Happy Holidays

Friends and families of EMFK,

Happy Holidays to you all! Thanks to the new technology of internet communications I know that many of you were able to connect to your warriors and actually see each other during this holiday. I’ve heard many wonderful stories of how families got to watch each other open presents, share in the joy of the season, and just plain connect. We who are forward very much know that it is often more difficult for those that stay behind taking care of the home front. We greatly appreciate your efforts and sacrifices, and your support for those of us deployed in the War on Terror. You guys are awesome!!!!

We recently advanced several of our shipmates. Please join me in congratulating the following:
Petty Officer First Class; LS1 Adegoke, HM2 Abdullah, HM2 Olivar, HM2 Rios (redeployed), HM2 Siegert, Petty Officer Second Class; HM3 Freeman, HM3 McCauley, HM3 Nixon, HM3 Randle, YN2 Shouse (redeployed), HM3 Smith, HM3 Theopolous, HM3 Hall (redeployed), HM3 Pescadormartinez (redeployed), Petty Officer Third Class; HN Andrews, HN Aninzo, HN Barry (redeployed), HN Fajardo.

By now I'm sure most of you have heard that EMFK was shorted 32 of the incoming billets for Juliet detachment. We have a plan that enables us to continue to provide the essential services that we need to do to support those warriors going into harm’s way, and at the same time minimizes the impact on our returning India det warriors. BUMED and USFFC are working hard to get us every warrior we need, and while some of them will arrive late, they will all get here. We have asked for volunteers to stay for additional time, and have only had to keep 2 of our warriors here out slightly past their expected return date. All of those we will need to stay longer have been notified, so if your warrior hasn’t been notified there is no plan to extend them.

Juliet det starts to report for training next week, and should be out here towards the end of January. India should be returning home sometime soon after that. Due to security concerns I can’t tell you exactly when, but you will be notified by official channels when your warrior is due to return.

India detachment was in my opinion the most successful detachment to date for EMFK. The things your warriors accomplished in the last 6 months have been incredible. They nailed the # 1 goal of EMFK, to provide outstanding medical care 100% of the time. Not a single patient was turned away, or failed to get an appointment when they wanted it. There were NO adverse outcomes. We nailed the response to H1N1 preventing a major epidemic that could have had a significant effect on the US Military’s ability to prosecute its mission. And we were able to do things in a single day that would take months to have accomplished back in the states. We also did this with 42% fewer staff than previous detachments, we moved an entire clinic into new facilities, we struck the main supply tents (the last vestige of the legacy EMFK) and moved into a new supply facility, we deployed warriors forward into Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Gulf of Aden to support the front line efforts, and our warriors learned new skills that will be of great benefit to themselves and the US Navy. WELL DONE SHIPMATES!!!!!!

I wish you all an amazing New Year, and thank you all for your unflinching support.

