ROCK SOLID WARRIOR Published Nov. 28, 2008 386th Expeditionary Medical Group SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Staff Sgt. Shawn Volle Public Health craftsman Home unit/base: 88th Medical Group, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio How do you support the mission here? Public Health supports the mission in several ways. We inprocess and outprocess everyone that comes through here. Public Health is also responsible for inspecting all the food that is on the base. We make several trips during the month to all the food servicing agencies to inspect their entire processes, and we ensure that all Airmen and Soldiers are not being subjected to health risks associated with their food. The Public Health office also tracks everyone's immunizations. We make sure that Airmen have current and valid immunization records, and that everyone is receiving their immunizations on time to avoid any potential exposure risks. How many times have you deployed and what makes this one unique? This is my third deployment during my years of service; however, it is the first time I've been deployed here. This deployment is different for me, because for the first time I've had to leave behind a wife and two children. It's made the entire process, from notification to actual deployment, more difficult for me. I've never had to worry about what was going on back in the States; I was able to focus entirely on my deployed mission. Now I find myself focused on my mission during duty hours, while my down time is spent wondering what my family is doing and hoping that they are getting along without too much difficulty. It's brought an entirely new perspective to my deployment, and hopefully the next time around will be easier. How does your job differ in a deployed environment vs. home base? Honestly, Public Health's overall job while deployed is the same as at your home station. The difference is the operations tempo. Here, we are on more of a weekly rotation with inspections and personnel issues, where at home we are on more of a monthly rotation.