defense has eliminated TRICARE co-pays for medical contraceptive services, including intrauterine devices,” the memo states.

“We’re removing that copay to make it that much easier for

women in the military to get services such as IUDs and contraceptive implants,” Mullen said.

She let the audience know about two mobile apps that help female service members and their families decide on family planning and deployment readiness, the Decide and Be Ready mobile app, and the Deployment Readiness Education for Service Women (DRES) mobile app, respectively.

The military is also conducting pilot programs with doulas, who help women through pregnancy and childbirth, and lactation consultants.

The websites www.health. mil and www.tricare.mil are both great sources of information on women’s contraceptive and reproductive information, Mullen said.

Empowerment is Key

The podcaster asked Mullen what empowerment means to her, a question she asks every guest.

“Empowerment is autonomy,” Mullen responded. “I think we are each capable, fully realized human beings who know what’s best for ourselves and the best decisions for ourselves and for our families.”

“I believe we should be allowed as often, and as frequently as possible, to express autonomy,” she added.

“We are people who are smart. We know what we would like to do, and we know what’s right to do,” she said. “I think that autonomy to do those actions is what empowerment means to me.”

MHS Communications photo

A service member gets a checkup at a military hospital or clinic. Women’s health issues are a top priority for the DoD, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Seileen Mullen told the Army Wife Network podcast on Nov. 30. “Empowerment is autonomy,” she said.

KC-46 performs first operational long-endurance flight

MCCONNELL AIR FORCE

BASE, Kan. — Two KC-46A Pegasus air refueling aircraft took off on a long endurance flight as part of a Bomber Task Force mission, Dec. 17-18, in the Indo-Pacific Command area of responsibility in support of long-range precision strike training.

McConnell aircrews flew a total of 42 hours across the Pacific Ocean, over Hawaii and Guam, conducting operations within the Indo-Pacific region, then flew back to Guam and circled back home to Kansas. This endurance flight was the first time the KC-46 has directly supported a Bomber Task Force mission.

In September, Gen. Mike Minihan, Air Mobility Command commander, approved the KC46A Pegasus for worldwide deployment in support of combatant command taskings. The KC-46A Pegasus enhances lethality and additional options to the joint force with its ability to extend reach and increase battlespace awareness, among other additional capabilities.

Flexibility is key and the KC46s were able to provide tanker flexibility in the event the bombers needed more fuel in anticipation of a longer than expected mission, or in the event scheduled tankers didn’t show, said Capt. Steven Strickland, 22nd Operations Support Squadron chief of wing tactics.

“We also provided a reachback capability through various beyond the line-of-sight secure data tactical systems,” he said. “It allowed us to communicate with a host of organizations and personnel from around the globe, while being more efficient than standard communication relays.”

The crews executed Agile Combat Employment concepts throughout the flight. The

aircrews flew with the Bomber Task Force to ensure tanker flexibility for world-wide employment and support long-range strike capabilities in the Indo-Pacific command area of responsibility. They also performed off site self-service to their aircraft ensuring minimum time on the ground in Guam before taking off again to head back to east to McConnell Air Force Base. This type of self-service is part of the Agile Combat Employment initiative of multi-capable airmen and decreases reliance on traditional en route support thereby allowing aircrews a wider range of options in execution.

Human Performance experts from McConnell also played a role in the long endurance flight. Medical professionals worked with the aircrews to come up with sufficient crew rest schedules to lower the amount of fatigue endured during the mission. These missions aim to lower the number of crews onboard to simulate what a flight like this would look like for a standard crew and how the crews would handle situations of long endurance.

“I’ve done (a) 24-hour flight and it’s not bad as long as you take the sufficient mitigating factors such as good rest, good food and bring things to do (in order) to keep your mind occupied during the rest cycle,” said Staff Sgt. Brad MaGee, 349th Refueling Squadron boom operator.

The KC-46 is equipped with several self-protection, defensive and communication features, making it more survivable in a contested environment.

“This tanker will begin to be assigned to non-traditional roles,” said Strickland. “We are providing a lot more flexibility and capability to the war fighter by providing more options and enhancing decision making. We are helping them achieve their goals in a much more efficient and

cost-effective way.”

“This mission highlighted both endurance operations and the close integration between multiple platforms and capabilities,” said Col. Nate Vogel, 22nd Air Refueling Wing commander. “Our amazing airmen, from aircrew to support personnel, tirelessly work to provide capability to combatant commanders.”