V/R
CAPT Lynn Welling

Captain's Corner

Happy birthday to our Warriors celebrating November birthdays: FTCS Almanza, LCDR Payne, SK2 Ballard, LTJG Smart, LT Buchanan, HMC Smith, YNC Lazo, LCDR Griswold, HM2 Siegert, YN2 Collins, HN Alinsunurin, HM1 Phetkhamyath, HM1 Aponteblanco, LT Grajeda, HM2 Bestoguey, HM3 Keeling, HM3 Warren, IT2 Flash, HM3 Roll, and HN Bigley. My thanks to the MWR committee for putting on great monthly celebrations that link our EMFK Warrior’s birthdays to events from our rich naval history. The ceremony serves to recognize those who are here today having a birthday, along with reinforcing our awareness that we are part of something bigger than each of us individually, and that our heritage forms the base of what we create today. BZ MWR!
CMC Murray and I just returned from a trip to Afghanistan, specifically Kandahar and Camp Bastion. While medically things were relatively slow at both locations, they were all working hard to prepare for the next campaign, the next mass casualty, and to improve their current working situation. In fact, they are working just as we are to be constantly ready to take care of that next Warrior that is rolled into our casrec. At Kandahar, LCDR Schuette is doing amazing things providing anesthesia care for critically injured patients, and has grown significantly in both his professional skills and personal qualities. He is an integral member of the Kandahar team; your extra work here to cover for him on the front line is definitely worth it. And by the way, the CMC and I learned, first hand, how to eat UNDER A TABLE during a mortar attack on the base. While we were eating chow (Scroff is what the Brits call it), the incoming attack warning sounded. Everyone in the DFAC hit the deck, and as we looked over the Brits had grabbed their trays and put them on the floor with them, and continued to eat as the mortar’s hit the far side of the base. That’s getting your priorities straight.
At Bastion we met up with HM3 Dressel and CDR Birdsong; both are creating great results. HM3 Dressel has been there for ~3 months, is considered one of their best OR techs, and is involved in many of the major trauma cases. He loves every minute of it. CDR Birdsong has been there a couple of weeks, is becoming an accomplished scrub nurse (well outside her comfort zone), and has hit the deck running. The British hospital at Bastion is fairly new, and not unlike what we have here at Arifjan, although better set up for trauma. They live in crowded tents, sleep on cots, and only have mosquito netting to separate them from the warrior next to them. Also, they eat British food, which if you’ve never tasted it, is about as bland as you can get—just imagine blood sausage and stewed tomatoes for breakfast.
Bottom line, our guys that we have sent forward are doing great things on the front lines. EMFK staff at the camps and at AJ are doing great things for our local Warriors (to include some very sick trauma and medical patients we’ve saved in the last few weeks). Your assumption of additional duties enables our shipmates to support the warfighters forward and to make a difference in saving lives on the front line. Your extremely professional and skillful work here is saving lives, returning warriors to the fight, and improving our living and working conditions each and every day.
Well done warriors.
R, CO

Warriors, families, and friends of EMFK, I hope your fall is turning out as good as ours. The temperatures have stabilized in the 80’s, the humidity is up a little, and our team is bustin’ their butt’s providing OUTSTANDING care to every person that comes to us. Each department is working on improving their effectiveness and efficiency, and has done an excellent job working smarter with our reduced staffing to put us at our Juliet (next det) staffing level 4 months earlier than planned. We are carrying out our mission without missing a step, and still have the ability to send warriors forward into Afghanistan, Iraq, Gulf of Aden, or wherever the need is at a moment’s notice. Well done to the entire crew of EMFK for getting down to business and making this transition happen in a professional, and highly successful manner.

I’d like to recognize a couple of our warriors. On November 4th, the USO recognized EMFK’s HM2 Alonzolopez as the USO Pacific Region’s Volunteer of the Year. HM2 Alonzolopez earned this recognition while stationed at NH Guam by putting in a significant amount of personal time and effort to ensure the USO program there met the needs of the warriors in the AOR. He went above and beyond what the normal volunteers do, and recruited others to assist, developed new programs to assist our personnel, and was the “go to guy” for anything and everything. He has continued this trend by spending his spare time in the Camp Arifjan USO, doing the same things, and developing programs to give our wounded warriors phone cards to call home with, and duffle bags full of clothing, toiletries and other sundries to assist them while they’re convalescing at EMFK. Well done to an outstanding EMFK Warrior, and a true shipmate!

Please also recognize HM1 Igmenhurtado who on November 5th became the 1st EFMK India Det warrior to reenlist. The ceremony was held at the US Embassy Kuwait, and the reenlisting officer was LCDR Sarmiento. Congratulations on your reenlistment, and thanks for Staying Navy and continuing to fight the War on Terror.

We’re well past the halfway point, and are keeping our focus on completing the mission safely, effectively and efficiently. For those of you that don’t know, we’ve managed to consolidate our incoming Juliet detachment into one wave reporting to NEMTI on January 4th. This is huge, as it's allowing these incoming warriors to spend the holidays with their families, and will allow India detachment to turn over to Juliet at one time, increasing the effectiveness and efficiency of the transition process, and to redeploy home on time. We’ve also worked with our chain of command, along with NEMTI and its chain of command to get the training our warriors receive at NEMTI approved as meeting the requirements to go forward into Afghanistan or Iraq. We believe that this approval is imminent. This is critical to us, as we still are the NAVCENT medical’s rapid reaction force, and want all our warriors ready to deploy forward at a moment’s notice. We still have warriors deployed forward in Kandahar and Bastion Afghanistan.

