 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment BABIL, Iraq, May 25, 2011 - Suffering from a toothache in southern Iraq may land you in the chair of either of two brothers with an interesting story of adversity, perseverance, and the unique bond of identical twins.
Both men volunteered for the deployments, but Dmitry's recent arrival to the same unit in Iraq was mere coincidence, the kind of common occurrence that has kept these twins together for most of their lives. The tight bond between them was forged when their parents, Vitaly and Emma Baron of Aberdeen, N.J., decided to take them from Russia to America when they were 6 years old. "He just wanted a better life for his children," Aleksandr said, explaining why his father moved them from what is now the Ukraine to Brooklyn, N.Y. "We did everything together. We got in trouble together. We'd be in the corner together. With a twin, that can be a lot of fun," Dmitry said. The two recalled their assimilation to American culture as difficult, between learning a new language and being foreign kids in their New York neighborhood. "Being in a country that is as far as the United States is from Russia, to have him next to me was the best thing God could give me," Aleksandr said. "He was a best friend. Trying to get cultured to America is hard. With him by my side, we were partners all the way." They were not welcomed by their school-age peers, and both brothers recalled being in numerous fights during that time. This kind of adversity, they said, brought them closer together. "That's probably why we're so close and much closer than a lot of twins. We've been through a lot," Aleksandr said. Both attended Rutgers University for their undergraduate degrees and pursued their dental degrees at New York University College of Dentistry through the Health Professions Scholarship Program, offered by the Defense Department to medical and dental school students in exchange for a military service obligation. "We had a ..." "... just a drive for it," said the two, with Aleksandr finishing Dmitry's sentence in a way that seemed to be part of their normal communication pattern. Even when Dmitry decided to take a separate path and become a pilot in the Air Force, he jokingly described how he took the test and "never heard back." In their roles as combat dentists in Iraq, the two respond to dental emergencies, fill cavities and even perform cleanings to ensure soldiers remain healthy and mission-ready. Both men recounted how their jobs seemed to spill into other, more unexpected roles, as soldiers have come in with greater needs than their dental instruments can resolve. "I have people come in here to see me just because they want to talk," Aleksandr said. "They sit in the chair, they talk to me about their divorce, about family issues back home, about finance problems. I want this place to be a place for people to get away and just feel comfortable." "People are appreciative of us," Dmitry said, describing the fulfillment of his job as a dentist in this unique environment. "We're like combat stress [relievers]. We're leaders. It's a pretty big balance." Aleksandr has performed yet another role as a triage doctor, making decisions on priority of care based upon the severity of soldiers' combat wounds. "I never thought I would do something like that," he said. "I thought, 'You send me to a deployed environment, I'll take care of soldiers, I'll comfort them, listen to them, care for their teeth,' but I did not think I would be doing triage." A recent visit by Dmitry to see his brother at Kalsu brought the twin dentists together, thousands of miles from their Georgia homes. Their nearly identical appearance turned several heads as they walked side by side on the base. For the brothers, it was a chance to catch up and be together again. "He's here. It's unbelievable," Aleksandr said. "I'm praying to God that he just keeps following me." | ||
| Related Sites: U.S. Forces Iraq |
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Twin Dentists' Paths Lead to Iraq
Air Force Doctor Meets 'Oprah'
 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, May 24, 2011 - Air Force Maj. (Dr.) Van Adamson said he never imagined that he'd appear on Oprah Winfrey's television talk show -- but he has.
In 1998, Oprah made a dream come true for Adamson, who was raised in Spartanburg, S.C. As a recipient of an Oprah Winfrey Endowed Scholarship, he was able to complete his undergraduate degree at Morehouse College, a private, historically black, all-male college in Atlanta, Ga. Adamson, a cardiology fellow assigned to the 59th Medical Wing here was also one of five individuals selected by the producer to appear in a short interview segment to speak about how the scholarship has impacted his life. "It was amazing to me that Oprah cared enough about me as an individual, someone she didn't know, to help me get through school and accomplish my dreams, and it was absolutely amazing that I had the chance to meet her in person and tell her thank you," said Adamson, who currently rotates duties between Wilford Hall and Brooke Army medical centers. Morehouse College is known for its outstanding graduates in the fields of education, politics, business, religion, science, medicine, dentistry, law and more. "Oprah's scholarship gave me an opportunity to continue my education and attain my goals and head to medical school," Adamson said. "Honestly, if I had not received that scholarship, I would not have been able to go back to school my sophomore year." Adamson said he was caught by surprise when the Oprah show's producer contacted his father. "First, I didn't believe my dad, and then I called and they wanted to interview me to discuss my accomplishments since graduation," he said. Adamson completed his internal medicine residency at Langley Air Force Base, Va., prior to entering the fellowship program at Wilford Hall. He served for six months at the Air Force Theater Hospital in Balad, Iraq, where he stabilized battle-wounded soldiers. "(Appearing on the Oprah show) was very exciting," he said. "Rehearsal for the taping started at 4:30 a.m. and took six hours. Everything had to be done with precision. I also had the opportunity to meet Tyler Perry, black author and playwright. It definitely will be a star-studded show." |
Afghan Security Forces Grow in Numbers, Quality
By Cheryl Pellerin American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 23, 2011 - The number and quality of recruits to the Afghan national security force are growing, a senior official in the training effort said here today.