Airman 1st Class Felicia Przydzial

Airman 1st Class Felicia Przydzi/U.S. Air Force

A KC-135 Stratotanker from Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, flies over a McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, KC-46A Pegasus in preparation for in-flight refueling, in the Indo-Pacific, Dec. 17.

Sarah Marshall UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY

To ensure that surgeons worldwide, particularly military surgeons, keep their skills sharp and maintain their clinical readiness, the Uniformed Services University, in conjunction with the American College of Surgeons, the Military Health System Strategic Partnership American College of Surgeons, and the University of California, Davis, has developed a new resource –the Military Clinical Readiness Curriculum, or “mCurriculum.”

The training modules are free and easily accessible, and can help surgeons around the globe to care for patients with complex injuries. They are also formatted for a smartphone, tablet, or computer and can be scanned for key points, depending on an individual’s learning needs, and they include a voiceover transcript.

The curriculum was developed with military surgeons in mind, however, the quick and easy-to-use modules are relevant to trauma patient care anywhere in the world, and can be used by any surgeon who needs to fill a particular knowledge gap. They can also be used as a “just-intime” training resource.

How It Began

Dean of USU’s School of Medicine, Dr. Eric Elster, initially had the idea for the curriculum and this program, which came to fruition over the course of several years thanks to a long-standing collaborative relationship between the military and the ACS. In 2012, he and renowned vascular surgeon Dr. Norman Rich, former USU Department of Surgery chair, initially met with ACS’s then executive director Dr. David Hoyt to discuss ways to support a continued partnership between the ACS and the military. Through this meeting,

the surgeons recognized a shared ethos as well as a need for a continued reciprocal learning relationship, which later led to the formation of the MHSSPACS.

The MHSSPACS was formalized at the Clinical Congress in 2014 for the purpose of exchanging information between the military and civilian surgical communities in four areas: trauma systems, surgical quality care, military-relevant research, and education and training. Additionally, this endeavor led to a reestablishment of the Excelsior Surgical Society for Military Surgeons, which has since become self-sustaining and has grown to include more than 450 members, Elster noted.

Then, through the MHSSPACS, military and civilian surgeons continued to foster their relationships, working together as they led a designated committee for each of the four key areas – all of which have proven to be successful, Elster said. For instance, under Trauma Systems, military and civilian surgeons wrote a blue book for military-civilian partnerships, which the military now uses to select and monitor military-civilian partnerships. Under Surgical Quality Care, a quality consortium was established, which is now used as a benchmark quality program in all military treatment facilities.

On the Education and Training front, a 2016 meeting was held with all general surgery leaders across the Military Health System, in collaboration with the ACS. This meeting laid the foundation for what became the KSA Clinical Research Program, which provides an innovative approach to measuring, evaluating, and sustaining clinical proficiency. Through this program, KSA Metrics are used to evaluate the readiness value derived from each clinician’s peacetime workload. KSA

Knowledge Assessments were also developed, through this pro gram, to ensure clinical knowl edge sustainment by identifying any knowledge gaps. KSA Skills Assessments then use best-inclass educational principles to

Lt. Cmdr. Scott Trask, general surgeon of Fleet Surgical Team Seven performs surgery, Sept. 27, 2018.

Soldier surrenders to life changes, ends up paralympic athlete

MaryTherese Griffin U.S. ARMY

It’s no secret: It’s very easy to give up and much harder to carry on in times of adversity. Maj. (Ret.) Christina Truesdale has a very different take on that secret, and it has to do with surrendering.

“Surrender is not about giving up its about being in a state of acceptance and grace where you recognize this is where I am right now.” Back in 2017, the elite jumper with multiple deployments under her belt was having issues walking. In her personal life she was a natural competitive cyclist but years of injuries from jumping landed her on a different set of wheels.

“My first thought was I’m going to be in a wheelchair and my life is going to change in a way that I didn’t know if I can handle,” said Truesdale, who was diagnosed with having a tethered

spinal cord. Not what she wanted to hear at 24 years of service.

After having several surgeries to include a tumor removed from her spine, and two strokes she needed to learn how to function again. Truesdale did that at the Fort Benning Soldier Recovery Unit (SRU), formerly the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU), in Columbus, Georgia.

Devastated that her Army career was over, her focus was getting well and back on a bike again. Biking was her muse, her passion, her outlet. It satisfied her need for speed, having a healthy body and that competitive gene she carries so well. She spent about a year at the Fort Benning SRU where she met physical therapists and coaches that encouraged her to try adaptive sports. One of the biggest encouragers was Physical Therapist, John Owsiak, who happened to be the Director of Adaptive Reconditioning at the WTU,

now SRU.

