95th AMDS receives several command-level awards

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jason Hernandez
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  The 95th Aerospace Medicine Squadron received the Air Force Materiel Command Team Aerospace award and various individual AFMC Annual Medical Service awards here recently. 

The squadron maintained a consistent occupational health compliance rate above 90 percent and scored 95 percent for the Hospital Employee Health Program, said Col. Dawn Jackson, 95th AMDS commander, in the award nomination package. 

"The 95th AMDS has a lot of good team members," said Master Sgt. Ben Winslow, 95th AMDS bioenvironmental engineering flight chief. "They did well at every level from the individual up. This emphasized what the squadron did as a whole. The leadership took the time to put the award package together and put us on the path to do well. The mentoring of subordinates to pick the right paths for their career helped the squadron earn recognition." 

Capt. Richard Orcutt earned Outstanding Company Grade Bioenvironmental Engineer of the Year for his assessment of 175 ventilation systems and the direction of 70 workplace surveys, Colonel Jackson said. 

Airman 1st Class Alexander Adeleye received the Bioenvironmental Engineering Airman of the Year for his part in the evaluation of 15 hazardous chemical controls and the completion of 10 comprehensive health risk assessments. 

Airman 1st Class Amber Zapata earned the Olson-Wegner-Outstanding Aerospace Medicine Airman of the Year for her role in handling patient care issues for more than 2,000 clients. Airman Zapata also medically screened and immunized 75 servicemembers with the smallpox vaccine in preparation for deployments. 

The Health and Wellness Center received the Best Small Base Health Promotion Program for their counseling and education services to more than 4,900 customers in 2006. The 95th AMDS also led joint operations care of more than 300 U.S. Marine Corps personnel who returned from deployments and corrected deficiencies in their gas mask inserts, Colonel Jackson said. 

Furthermore, the 95th AMDS deployed 16 percent of the squadron to Iraq, Afghanistan, Ecuador, Honduras, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Germany, Colonel Jackson said. 

"We have some great personnel who helped out," said Lisa Hudock, administrative assistant to the 95th AMDS commander. "Colonel Jackson took all of these great individual players and brought everyone together to operate as a team." 

The 95th AMDS was also involved in the community, assisting with multiple blood drives and participating in the Feed the Hungry Program, which prepared and served food to more than 1000 people, Colonel Jackson said. The squadron provided critical work plan reviews for the $45 million housing demolition project. 

Outstanding programs also contributed the squadron earning the award, such as the Health and Wellness Center bringing the four dimensions of wellness to Edwards, Mrs. Hudock said. 

"The award is awesome," Sergeant Winslow said. "In my 15 years, this is the first one I have been a part of. It is well deserved because of the collective effort of all the individuals in the squadron. Colonel Jackson is a great leader for the squadron."