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Air Force medical leader levels with San Antonio Airmen

  • Published
  • By Alexis Culver
  • 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas --  The Air Force Medical Service's top enlisted advisor visited with Airmen from the 59th Medical Wing to discuss career issues during an enlisted call at the Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center auditorium June 6.

Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Lambing, Chief of the Medical Enlisted Force and personal advisor to the Air Force Surgeon General, met with the enlisted Air Force medical community in San Antonio to address matters of welfare, readiness, morale, and career progression. Held at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, the gathering was video-teleconferenced to personnel at JBSA-Randolph.

Lambing began the enlisted call by explaining how the Air Force needs to return to an expeditionary mindset and how they will execute it.

"I need everyone to prepare themselves, and others, with the proper training and in bringing people to face the reality of what duties in Afghanistan are like," Lambing said. "Just as we came in as an expeditionary force, we will start to go out the same way."

Chief Lambing continued by sharing a familiar adage.

"Invest yourselves in the lives of those you've been blessed to lead and blessed to serve," Lambing said. "We all got to where we are because someone took the time to invest themselves in our lives."

The chief challenged Airmen to continue with that investment to restore the Air Force's foundation as a respected institution. He also called for all Airmen medics to confront their "comfort zone" and help find solutions to the greatest challenge the Air Force Medical Service is facing this year - a reduced budget.

"We, as the AFMS, were told we needed to cut $450 million out of our budget," Lambing said. "So we had to really think about how we were going to manage this and we took some cuts in some key areas."

AFMS made cuts in all but one uncompromising area - world class health care, he added.

"There's one thing we commit to, and it's the one thing I need you to stay committed to - that's the support and delivery of world class health care to our beneficiaries every day," Lambing said. "They deserve it - each and every one of them."

Although the Air Force faces many obstacles, the progression of professional education for the medical enlisted force remains firm.

For the past year, Lambing said he has been working with the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, the federal academic health center, on behalf of the medical enlisted force.
The school prepares graduates for service in the medical corps. Enlisted Airmen who are U.S. citizens younger than 31, and have their five-level skill training and a baccalaureate degree can apply within the next month.

"The board will meet in October to select candidates, and the first class will start July 2014," he added.

With the positive steps toward conquering enlisted issues, Lambing left the Airmen with a few words of advice.

"You have to be able to communicate. Invest yourself in your people, develop your people and make sure they have what they need. Education is so valuable to us," he said. "We have to invest ourselves in educating and developing our people."