“The biggest piece of my success is having had that resource of key people at the WTU who helped me. I don’t think if I hadn’t met them, I would be where I am today.” Truesdale is talking about her journey from adaptive sports to paralympic dreams and a little horsing around, as a veterinarian,” said Truesdale.

“When I first met her, she was depressed and very withdrawn because her whole life changed having been pulled out of theater and to come back to the states to have spinal surgery then stroking during that surgery and coming out with deficits. As she recovered, I convinced her to come out and shoot archery with me one day and it was amazing to see the change inside of her after she shot a couple of arrows. Her competitive spirit was reborn because she saw what she could do,” said Owsiak.

That’s the power of what the

SRU’s can do for soldiers who need to recover and overcome.

close to where I lived, and I saw on the TV there was coverage of Warrior Games on ESPN. John told me about this. I watched the track competition and all these adaptive athletes and didn’t think about myself in that realm. I

thought, I have all my limbs and I didn’t feel like I looked like them but. . . I hadn’t made that identity

As she tried to repair her body and spirit Truesdale recognized this new opportunity would be life changing. “I made Team

Christina Truesdale courtesy photo Christina Truesdale competes for Team USA in the World Cup in Belgium in May 2022 where she placed fifth.

Athlete

From

Army and competed in Colorado Springs at Warrior Games. And thank goodness because I had lost my sense of purpose and Warrior Games gave me a sense of purpose again. My job was still to be part of a team and represent the Army.

It was at the Warrior Games that she realized she wanted to go to the Olympics. “I talked with one of my coaches and told him and they were like, ‘Okay!’ He helped me make connections and get on the right path,” Truesdale explained about her support from Team Army cycling coach Greg Miller.

“That’s what we hope for as coaches you know to find a diamond in the rough so to speak that want to continue into the paralympic realm. It was exciting when she started talking about those aspirations with us as coaches. We told her like all our athletes not to expect it to be easy even as accomplished as someone like Truesdale is, it’s tough but worth it,” said Miller.

After medaling at the 2018 Invictus Games in Sydney Australia on Team US, the determined, now medically retired from the Army, para jumper with a degree in Veterinary Medicine focused on her next dream.

“I made a run for the Tokyo Paralympics; I didn’t get selected and that’s ok, but I went on to win some World Cup events and para cycling events and now I’m training for Paris in 2024 hoping to make Team USA for the Paralympics.”

Watching her grow in this journey, Owsiak knows Truesdale is a force to be reckoned with. “Once she puts her mind to it, she makes it happen. She did not let her deficits hold her back. She always found a way to work around them,” said Owsiak.

Coach Miller agrees Christina Truesdale is the poster child for resiliency and success. “We’re used to seeing high-end athletes by the time they get to us because soldiers who are elite athletes have a lot of drive and determination. Her drive is amazing. Her recovery from injuries has been something else, but not surprising.”

While training for the

2024 Paris Games you can find Dr. Christina Truesdale working on her patients from horses to hamsters. “I now practice traditional Chinese veterinary medicine. I opened my own practice in 2019 in Portland, Oregon. It’s a slower pace and easier…mostly horses and I have a house call practice. It’s so cool because I get to spend a lot of time with my patients. It’s not a quick ten-minute visit. I seriously spend an hour and a half with a horse, and I really get to know my patients and clients very well,” said Truesdale.

Her incredible journey is far from over. The recovery process at the end of her Army career was but a steppingstone, albeit a big one, to where she is now. Oswiak says it was a necessary one.

“There’s no way her outcome would be what it is today without the Army Recovery Care Program. I’m proud of her and this program.”

Festive FurBabies Can Fetch $3,000 in Holiday Prizes in Exchange Pet Photo Contest

Army & Air Force Exchange Service

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE — Travis Air Force Base pets can get in on the holiday cheer in the Army & Air Force Exchange Service and Mars Petcare holiday pet costume contest.

Dec. 1 through Dec. 31, Travis shoppers can dress their fur babies up in their festive finest and submit a photo at ShopMyExchange.com/sweepstakes to win an Exchange gift card. Two grand-prize winners will each receive a $500 Exchange gift card, and eight runners-up will

each receive a $250 gift card in the worldwide sweepstakes.

“Four-legged family members can get into the spirit of the season and earn holiday gifts for their humans,” said Travis BX General Manager Phonda Bishop. “It’s a fun way for the Exchange to celebrate the holidays and the pets who mean so much to the military community.”