"The size of the Afghan National Army has increased from 97,000 in November 2009 to over 164,000 today," Kem said, and will grow to 171,600 by summer's end. The Afghan National Police has grown from just under 95,000 in November 2009 to 126,000 today, and will reach 134,000 by fall. Taken together, Kem said, this is an increase of 98,000 recruits in 18 months that has been accompanied by a dramatic increase in quality. The literacy rate for incoming soldiers and police officers is about 14 percent, Kem said, "meaning that 86 percent of our recruits are unable to read and write at the third-grade level. This has been an enormous challenge." What began as a voluntary literacy program with less than 13,000 enrolled has become mandatory for basic army and police training, he said, and programs around the country are teaching basic literacy and numeracy. "Today, we have over 81,000 Afghan [soldiers and police] in mandatory literacy classes, and we have graduated another 92,000 in different literacy classes since November 2009," Kem said. "We know that we will improve the literacy rate in Afghanistan in the Afghanistan national security forces to over 50 percent by January 2012," he added. The goal, Kem said, is to have full functional literacy in the army and police, defined as third-grade-level literacy. Kem noted that the prospect of learning to read and write has been a huge draw for Afghans to join the army and the police. "Literacy has a huge impact on the professionalization of the army and the police, addresses issues of corruption and will have an economic impact on the country in the years to come," he said. Corruption is being addressed in several other ways, he added, including developing codes of ethics for the army and the police and establishing an anti-corruption phone line that's always manned and whose investigators are from an independent agency. Putting blue dye in army and police fuel reduces incidents of stealing, Kem said, and using a lottery system adds transparency to handing out army assignments and prevents the best ones from being sold to the highest bidder. Another step involves "having accountability of all the vehicles, weapons and radio systems that didn't have full accountability in the past," he said, noting that a physical inventory is now complete for all vehicles issued in Afghanistan over the past 10 years. Special efforts are in force, Kem said, to deal with problems of recruiting Pashtuns from the five southern provinces and avoiding violence to Americans by members of the Afghan army and police force. For the problem of attacks on Americans, he said, "we've instituted an eight-step approach for all the new recruits coming in." The vetting process includes matching the recruit and his identification card, requiring two letters of recommendation from village elders, performing a physical exam, doing a records check through intelligence sources, and using biometric measures, such as fingerprinting. "It will never be foolproof," Kem acknowledged. "It's not foolproof in the United States; it won't be foolproof in Afghanistan. But it's an area that we look at very closely, ... and it is something that I think the Afghans take very seriously as well, because they want to be good partners." To ethnically balance the Afghan National Police, Kem said, the percentage of Pashtuns, Tajiks, Hazaras and other ethnic groups must be monitored. "We balance every one of the battalions," he added, and because of problems recruiting Pashtuns from the southern provinces, a special recruiting program has been instituted with the Afghans. The numbers of southern Pashtuns has risen slowly, Kem said, "but they're not where they need to be." "We're trying to get at least 4 percent of the recruits from the five southern provinces that are Pashtuns," he added, "and aiming for getting about 6 to 8 percent in the next couple years." Work remains to be done between now and Dec. 31, 2014, when the transition of lead security responsibility in all 34 provinces to Afghan forces is scheduled to be complete, Kem said. "In my personal professional judgment," he added, "we will have the Afghans ready to assume that responsibility." | ||
| Related Sites: NATO Training Mission Afghanistan/Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan | ||
Monday, May 23, 2011
A new achievement at CMC for Punjab
Now Stem Cell Cryopreservation & Transplant in CMC
First center in Punjab to have this facility
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Stem cell harvest |
Ludhiana: 19 year old boy (Mr AKW) was diagnosed to have acute myeloid leukemia (a type of blood cancer) which required stem cell transplant for curing the disease. As he was the only son and parents were not HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) identical, (HLA matching is important when bone marrow stem cell transplants are done between 2 individuals), it was decided to perform autologous stem cell transplant.' However, as there is a delay between the chemotherapy and stem cell infusion, it was important to freeze these stem cells under special facility. So after the initial chemotherapy, Mr AKW’s stem cells were collected by a stem cell apharesis machine and they were cryopreserved (a process by which stem cells are mixed with a chemical called DMSO and frozen at minus 80 degree celcius) under strict aseptic conditions.