We recently hosted visit a visit by the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Ms Embry, the Navy Surgeon, General VADM Robinson, the Surgeon to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, RADM Smith, and the BUMED Force Master Chief, HMCM Martinez. They attended our 234th Navy Birthday Ball (pirate theme, courtesy of FTCS Almanza), conducted SG and Force calls, and discussed with EMFK leadership the way ahead for EMFK, and the need to look long and hard at where Navy Medicine is putting its scarce and critical medical assets. This is a priority for EMFK, BUMED, and our line commanders to ensure we have the right assets in the right locations to meet the mission.

As you back home are getting ready for Thanksgiving, know that we out here greatly appreciate and are thankful for your continuing support. That we are doing our duty, and will continue to fight the war on terror with all we have until properly relieved by Juliet detachment.

Until next time,
CAPT Lynn Welling
CO, EMFK

Surgeon General and guest visits EMF-K

Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait (EMF-K) hosted the Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, Ms. Ellen Embrey, the Surgeon General of the Navy, Vice Admiral Adam M. Robinson, the Surgeon to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Rear Admiral (Upper Half) David Smith, and the Force Master Chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery, HMCM Laura Martinez. This trip was the end point to their swing through Afghanistan to preside at the Transfer of Authority (TOA) of the NATO Level III hospital in Kandahar from the Canadians to the American Navy. RADM Smith noted it was a great ceremony and watching the flag of the United States of America rise above the hospital was a truly inspiring moment.
Our guests were given a tour of EMFK and a brief on our mission and work to support the entire CENTCOM AOR. They were not only impressed with what we do here, but that we are able to send warriors forward to Afghanistan and other areas to support other missions. They noted that the demand for Navy medicine is increasing in Afghanistan, and that we will need to work on transitioning out of our current mission in Kuwait.
The VIP’s attended EMFK’s 234th Navy Birthday Ball, which was held as a pirate themed event. The master of ceremonies, His Lordship King Neptune (FTCS Almanza) coordinated the efforts of all the EMFK’s sailor associations into a highly successful and entertaining evening.
Surgeon Generals Call, and Force Master Chief Call were held, with many questions on the role of the Navy in Afghanistan, Joint Operations, Purple suited medical corps, Training and credentialing across the services, operations in other theaters, and many more. It was good to see that our leaders know our concerns and are actively working the issues.
Force Master Chief (FMF) Laura Martinez, had a chance to take time to talk to Sailors assigned to EMF-K.
“I always take an opportunity to take time to visit with the Sailors. It is always good to come back through here.” She also stated, “everyone here is doing an outstanding job!”
Ms. Embrey was the featured speaker at a dinner attended by members of the Army and Air Force medical departments along with EMFK’s wardroom and Chief’s mess. She spoke about initiatives in the DoD to truly fix the electronic medical record, to improve information flow far forward, Tricare initiatives for the deployed population and how the military medical system is truly working well as a joint system, but will never be a “purple” system due to the differences in culture and operational needs between the services.
This visit was a great opportunity for EMFK to show off (by doing what they do every day), for the top leaders in military medicine, and for our warriors to learn what issues our top leaders are working on, and, what keeps them up at night. It was a highly productive visit for all concerned.

Happy Birthday US Navy! Today marks the 234th birthday of the finest Navy the world has ever known. If you haven’t ever looked into the history and heritage of your service, I strongly encourage you to do so. Yesterday’s Navy broke all the rules, won wars against overwhelming odds, and basically kicked butt and took names. Today’s Navy continues that proud tradition of fighting for causes as simple but important as protecting our way of life, of principle centered leadership (leadership by every individual that makes up the whole of the US Navy), and of innovation, dedication, and perseveration. These are all characteristics that make up the character of each and every warrior of EMFK. This command, and this US Navy, cannot win by relying only on its weapons, its policies, it's tactics. We can only win by the true inspired efforts of each of our warriors, pulling together for the common cause, and advancing the commands mission. Our warriors win the wars, and make the US Navy look good. And it's looking real good for 234 years of age.