Authorized Exchange shoppers 18 and older may enter. Retirees, honorably discharged Veterans, and Department of Defense and Coast Guard civilians can enter, too. Entries will be judged on originality, creativity and adherence to the contest’s theme.

No purchase is necessary to win. Limit one entry per person. Entries must be sent as a JPG, PNG or PDF and include the pet’s name, the entrant’s legal first and last name, mailing address, email address, phone number and local Exchange location.

Dog helps Colonel fight the battles back home

Staff Sgt. Timothy Leddick 22ND AIR FORCE

With a stern voice but a heart of gold, U.S. Air Force Col. Adam Roberts, the 555th Red Horse Squadron commander, practices resiliency each day alongside his best friend and service dog, Porsche, a loveable labradoodle with golden brown fur resembling the look and feel of a stuffed animal.

Roberts wants to use his rank in order to help those around him acknowledge and accept the importance of mental health and wellness.

“I want to convey a message as the commander, as a colonel, as an airman, as a human, that you matter,” said Roberts. “Life isn’t always easy. You never really know what’s going on behind someone’s eyes. We should act with grace, a little bit of forgiveness, a little bit of empathy, if indeed we believe that every person matters.”

Roberts’ roughly 23 years in service has been accompanied with a fair amount of struggle, but he’s determined to shed a light on others who may also be experiencing low points as he has, and he believes Porsche allows him to better engage with those around him.

Roberts’ struggles of resiliency have been rooted from his time in service through deployments and from divorce, the latter of which is the period when Roberts got Porsche.

He has deployed on several occasions throughout his military career to locations such as Saudi Arabia and Iraq and has been involved in combat, facing many decisions and moments that have haunted him to this day.

Transporting goods and personnel via convoy was typically a task that Roberts would be involved in.

“I was assigned to the Multinational Security Transition Command in Iraq,” said Roberts.

“I was a turret gunner. I’ve been IED’d (Improvised Explosive Device), had some engagements in traffic, had lots of indirect fire, lots of mortars, lots of rockets.”

Roberts’ job as a turret gunner involved guarding assets and service members around him with strict guidelines of defense and response, whatever the cost. Almost killing people that didn’t need to be killed are instances that Roberts still remembers vividly to this day. One instance during one of these convoys involved a couple driving in traffic.

“We were driving down the freeway and this car comes to merge into our convoy,” said Roberts. “I can see that it is clearly an old guy and his wife, and they’re just out driving and doing their thing and they didn’t realize that they were merging into a convoy.”

Roberts shoots at their tire. Nothing.

He shoots at the engine block. Nothing.

Roberts’ fear sets in as he anticipates what might be the inevitable: He’s only a millimeter away from killing someone that in his heart he knows is an innocent bystander who’s just not paying attention.

Fortunately the couple pulls over at the last second.

“That immediate sense of release and relief, I don’t really know how to describe the emotions I felt or even what I’m feeling right now,” said Roberts.

After his time on deployment and transitioning from active duty to the Reserve, he had attended the Army War college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. There he had experienced another struggle that has affected his mental well-being.

“I was at the Army War college,” said Roberts. “I was talking to my wife on a Friday,

‘I love you. How’s everything going?’ the normal stuff. And then on Sunday the marriage was over. I didn’t see it coming. I was really hurting.”

Roberts struggled with depression, anger and self-worth. To make matters worse, this was also at the same time he was assigned to command the 555th “Triple Nickel” Squadron.

“The men and women of the Triple Nickel needed me to be in a good frame of mind to be able to serve them. And I couldn’t deliver that in the place that I was. I was really afraid for my career, my security clearance, for what

people would think about me, for hurting. But regardless I’ve al ways been told to ‘suck it up,’ to ‘man up,’ and for most of my ca reer I have done that. I think it’s made it harder for me to be the leader that I want to be. So I went to get help.”

Roberts compares the impor tance of receiving mental assis tance to receiving physical assis tance, such as when he broke his wrist after crashing his moun tain bike.

“It was real bad but I didn’t hide it, I didn’t pretend my wrist wasn’t broken,” said Roberts. “I went to the doctor and I got help. And at points in my life when I struggled mentally, I went to get help. It’s OK to not be OK, but it’s also OK to go get OK.”

Roberts called Military OneSource to receive help. He talked through issues regarding his divorce, all the accompanying emotions and his combat time. Through this process he discovered he had developed sleep paralysis. He never thought he’d be someone attributed with PTSD and that was a struggle on its own to accept.

