Airmen pitch in for worthy cause in Iraq

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Bryan Bouchard
  • U.S. Central Command Air Forces Public Affairs
RADWINYA PALACE COMPLEX, Iraq (AFPN) --  Many Airmen deploy to foreign countries for months, never seeing the people whose lives they affect. They are either hundreds of miles from the conflict or are within the safety of their military compound for their entire tours. But for Airmen at Sather Air Base at Baghdad International Airport, they can finally link local faces to the operation in which they serve.
 
Since September, Airmen from Sather AB have been spending a few days a week visiting the Army’s Civil Military Operations Center, or CMOC. They have touched the lives of thousands of Iraqis in need of medical care and what many Americans would consider basic goods. 

“We have a good reputation here because we have American doctors,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Noah, the NCO in charge of the CMOC. “Also, some clinics in the region will see only men or only women; we’ll see them all.” 

Without the medical side of operation, thousands of local villagers, many without proper shoes, would be forced to make a three-to-four-hour walk to a local clinic in Abu Ghraib, said one of the female Iraqi interpreters at the clinic, identified only as “Whisper.” The workers and servicemembers at the clinic have treated more than 3,000 Iraqis since opening. 

“I think that the U.S. doctors are good doctors; they treat the people real good,” Whisper said. 

According to Sergeant Noah, the clinic treats any affliction or illness it can, and in some cases, they try to start the effort to get patients treatment in the U.S. if needed. 

On this particular day, the focus was on a 6-month-old Iraqi girl with spina bifida, a defect in the lower spine in which nerve roots may be outside the normal spinal canal, said Col. (Dr.) Chris Lisanti, 447th Expeditionary Medical Squadron commander.

Sergeant Noah said that the most popular medical service offered at the clinic is dental care; many of the local Iraqis have never seen a dentist. The conditions in which the Airmen work in are fairly austere.

For the dentist, things like primitive suction, lighting and no ability to operate drills limit their services to extractions, temporary fillings and possibly some limited cleanings when and if all the emergencies are taken care of, said Col. (Dr.) Mark McHenry, the 447th EMEDS dentist deployed from the 59th Medical Wing at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

“I think there’s a humanitarian in all of us who voluntarily pursued a career in medicine and dentistry,” the doctor said. “I like knowing I’m able to alleviate at least a little pain and suffering in a population that has experienced so much already. Perhaps someday the people I treated can look back and realize the Americans are an honorable people who are really here to help.” 

While Colonel McHenry said that the clinic’s basic purpose is for medical care, its peripheral affect shows local villagers that coalition forces are here to assist. 

Army Spc. Sarah Doyle, assigned to the 4th Infantry Division’s Special Troops Battalion, said the clinic’s positive reputation and rapport with locals has been growing since it opened. 

“People are more willing to accept assistance now than before,” she said. “And as we follow through and fill their needs, they’ll become more likely to cooperate with us than the insurgents.” 

That is the hope of the leaders of the coalition here -- to win the hearts and minds, as the saying goes. Regardless of the mission impact of the CMOC, for the Airmen who volunteer their time, the center is an opportunity to put a face with the cause. 

“I came out here after I saw pictures of people at the CMOC,” said Airman 1st Class Jesse Theophilopoulos, an aerial porter with the 447th Air Expeditionary Group who is deployed from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J. He was one of dozens of Airmen from Sather who drove to the center June 3.

“I thought this might be a rewarding experience and it is," Airman Theophilopoulos said. 

Aside from the medical care, Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors hand out supplies the people need and want. Soccer balls tend to be the crowd favorite, as well as something most Americans would take for granted: shoes. 

“Seeing these kids laugh and smile, despite the fact there’s a war going on, that’s just amazing,” Airman Theophilopoulos said. “We’re trying to give them a future.”