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Stem cells and the cryoprotecant |
These stem cells were later infused after many days into the patient. Now patient has completed 4 months after the procedure and doing well. Since then stem cells have been collected and stored in a patient with relapsed lymphoma.
When doing stem cell cryopreservation, it is important to follow strict protocols in preventing infection and to maintian the stem cell viability.
Stem cell cryopreservation and autologous stem cell transplant is basically offered to patients with relapsed lymphoma and certain patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
CMC Ludhiana established its transplant programme in October 2008 and since then the team has performed 20 transplants (15 allogeneic and 5 autologous) for patients with 1 ½ years to 62 years. The spectrum of diseases for which transplants have been done were thalassaemia, aplastic anemia, multiple myeloma, Philadephia positive ALL, Acute myeloid leukemia, CML in blast crisis and Wiskott Aldrich syndrome).
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Stem cells with the cryoprotectant before dump freezing-Copy |
A comprehensive team of doctors, nurses, physician assistants and office staff are behind this endeavor and CMC Ludhiana is one of the centers taking part in the CIBMTR (Center of International Blood and Marrow Transplant Registry) apart from the ISCTR (Indian Stem Cell Transplant Registry).
Giving more information regarding this, Dr M Joseph John, head of Clinical Haematology, Haemato-Oncology & Bone Marrow (Stem cell) Transplant Unit, Christian Medical College, Ludhiana said that it is the first time this facility is established in Punjab and North of Delhi. Dr Abraham G Thomas, Director added that with a new 5 bedded ‘state of the art’ transplant unit coming up, the team is would be able to perform more transplants with improved facility. He also added that in future, the team would be venturing into matched unrelated and cord blood transplantation.
Dr M Joseph John, MD, DM
Associate Professor, Clinical Haematology, Haemato-Oncology & Bone Marrow Transplant Unit
Christian Medical College
(M): 08054959525, (O): Direct: 0161-5037957 or 0161-2600270 Ext 4823/5022
Fax:0161-2600270
Christian Medical College
(M): 08054959525, (O): Direct: 0161-5037957 or 0161-2600270 Ext 4823/5022
Fax:0161-2600270
Sunday, May 22, 2011
U.S., African Militaries Share Problems, Solutions
By Lisa Daniel American Forces Press Service WASHINGTON, May 21, 2011 - Senior leaders representing 17 African national militaries came together with their American counterparts here this week to better understand U.S. Africa Command and to help in developing the noncommissioned officers corps in their nations.
"I was absolutely taken back by their level of wisdom," Johnson told American Forces Press Service yesterday. "These are not young soldiers. These are people who have seen conflict. They've seen a lot." The second annual, week-long Warrant Officer and Sergeants Major Symposium, co-hosted by Africom and the African Center for Strategic Studies at National Defense University, employs subject-matter experts with experience in Africa to lead discussions on topics such as terrorism and transnational threats, security and health challenges, civil-military partnerships, and U.S. policy in Africa. The symposium also included tours of the Pentagon, U.S. Marine Base Quantico, Va., and the U.S. Capitol. While it may have been tempting for U.S. military leaders to offer solutions through American experiences, Johnson said, that is exactly what the American sponsors avoided. "We want the Africans to find African solutions," he explained. "There are many things the Africans do as well as us. We don't feel that we are superior. We believe that we can all learn from each other." The symposium also provided the participants a forum for discussing regional issues such as malaria, and politically sensitive topics such as allowing women to serve in the military and managing HIV and AIDS among service members, Johnson said. "There was tremendous bonding in the amount of time that we spent together," he said, adding that the participants showed much courage in the frankness of their discussions. Sgt. Maj. Gilbert Seretse of the Botswana Defense Forces said he was not unusual among the group in that he had trained abroad – for him, at the U.S. Army Sergeants Major Academy at Fort Bliss, Texas – but had never met anyone from some of Botswana's neighboring countries. "Most of us didn't even know what our African peers were doing," Seretse said, noting vast regional differences on the continent. "I never thought that one day I would be sitting around a table with my brothers from Africa," he said. "This has opened our minds and our eyes and our ears to each other." Seretse said he left the symposium with a better understanding of Africom and he looks forward to sharing what he learned with his troops. "Botswana is a major beneficiary in terms of what the United States gives," he said. "Every week, I have some [U.S.] military guys training" Botswana's forces. The symposium is important not just for the benefit of the individual participants and their militaries, Johnson noted, but also to the United States. "The world is connected," he said. "The success of our African partners leads to the success of our own national security interests, and vice versa." | ||||
| Biographies: Air Force Command Chief Master Sgt. Jack Johnson Related Sites: http://www.africom.mil/ | ||||
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Saturday, May 21, 2011
Gates Keeps Promise for Families at Fort Riley
By John D. Banusiewicz American Forces Press Service FORT RILEY, Kan., May 20, 2011 - Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates returned here yesterday to deliver on a promise he made last year.