“When I get these episodes, it messes me up for a few days,” said Roberts. “It’s hard to process it.”

Roberts trained Porsche from then on as a service animal. Her function is to wake Roberts during these episodes. But Roberts doesn’t bring Porsche to work so that she can wake him up, she serves as a bridge between him and reaching out to others around him.

“She helps me be vulnerable and connect with people,” said Roberts. “She helps to engage in conversation about wellness and mental wellness. She’s a great barrier breaker for that. Many times when people see Porsche and want to give her a pet, I’m always open to it. I hear lots of times something like ‘this is the best I’ve felt all day, this is the best I’ve felt all year.’ It

absolutely breaks my heart. Why should giving a cute little puppy be the best you’ve felt all year?”

Roberts allows interactions like these to transition into moments of connection and to be able to reach out by sharing his own struggles of resiliency and provide assistance and resources.

“Through a number of these conversations I’ve been able to call Military OneSource with a member and set up some treatments and set folks going on a healthy path,” said Roberts. “So I bring [Porsche] so I can better serve other people.”

Roberts hopes to bridge the gap along with Porsche to advocate for better awareness and treatment of mental health, not necessarily to advocate for everyone to go out and get a service animal.

Roberts often refers to the note under “service before self” within A Profession of Arms: Our Core Values as a guideline of prioritizing and emphasizing wellness.

“‘Airmen must practice selfcare first to be able to serve others,’” said Roberts. “If it’s alright for a colonel to not be alright, then it’s alright for you. And it’s alright for you to get alright.”

U.S. Army Communications

U.S. Air Force Col. Adam Roberts, the 555th Red Horse Squadron commander, plays with his service dog Porsche. This photo was taken from an online U.S. Air Force video.

U.S. Army Communications U.S. Air Force Col. Adam Roberts’ service dog Porsche is seen in a photo taken from an online U.S. Air Force video.

interagency and allied operations.

Headquartered on Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the 1st Area Medical Laboratory deploys worldwide to perform surveillance, confirmatory analytical laboratory testing and health hazards assessments of environmental, occupational, endemic and CBRNE threats in support of force protection and Weapons of Mass Destruction missions.

In addition to serving at 1st AML, Packiam serves as the officer-in-charge of Bio-Surveillance at USAMRIID, the U.S.

Army’s main institute for defensive research into medical countermeasures against biological warfare.

According to Packiam, future collaborations with the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute are planned to diagnosis emerging infectious diseases in zoo and wildlife species.

“Identification of unknown etiological agents in the sample plays an important role both as a clinical microbiologist working in hospital as well as a subject matter expert working towards theater-level validation for the 1st Area Medical Laboratory,” said Packiam.

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Skills

teach and assess life-, limb-, and eyesight-saving procedures. This entire effort has been adopted by the Department of Defense, Elster said, adding that it was a huge team effort involving more than 100 key personnel.

Ultimately, in developing the KSA program, it became

apparent that there was also a need for a curriculum to go with the KSA Knowledge Assessment. Thus, the mCurriculum was developed, Elster explained.

What It Looks Like

The mCurriculum was developed from the KSAs, which in turn were extracted from lessons learned from the DoD’s Joint Trauma System clinical practice guidelines -- lessons learned from

Operation Iraqi Freedom/Operation Enduring Freedom, Elster explained. The modules have also been translated into Ukrainian, and additional modules will be released in the near future.

The first 12 modules, available here, are broken into seven knowledge domains: airway and breathing; critical care and prevention; expeditionary unique; head and spine injury; torso trauma; transfusion and resuscitation; and wounds, amputations,

and fractures. The modules include lessons such as management of war wounds, amputation, burn care, blunt abdominal trauma, wartime vascular injury, and pediatric trauma.

The program is designed to help prepare for the Knowledge Assessment, or to retrain after they take it. It can also be used for just-in-time training, should they need to sharpen their skills ahead of a unique case. Its three key components include: knowledge

assessment, skills assessment, and a metric practice, which all come together to ensure that surgeons are both current and competent for that critical mission set, Elster explained.

“It’s part of our trust with the American public to ensure that our surgeons are ready for civilian trauma,” Elster said. “They’re ready for military trauma; they’re ready to take care of our nation’s heroes.”

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Lovers

From

to get food,” Taranov said. “When you saw a Russian soldier, you are shaking inside.”

The Ukrainians on the street were older, and children stayed home. “It was like 10 years passed” in 10 months, she said.

