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Medics earn Air Force-level recognition

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Lindsey Maurice
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Five medics deployed with the 386th Expeditionary Medical Group received some exciting news recently when they were informed of their selection for 2009 Air Force Medical Service Awards.

Maj. Susan von Eicken, deployed from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., was recognized individually as the Mental Health Nurse of the Year, while four other 386th EMDG medics were recognized in team awards.

Lt. Col. Scott Malthaner and Tech. Sgt. Charles Patterson, both deployed from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, were part of the Large Dental Clinic Team of the Year; Lt. Col. Ronald Porte, deployed from Eglin AFB, Fla., was part of the Outstanding Bioenvironmental Engineering Team of the Year and Staff Sgt. Carmen Williams, also deployed from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, was part of the U.S. Air Force Category I Laboratory Team of the Year.

"I would stack any of the medics of the 386th EMDG against any others within the Air Force Medical Service," said Col. Michael Schaffrinna, 386th EMDG commander. "They have a commitment to excellence and an incredible "can do" attitude."

"Winning the awards these Airmen have at the Air Force-level, places them in the top 1 percent of our Air Force," he continued. "I would expect that excellence to translate to 'top shelf' mentoring and a continued focus on improving the service the men and women [here] experience when they enter our [expeditionary medical services or contingency aeromedical staging facility]. We remain committed to preventing illness and injury, but are prepared to save lives when we must."

Major von Eicken, who joined the Air Force 17 years ago under a nursing scholarship program said she has always been interested in psychology and human behavior and is more excited today than ever to be working in the medical field.

"This is a very exciting time to be working in the mental health arena," said the 386th EMDG CASF mental health nurse. "There are new diagnostic capabilities and treatment modalities being discovered for post traumatic stress syndrome and traumatic brain injuries. We have come so far in recognizing combat stress illnesses and are developing programs for pre and post deployers."

During the past year spent as the 60th Inpatient Squadron Inpatient Mental Health Flight commander, Major von Eicken was instrumental in opening a new joint (Department of Defense and Veteran's Administration) services state-of-the-art inpatient mental health ward.

The Chehalis, Wash., native, was also recognized for developing policies and procedures to accommodate more severe psychiatric patients (involuntary veterans and civilians) and for starting a new training program for psychiatric nurses in the Air Force.

In addition, the major was noted for developing specialty templates for computerized charting for inpatient psychiatry.

Even with all of her hard work over the last year, Major von Eicken remains humble about her recognition.

"I felt honored and humbled when I heard the news," she said. "I know my colleagues are doing some fantastic things as well, some of them in harm's way. I was fortunate enough to be part of a grand project where we combined resources and manpower and created a 'best business' model scenario between the VA and the Air Force. I had a fantastic team to work with between the Air Force, VA personnel, civilian contractors and wonderful, supportive leadership."

Major von Eicken said that with her recent recognition, if she could get one message out to the masses it would be a change in the perception of her career field.

"There has always been a stigma attached to mental health," she said. "My hope is to be a part of this 'new push' to make mental health treatment more acceptable and viewed as a positive form of treatment."

Major von Eicken and the other medics will be presented with their Air Force-level awards and certificates later this year.