Airmen ensure medical lifeline in Pacific

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Val Gempis
  • Air Force Print News
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  A ready, reliable and efficient war reserve materiel operation is the “heart and soul of medical readiness,” said Senior Master Sgt. Joe Alfaro, superintendent of the 374th Medical Group’s logistics flight here.

WRM is pre-positioned equipment and consumable items needed to support Air Force contingency missions worldwide. Although the equipment is kept here, Sergeant Alfaro said that his unit supports military operations worldwide. They deploy people and equipment supporting operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom.

“Our mission is very important. We save lives,” said Master Sgt. Al Leach, noncommissioned officer in charge of the war reserve materiel element.

Airmen from the element manage, store, receive, maintain and deploy about $12 million dollars worth of medical war reserve materiel for forces from the 374th Airlift Wing, 5th Air Force and U.S. Forces Japan. Unit workers said their ability to plan and deliver medical supplies and equipment is a major factor in the success of military combat and humanitarian operations in the Pacific region.

The reserve materiel together with peacetime equipment stocks and mobility resources must sustain combat or contingency consumption rates until normal resupply pipelines are working, Sergeant Leach said.

The supplies and equipment are stored and maintained to provide a continuous state of readiness. Yokota logisticians handle 65 WRM projects. Part of that mission includes the largest patient-movement item center in the Air Force with $9 million dollars worth of equipment. They also deploy expeditionary medical support packages, a deployable modular medical component similar to the field hospitals of old.

The group also maintains two 250-bed aeromedical staging facilities and supports a 15-bed medical treatment facility expandable to 125 beds for wartime contingencies.

A WRM kit, depending on the project, contains almost everything found in a hospital, including beds, syringes, bandages, scissors, chairs, blankets and tables. An entire expeditionary medical support kit contains more than 1,100 items that fills as many as 30 aircraft cargo pallets. An inventory can take days or it can last a couple weeks.

“Everything has to be taken out the box. We check expiration dates, annotate stock numbers, and we look at the condition of the items” Senior Airman Al Diaz said.

“Teamwork is important here. We help each other out,” Airman 1st Class Tarini Mobley said.

With enough manpower, she said, an inspection is faster and more effective. Replacing unserviceable items prevents last-minute delays that can hurt a mission, Airman Mobley said.

Other supplies, like controlled drugs, medicines, hazardous materials and frozen blood require extra caution. Temperature and humidity recording devices are installed centrally at their warehouses to make sure sensitive supplies are in good condition. Proper storage procedure is critical.

“These drugs can mean the difference between life and death for forward-deployed troops who can’t get to a hospital quickly” said Staff. Sgt. Kenneth Abernathy, a medical logistics technician.

A couple years ago, the unit played a key role when medical forces deployed to Guam after a typhoon devastated the island. The team worked 48-hours straight packing and prepping numerous cargo pallets. Within 36-hours after the initial call, 374th MDG troops were on the ground in Guam providing health care.