At the start of the war, when it was still possible to leave, many of Taranov’s friends fled elsewhere in Europe. Slava wanted to leave as well.

“I told him he could go,” Taranov said, but she was staying.

Slava was quick to react. “Are you insane?” he asked. “I’m not going without you.”

During the first couple of months of their relationship, it was difficult to meet in person with Russian troops patrolling the streets. They strip-searched the men, Slava said, looking for signs of Ukrainian military service, questioning them repeatedly: Why do you have long hair? Why do you have a beard?

“If they didn’t like your answers, they’d put you in detention,” he said.

Every time he left her home, Taranov wondered if he’d be coming back.

Slava, who is also 31, was living in a less affluent area of Kherson where Russian was the predominant language. He said that the local policemen fled when the Russians arrived, so he helped organize a civil defense group in his neighborhood. About 230 men took turns patrolling the area and answering a temporary hotline.

Slava was familiar with law enforcement; he’d been a policeman before going into online gaming. But, with a master’s degree in computer science, Slava saw a brighter future in tech, and Taranov plans to join him in his egaming business.

After the war started, his sister left for Poland and was seeking asylum in Canada. He never really knew his father, and his mother was staying with friends in Estonia. But now he had Taranov, and the large house – with the

thick windows, the bathroom filled with buckets of water, and the Russians down the street –became his home as well.

Taranov’s mother took to Slava right away, and it was quickly apparent that when it comes to talking to Larisa, he had an easier time than Taranov did. He even tried to open her eyes to the atrocities committed by Russian troops.

At first, Taranov said, her mother resisted. Larisa believed what the Russian news channels were saying. “It was Russian propaganda TV, 24/7,” Taranov said. “That’s all Mother watched.”

And Larisa “didn’t believe the news about Bucha,” a town under Russian occupation where hundreds of people were massacred early in the war.

The Russians cut off all Ukrainian cellphone service and “forced us to get Russian phone numbers. I used my dead grandmother’s ID to get a Russian SIM card,” Taranov said. “That way they wouldn’t know my name.”

But Slava had connections to get an encrypted internet line

through his business, and they were soon seeing the news reported from a Ukrainian perspective. Nonetheless, it took more than six months to convince Larisa that Russian troops were committing atrocities.

“The Russians were saying it was all fake, that nothing happened there, just actors and Ukrainian journalists making it

up,” Taranov said. “She changed her mind when she saw what happened in Kherson. She realized everything that happened in Bucha was true.”

nnn

It’s tough to make plans in a war zone, but Taranov dreams of starting an art therapy program for children. “I used to teach children with learning disabilities,”

she said. “I think a lot of children have been affected by the war. I want to open an art gallery for them.”

In the meantime, she and Slava are expecting a child of their own, whom they will name Mary.

“I’m lucky I didn’t get pregnant sooner,” Taranov said. “The Russians forced all [newborns] to be Russian citizens.”

“We didn’t want to be a Russian couple,” so they didn’t get married under the Russian occupation, “but we will as soon as the Ukrainian government offices reopen in Kherson.”

That may be awhile; the Russians, who withdrew from Kherson last month, have started to bomb the city from across the Dnieper River. There were “more than 50 bombings already today,” Taranov said in a recent text. “They bomb different neighborhoods. Already, 10 people are dead and seven are injured, including kids.”

She felt the baby kicking while she was making tea. “I try to stay as calm as possible, even if there is street fighting going on,” she said, adding: “We can’t leave now with the bumpy roads, and mines. It’s not safe for the baby.”

But after a month of constant bombing in Kherson, Taranov says she and Slava will leave for Kyiv immediately. Mary is due in January, and Taranov was advised that there are no good doctors left in the city for the delivery.

“We remain optimistic and are making plans for the future,” Taranov said. “I just hope my baby will not face war.”

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS photos

Viacheslav Slavov takes the bus across town to his neighborhood, where he has helped set up a community watch with other men to prevent theft and to assist those in need.

Ludmila Taranov, left, and Viacheslav Slavov take a walk after Kherson’s liberation, passing a building previously used by Russian forces.

Viacheslav Slavov, left, and Ludmila Taranov walk to downtown Kherson to get a cellphone connection so that she can send a message to her father, who is on a ship in Australia.

Ready, set, jump!

Air Force’s Charles Whitcomb competes in the men’s 60-meter hurdle competition at the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Field House in Colorado Springs, Colo., Dec. 2. The hurdle competition was part of the annual Holiday Open track and field event held at the academy.

Justin Pacheco/U.S. Air Force