Speaking of age, happy birthday to our October warriors: SK2 Adegoke October 3, HM2 Lucas October 3, LCDR Grothe October 5, CAPT McNeil October 5, HM2 Frutos October 10, HM2 Uzcategui October 10, HM2 Olivar October 13, HM1 Bonilla Ocotber 15, LTJG Boese October 17, LT Bailey October 18, HM2 Francisco October 25, HM3 Reid October 25, LCDR Laboy October 28, LT Robinson October 28, HM1 Bedard October 31.

I also want to congratulate our Sailors of the quarter, Blue Jacket of the Quarter, HN Bigley, Junior Sailor of the Quarter, HM2 Alonzolopez, and Senior Sailor of the Quarter, HM1 Jasper. The competition was fierce for this recognition, and the Chiefs mess was oozing blood as each LCPO fought for their warriors. Each candidate was exceptionally qualified, which makes it all the more significant for those that were selected. Please take the time to congratulate these outstanding warriors.

Things are looking good out here in the desert. We continue to provide the finest medical care available, and continue to work on improving everything we do. Again, many thanks to all of you for the support you give to the warriors of EMFK as they do their part in the War on Terror.

Till next time.

CAPT Welling
CO, EMFK

EMF-K Senior Sailor of the Quarter

HM1 Jasper was selected as EMF-K Senior Sailor of the Quarter. He is the Leading Petty Officer to the largest outlying branch clinic of EMF-K. He directly supervises and leads 22 enlisted personnel that oversaw 11,000 patients this quarter. He provided a vision and plan for ensuring a smooth move from the old TMC spaces to the new $1.3M facility. HM1 has so many accomplishments within 90 days that the list is lengthy. HM1 Jasper is an exceptional leader put in the right place for the right time! HM1 is what the Navy is all about!

EMF-K Junior Sailor of the Quarter

HM2 Alonsolopez is the Junior Sailor of the Quarter. He has six years and seven months in the Navy. He is the main operating room Leading Petty Officer. He is directly contributed to the delivery of high quality care to 257 scheduled minor, elective and emergent surgical procedures on military and civilian personnel region wide. He was recently awarded the United Services Organization's (USO) 2009 Volunteer of the Year for the Pacific region. He launched Operation Enduring Care at EMF. This is an outreach program coordinated with the USO designed for Wounded Warriors and the staff entrusted with their care. HM2 is a strong role model for all Sailors, leads by example, and instills Core Values!

EMF-K Blue Jacket of the Quarter

HN Bigley was selected for Blue Jacket of the Quarter. His time in servies is 2 years and 4 months. He manages the flow of patients at EMF Camp Arifjan for 12 providers. He ensured that 2,378 patients were provided excellent patient care over a 90 day period. He is an active member in the command and community. HN Bigley is a Sailor who is leading by example!

Words from the Captain

LSA Crew

Warriors, families and friends of EMFK, it's October 2, 2009, and life is good in Kuwait. While most people think of Kuwait as dry and hot, it actually has seasons, dry and hot most of the time, dry and really hot, dry and not so hot, and wet and cold (60-80degrees). We are, like most of you, experiencing fall now. The air is crisp, and while not cool (except in our berthing where we’re freezing our behinds off), it's cooler, the sun rises later and sets earlier, and just looks like fall. We don’t have any trees to speak of, so no bright fall orange, red and yellow leaves, and the sand, well, the sand is the sand.

We recently had the unexpected departure of a large part of the command in returning back home. As we were working with the chain of command to input our requirements for the next detachment (Juliet), many of our current Nobel Eagle numbers (the numbers our orders are generated from), were terminated along with unused Nobel Eagle numbers from our proposed Juliet det. Thus, many of our warriors that had been here from July on were unexpectedly ordered back to their parent command, or to ECRC. While this caused a lot of commotion, and initial shock, all of the EMFK warriors rapidly adjusted fire, and either packed up and headed home to participate in the War on Terror from CONUS, or reset their actions here, and again, hit the deck running in providing excellent medical care to our patients, keeping themselves and the command 100% ready for everything, and continuing to improve how we do business in creating a culture of operational and organizational excellence.
To those headed home, they go with their heads held high, knowing they contributed to the War on Terror, and did their nations business well. While we miss them, and wish them fair winds and following seas, we know they will continue to kick butt and take names wherever they land.
For those that remain at EMFK, they continue to prosecute our mission full out. And with a couple of small course corrections, we are fully operational, fully capable, and fully engaged in the business of taking care of fellow warriors. I am extremely proud of all the warriors of India detachment.