Gates told the spouses that he was aware of the situation and had identified Defense Department money that could help. He promised to secure the required congressional approval to transfer the money to the Education Department for action. "Today, we mark a major step forward in solving school overcrowding here at Fort Riley, a problem that had become a major retention issue for the [1st Infantry Division], which is on its fourth deployment since 2003," he said. Defense Department officials indentified the facilities here as being the most in need of rehabilitation of any across the armed services, the secretary said, so the need to act was clear. The problem, though, is not unique to Fort Riley, the secretary said. "It is clear that such on-installation public school facility problems are pervasive," Gates said. "The department has more than 150 public schools on military installations across America, and a recent assessment showed that many other school districts have similar difficulties raising the revenue required to meet capacity requirements and rehabilitate aging facilities." All stakeholders – including local, state and federal governments – must address the problem, Gates said, and he noted that, as a first step, Congress has appropriated $250 million for the Defense Department to directly assist school districts in revitalizing the public schools on military installations that have the greatest need. "That funding will pay for this new elementary school, and also provide the resources this year toward resolving the capacity issue at Fort Riley Middle School," he said. Local school districts should and will remain ultimately responsible for public school facilities on military bases, the secretary said. But the Defense Department, he added, always will be ready to intervene when it has the ability to improve military children's educational opportunities. "We owe nothing less to our men and women in uniform and their families, who have sacrificed so much in order to serve our country," he said. Future kindergarten students – each wearing a construction worker's hard hat – manned the shovels for the ceremonial groundbreaking for what will be their new school. Geary County Unified School District 475 operates five elementary schools and a middle school here. Five of the six schools are more than 50 years old, and recent growth at the installation has contributed to the posts' schools being 35 percent over capacity. Temporary fixes have included converting available usable space into classrooms, which has led to a lack of other educational activity space. Before the groundbreaking ceremony, Gates met privately with several dozen military spouses to seek their input on family-related issues. (Shandi Dix of the 1st Infantry Division Post contributed to this article.) | ||
| Biographies: Robert M. Gates | ||
First Lady Visits Military Youth Center
By Senior Airman Susan Moreno Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling Public Affairs WASHINGTON, May 20, 2011 - First lady Michelle Obama visited Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling youth center here yesterday to complete a congressional spouses service project with 40 of the installation's youth.
This year, the project was geared toward military families. The first lady and congressional spouses painted a mural at the base's youth center, which provides care for more than 300 children of military families. They also painted several benches to be placed around the base. "Thank you so much to everyone for coming out today," Obama said to the crowd of families gathered. "You guys are making sacrifices that most Americans don't even understand. It means so much to the communities we work with. It's priceless for them, and it's priceless for us." The youth center supports several community youth programs such as the home school community, Tiny Tots Play Group, Boy Scouts, the National Jr. ROTC Knowledge Bowl, and youth town hall meetings." Congressional spouses also expressed their pleasure and enthusiasm to have a part in the project. "As the wife of a former lieutenant commander in the Navy, working with military families is near and dear to my heart," said Colleen Peters, wife of U.S. Rep. Gary Peters of Michigan. "When military members serve, their families serve too." Peters was a Seabee Combat Warfare Specialist in the U.S. Navy Reserve. He served in the Persian Gulf supporting Operation Southern Watch and overseas during increased military activity following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. "Mrs. Obama's call to service is so meaningful," said Mary Sorteberg, who is married to U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon. "That's why people serve in Congress and on the Hill. I wish we had three times as many people here today!" "Only one percent of the country's population defends the entire nation," said Leighton Oshima, spouse of U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono of Hawaii. "This is the least we can do. I am happy to have this opportunity to help some of our service members." Student teaching artists from the Corcoran Gallery of Art's ArtReach Program and the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities helped design and carry out the project. "I want to thank Mrs. Obama and all the congressional spouses who are here today," said Darrilyn Young, the base's child and youth programs director. "I am so excited, because the recipients of this honor are benefitting on so many different levels. This is living proof of why we have dreams and visions." | ||
| Biographies: First Lady Michelle Obama | ||
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