4th MDG Airmen capture AF-level awards

Published March 22, 2012
By Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore
4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Three Airmen from the 4th Medical Group have shown a work ethic that makes others take notice; they each earned recognition from leaders in their fields by capturing Air Force-level annual awards.

Lt. Col. Treesa Salter, 4th MDG chief nurse executive; Maj. Kimberly Hopkins, 4th Medical Operations Squadron, Women's Health Clinic element leader; and Capt. Jordan Richardson, 4th MDOS Physical Therapy Element officer in charge, were all recognized for their accomplishments.

"I'm extremely proud and excited for them; and as always, I congratulate their families, co-workers and supervisors who helped them reach the honor of being 'the best in the Air Force,'" said Col. Leslie Claravall, 4th MDG commander. "It's all about teamwork."

Having witnessed the teamwork across the 4th MDG first-hand, these awards did not surprise Claravall.

"Each and every medic knows how vitally important their individual training is and how their role fits in the 4th Fighter Wing's mission of delivering 'Strike Eagle Airpower, on Target, on Time,'" Claravall said. "To that end, the 4th MDG may be the smallest group in the wing, but they touch every active duty member on the base as evident by an incredible 98 percent wing combat readiness rate. Without combat-ready Airmen, the wing's capability to deploy and put bombs on target is significantly hampered. Our Air Force-level winners already had a sense of accomplishment in successfully contributing to the wing's mission ... awards were just icing on the cake."

Salter: Air Force-Level Outstanding Excellence in Nursing Leadership

As the chief nurse on a daily basis Salter maintains functional control of all the 4th MDG nursing services personnel which includes the Nurse Corps officers, Med Technicians, civilian, volunteers, and nursing contract personnel. Among a variety of additional responsibilities, she also ensures licensed and unlicensed staff operate and maintain standards of nursing practice in accordance with state and federal laws.

Salter felt honored and excited when she learned of her first Air Force-level award. When she reflected on her accomplishments throughout the award period she said she is most proud of her team's achievements.

"I am most proud of the team's ability to ace the Health Services Inspection," said the native of Buffalo, N.Y. "All 11 chief nurse run programs scored a perfect 4 out of 4 ... resulting in the clinic's first outstanding score for a HSI."

Salter also felt the education and training staff played a major role in the success of this award.

"Without their individual and collective efforts, expertise and drive, this accolade would have been impossible," she said.

This program captured several accolades to include the Department of Defense's Best Practice designation. In addition, HSI inspectors snagged several tools and posted them for Air Force-wide use.

Salter's team also overcame challenges during the award period which brought out their innovation allowing them to accomplish the mission.

"The largest challenge I would say was managing the deployment of the nurse and medical technician staff," she said. "We overcame these challenges by creative scheduling, implementation of the Family Health Initiative and obtaining needed additional nurse and medical technician staffing to fill clinic vacancies."

Hopkins: Air Force-Level Privileged Advance Practice Nurse of the Year

As a member of the Women's Health Clinic staff Hopkins provides services, treatment for common gynecological complaints and concerns, conducts family planning and health education, conducts cervical cancer screenings, and provides preventative health screenings for all active duty and dependent women as well as some retired dependent women.

In addition to being very honored, overwhelmed and humbled by earning this award, Hopkins was also shocked.

"I kept thinking, really ... Air Force-level ... wow," said the native of Portland, Ore. "What a blessing."

Throughout the award period the entire Women's Health Clinic staff excelled according to Hopkins.

"We have an amazing team of hard working women who truly love what they do, and take it personally to provide the best care possible for our clients," she said. "I was able to achieve this award directly related to my team's dedication to excellent patient care."

The accomplishment in her award package she is most proud of is that the 4th MDG is rated number one in Air Combat Command breast and cervical cancer screening programs.

"Aside from non-melanoma skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common cancer among women in the United States," Hopkins said. "It is also one of the leading causes of cancer death among women of all races. Cervical cancer used to be the leading cause of cancer death for women in the United States. However, in the past 40 years, the number of cases of cervical cancer and the number of deaths from cervical cancer have decreased significantly. This decline is largely the result of many women getting regular pap tests, which can find cervical pre-cancer before it turns into cancer. So the fact that we are leading the way in screening, and in turn keeping our Airmen fit to fight feels great."

Richardson: Air Force-Level Biomedical Clinician Category I Officer of the Year - Company Grade Officer

This is also Richardson's first Air Force-level award; however he earned the title of ACC-level Physical Therapist Company Grade Officer of the Year in 2010.

"I was overwhelmed when I first heard," said the native of Humboldt, Tenn. "I know that there are several great CGOs in the biomedical science corps, especially in our medical group, who are doing great things for our Air Force, so to be recognized is a great honor."

Richardson's main job is to take care of the most important weapon system on Seymour Johnson, the men and women of the 4th FW.

"The clinic is responsible for taking care of active duty members and family members recuperating from daily wear and tear injuries to orthopedic surgeries," he said. "We are responsible for managing several programs on base; the back class, knee class, running clinic, training physical training leaders and a manual therapy clinic at the fighter squadrons. I had the privilege of deploying this year, so I got the opportunity to work in a joint environment at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan."

Some of the accomplishments Richardson is most proud of occurred while he was deployed last year.

"I signed up, like so many others, to be involved in what is taking place in our world, so getting the opportunity to deploy and represent America and the United States Air Force was an honor and a privilege," he said. "I worked with detainees and with the Afghanistan National Army on a daily basis, so I was glad that I got to represent my country and the United States Air Force."

Like Salter and Hopkins, Richardson also attributes his success to those in his work center both here and in Afghanistan.

"This award is as much my team's, deployed and at home, as it is mine," he said. "I have had awesome leadership and team members that have challenged me in both settings, but allowed me room to grow and express some of my ideas and let me advance those ideas. My teams have been amazing and helped me bring my ideas to life to better serve our men and women, deployed and at Seymour Johnson. Without the hard work of my leadership and team members none of this would have been possible. We have been able to accomplish many great things over this year together and have really pushed ourselves."