We are halfway though India’s time in the sand, and have accomplished many great things. Several of our warriors have deployed forward to Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places. They did or are doing great work. Our clinics continue to provide outstanding care to the permanent party warriors here in Kuwait, and those that transit through to other locations. We continue to adjust our staffing to meet the mission, and are getting leaner and meaner as we go. We have looked at all our processes and reworked or canceled those that weren’t doing what we needed, and we’ve trained both medically and in the combat related skills we need to survive in a combat zone. We learned from the 1st round of H1N1, and are ready for any waves that follow. In short, we are ready. Period.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support our EMFK and it's amazing warriors. We couldn’t do what we do without you having our backs.

Till next time.

CAPT Welling
CO, EMFK

Welcome Warriors, Family and Friends

Warriors, families and friends of Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait, welcome to our official blog. I mentioned in our command newsletter that we were working on a form of communication that would help us keep in touch, a way to see what your warriors are doing out here on the front line in the War on Terror. We also wanted to create an easy way for us to get out mass messages to all of you should there be some sort of incident out here (OPSEC permitting) that may concern you. We’ve finally got it up and running, although we are building as we go, so expect to see changes along the way. You will get a weekly note from me letting you know what the command has been accomplishing, addressing any rumors you’ve heard, and generally telling you about the outstanding warriors we have here at EMFK. You will also get notes from the XO and CMC, and other members of our staff. Our PAO, MCC Maceyak, will be adding articles, pictures, and items of interest to you.

Remember this is designed for you, so any comments or suggestions on improving its looks, functionality, accessibility, or content, please let MCC Maceyak know.

Please remember these ways to contact your warrior, or get emergency information to/from them should you need to. As always, myself, the XO and the CMC, along with our spouses are here to help.

Please print this out and put it on your refrigerator, or in some other place you can find it should you need it. If you have an emergency at home, or hear of a potential emergency or disaster over here in Kuwait, these are the procedures you can use to get in touch with your warrior to get as much information as possible. They are listed in order.

Contact your warrior via the method you have already set up. In most cases this should work. However, due to operational security, there are times when the phone and internet lines to the base are shut off, and then you must use an alternate method, and be prepared to wait until the authorities open the communications up.

Contact your warrior’s parent command (i.e., the one they are normally attached to or their duty station from which they deployed). You should have been given contact information for the CIAC (command individual augmentee coordinator), the POMI (plans operational medical intelligence), or the CMC/XO/CO. We will attempt to get information to the commands as soon as possible after an event out here. Your parent command also has good contact information on your warriors, and can get messages to them out here.

If your warrior is on GSA orders, you should be getting a GSA monthly deployment newsletter. Read it, as it has good generic information on getting assistance for all sorts of issues. It also lists phone numbers and emails for the duty crew that can be of assistance. For Kuwait, these contact #’s are:

ECRC family help desk ecrc.fs.fct@navy.mil

Team Kuwait: ecrc.gsa_other.fct@navy.mil, Telephone Number: 757-462-4744 Ext(s) 123, 126, 143 or 235

If none of the above are able to help you, you can call the following numbers, they are international and long distance charges will apply. We will call you back as soon as possible.

CO – CAPT Lynn Welling: Cell: 011.965.9965.6095, DSN: 318.430.1913

XO – CAPT Steven Keener: Cell: 011.965.9901.7024 DSN: 318.430.1910

CMC – HMCM Stephen Murray: Cell: 011.965.9965.8984, DSN: 318.430.1908

Our leadership spouses are available to assist also, and may have important information sooner than some of the official sources:

CO Spouse –Patricia Welling - 619.995.1766

XO Spouse – Deborah Keener – 703.753.4789

CMC Spouse – Nichole Murray – 757.818.7648

Enjoy the site, and lets stay in touch!
Regards,
CAPT Lynn Welling
Commanding Officer
Expeditionary Medical Facility Kuwait.