Exiting with class: Sheppard medical training nears end Published April 21, 2011 By Stacy Johnson Times New Record WICHITA FALLS, Texas -- "This article was published in the Wichita Falls (Texas) Times-Record News. It is re-published here with the publisher's permission." Monday afternoon saw the end of an era for Air Force medical training at Sheppard Air Force Base as one of the last 882nd Training Group classes, the Aerospace Medical Service Apprentice Course, graduated 22 airmen. Col. Lista Benson, 882nd Training Group commander, said the group will complete its move in September to San Antonio's Fort Sam Houston, which was dictated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure round decision to consolidate medical training. "We're very excited we're moving into tri-service training, but it's very bittersweet for us because Sheppard will always be a part of our medic history and our medical training," Benson said. She said the training to be conducted at Fort Sam Houston will better prepare medical personnel in the Air Force to jointly deploy in today's warfighting environment. "Right now if you go to Balad (Air Base in Iraq), and you go into the emergency room, you're not going to be able to tell who's working on you, and they have to have some spin-up time, because the first time they ever worked together before was in that emergency room in Balad, but now, the first time they will work together is when they train together," Benson said. "It's a wonderful foundation, and as we grow together we will be able to operate more effectively in a joint environment." The airmen who graduated Monday are trained in skills such as basic anatomy and physiology, cardiac life support, sanitation, emergency wound treatment and first aid procedures. They are certified emergency medical technicians and will move on to their clinical phase training next. Lt. Col. Jennifer Kimmet, 373rd Training Squadron commander, home to the AMSA course, said the move to San Antonio has been a challenge, but she said the squadron is looking forward to the future. "It's bittersweet because we are very excited about the future and the opportunity to train in a state-of-the-art, brand-new campus that was built just for us to the specifications that we asked for, which is a very unique opportunity in today's military," Kimmet said. "But it is very difficult to leave here -- we have 45 years of history in this building at Sheppard, and we've had tremendous community support." She said the instructors who teach the AMSA course have done a great job faced with the challenges of moving their families to San Antonio along with training tomorrow's Air Force medics. She said the amount of AMSA course graduates who graduated with honors, maintaining an average above 90 percent on their coursework, has increased by 20 percent in the past year and a half. There were 12 airmen who graduated with honors in this class, she said. Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Charles B. Green was the guest speaker at the graduation ceremony and passed out degrees with Lt. Col. Kimmet. He said the newly graduated airmen have a unique challenge as they have chosen a path to care for the well-being of the men and women of the Air Force. "You will make a difference in other people's lives," Green said.