Warren physicians support GWOT

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Lisa Meiman
  • 90th Space Wing Public Affairs
F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo. --  Warren Airman are deploying overseas with increasing frequency to support the Global War on Terror.

It's a trend that perhaps many did not expect at a missile base, but for two Warren Airmen the toughest part of their job became the most rewarding experience of their lives.

Capt. (Dr.) Randall Nett, 90th Medical Operations Squadron flight medicine, and Capt. (Dr.) Dean Bartholomew, 90th MDOS family practice, are two Warren physicians who have deployed overseas to support GWOT in 2006.

Dr. Nett was stationed in Balad Air Base, Iraq, Jan. 4 to May 11, 2006 as a flight surgeon in the Air Force theater hospital.

The air base, a former Iraqi Air Force base seized by U.S. forces in 2003, is located next to a city of the same name and approximately 45 minutes north of Baghdad. It has two 11,000 foot runways to support the C-130 Hercules and the C-17 Globemaster III among other aircraft, such as six UH-60 Blackhawks responsible for medical evacuation from the battlefield.

The Air Force has only a few thousand people there, most working at the theater hospital, while the Army has about 25,000 personnel stationed there as part of Logistical Support Area Anaconda.

After working with the Army over there, you feel fortunate you're only deployed four months instead of 12, Dr. Nett said. Dr. Nett worked at the contingency aeromedical staging facility where he took care of patients that were too sick to stay in country but stable enough to be transported.

After spending some time in CASF, a step-down unit to free up space in the theater hospital, patients would board C-17 or C-130 to fly to Landstuhl, Germany, or another military hospital.

Someone could be injured in battle, be in Landstuhl in 24 hours and be home in 48 hours. It's pretty remarkable, Dr. Nett said.

Dr. Nett worked two 24-hour shifts in CASF and two 12-hour shifts in the clinic a week.
The clinic at Balad, a separate facility at the air base, gave care to Air Force personnel.
The clinic was pretty slow. There were about 20 patients per day, Dr. Nett said. But we air evacuated over 2,000 patients from Balad in the four months I was there.

"It was pretty slow during the day. The Army helicopters flew in at night because it was safer. The evenings were very hectic," Dr. Nett said.

The city of Balad is part of the hostile Sunni triangle. Many of its residents remained loyal to Saddam Hussein after he was removed from power.

The base, which is 12 miles in circumference and the Army's largest support base in Iraq, is fortified by concrete blast walls. Personnel are required to always carry or wear a Kevlar helmet and armor-plated vest.

The base had mortar attacks several times a week. It was not safe to go outside the base, Dr. Nett said. There was a fence and then farms start right outside it. There were lots of places to hide mortars and other things.

"It's very rewarding to take care of people who are laying their life on the line for you. Marines, soldiers would come in with limbs missing or burns. I was a small part of getting them home and getting them better," Dr. Nett said. "That's an experience that is hard to duplicate here in the states."

Since Dr. Nett has arrived at Warren in July 2004, he is the only physician from Warren to deploy to directly support the global war on terror. Dr. Bartholomew, attached to the 380th Expeditionary Medical Group, was stationed at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia, indirectly supporting GWOT.

Dr. Bartholomew returned from Southwest Asia late December where he was the surgeon general, or chief of medical staff, at the hospital where he was stationed.

As the hospital's surgeon general, Dr. Bartholomew was the sole provider for all non-flying status troops on base; and in charge of all patient care that was provided in the clinic, response to emergencies, transfer of patients to host nation medical assets and training of staff.

"I was the sole provider for 1200+ troops equating to about 100 visits a week," Dr. Bartholomew said.

Dr. Bartholomew provided more oversight for physicians and their patients in the hospital instead of actually caring for injured and sick personnel.

"I've gone from provider of medical care to becoming a bystander who had to coordinate patient transfers and payment and follow-up care for patients," Dr. Bartholomew said.

The clinic is open Monday through Saturday 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday 8 to 10 a.m. Care is provided to troops 24/7 when needed. His hospital personnel had some contact with the local community. The staff uses local hospitals for emergency care, hospital admissions and outpatient care.

"We are currently allowed two morale trips a month off of the base for shopping, sight-seeing and my favorite, eating at local restaurants," Dr. Bartholomew said.

"I have found it very rewarding to be a part of a team that has a daily measurable effect on Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom. You are much closer to 'the fight' at a deployed location, which makes you feel like all of that training and education that has taken place stateside is being put to use," Dr. Bartholomew said.

Warren physicians have deployed to other parts of the nation and world in support of American operations. One supported Hurricanes Katrina and Rita relief efforts. Another assisted with humanitarian relief in the Dominican Republic.

Due to possible increased troop numbers in Iraq, more physicians from Warren may be deployed. The emerging trend seems to be to send one person a year up in a deployment bucket for GWOT, Dr. Nett said.

Dr. Nett and Dr. Bartholomew may have been deployed far away from their families and Warren, but their work ensured servicemembers of all services got to return to their families and mission stateside. Their location was different but their mission was the same.