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Rock Solid Warrior: Staff Sgt. Calvin James

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. William Banton
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  This week’s Rock Solid Warrior is Staff Sgt. Calvin James, a clinical laboratory technician with the 386th Expeditionary Medical Group, deployed from the 60th Diagnostics and Therapeutics Squadron, Travis Air Force Base, California.
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The Rock Solid Warrior program is a way to recognize and spotlight the Airmen of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing for their positive impact and commitment to the mission.

Why did you join the Air Force?

I joined the Air Force to learn discipline and complete my education goals.


How is your deployed unit/job different from your home unit/job?

Within the deployed environment, I am the sole medical laboratory expert, whereas in home station I can converse with other professionals for consensus. I really enjoy the difference of camaraderie; deployed members are consistently eager to step up and help one another or learn something outside their career scope of expertise.


What are some of your professional and personal goals?

I face the normal challenges of missing my family, having to make new friends and establishing a routine. To overcome these challenges, I speak to my wife throughout the day and speak to my kids at least once every 2 days. It wasn’t hard to meet new people, I enjoy doing that, but I adjusted to our different personalities by respecting their boundaries. Establishing a routine is by far the hardest challenge for me. I write a to-do list daily and schedule events in my phone calendar; saying yes to everything makes it hard to comply with my personal schedule sometimes.


What is your favorite part of your mission here?

My favorite part of the mission here is supporting the treatment of patients’ by processing necessary lab tests, learning new job skills, and planning events to boost the group’s morale.

What are some of your hobbies?

I enjoy playing sports, working out, eating/cooking, outdoors events, and arts/crafts — especially making things out of wood/glass.


What are some of the challenges you face here? How do you overcome them?

I aim to strengthen the continuity of the laboratory and morale committee. I expect to do that by updating the operating procedures and adding new operating procedures (one document per month for 5 months). For the morale committee, we will have a running draft explaining our time as committee members.