Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Amber Simpkins | Maj. Boyce Edwards, 1st Theater Sustainment Command inspector general, Kuwait, tells...... read more read more
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - The 1108th Theater Aviation Support Maintenance Group held their first Final Friday event at Camp Arifjan on April 24.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Thomas Ahl was in charge of the event and lined up multiple guest speakers to talk about a wide array of topics.
Master Sgt. Vernon Dedeaux was first on the list of speakers; his topic was sports injuries. According to the troop medical clinic at Camp Arifjan, this has been the leading cause of injury. Dedeaux talked about the importance of proper nutrition and hydration, working your way into a workout routine, building yourself up to a higher workout level, and conducting proper workouts to prevent sports injuries.
Dedeaux told everyone that he wants to push them to improve. “All we want is all you’ve got,” he said.
He had several soldiers stand up and explain sports injuries they’ve experienced, how they happened, and what they can do in the future to prevent them.
Dedeaux gave the soldiers this bit of advice, “Train hard, train smart, and cheat when necessary.”
Capt. Kim Feeney, 21st Combat Support Hospital dietician, discussed the importance of hot weather nutrition. She used the MyPlate model from MyPlate.gov to explain what soldiers should be eating to maintain proper nutrition, especially during the hot months in Kuwait.
Chronic training in the heat creates an increased loss of Magnesium, Calcium, Sodium, and Potassium and she explained how to combat that with proper nutrition and fluid intake. A highlight of Capt. Feeney’s training was the Human Performance Resource Center website that she educated the soldiers about. Many soldiers take dietary supplements during deployments due to an increase in working out. The website allows you to look up every supplement, their ingredients, get the facts on each one, and see if they’ve been clinically proven to work.
Chief Warrant Officer 4 Thomas Ahl followed Capt. Feeney; his goal was to make sure that everyone knows “heat injuries are one hundred percent preventable.” He gave a PowerPoint presentation on different types of heat injuries, symptoms, how to treat each type of injury, and ways to prevent them from occurring. Soldiers that have been previous heat casualties stood up and described their experiences with heat injuries. They talked about what to watch out for and the slightest symptoms that we brush off as normal.
Staff Sgt. Allen Matheney described his repeated heat injuries from constantly working in the heat.
“I just kept drinking Coke all day, every day at work, it was normal,” said Matheney. “That’s just what we did, then I got off work and sometimes I didn’t think I would finish the drive home. Many days I would even have to pull over on the side of the road to throw up.”
What he described was lack of education, which in turn created some dangerous situations where people could’ve died.
“Know the signs and symptoms and intervene as soon as possible, you could potentially save someone’s life,” said Ahl.
Maj. Boyce Edwards, 1st Theater Sustainment Command Inspector General, had a briefing to tell the soldiers what the role of the IG’s office is and what it can and cannot do for them. He covered hot topics such as, the role of the IG office, common issues seen, disciplinary actions taken, whistleblower reprisal, who can talk to the IG, when someone should talk to the IG, and most importantly the necessity of treating everyone with dignity and respect.
“Come see us, but be prepared to answer the following questions upon walking in the door,” said Edwards. “What do you want the IG to do for you? Have you given your chain of command an opportunity to address the problem? What is your status: active duty, Army Reserve, National Guard? Have you requested assistance from any other source or agency? Do you have any supporting documentation?”
Edwards stressed the importance of having documentation with you when filing an IG complaint by saying, “I hate to sound like I don’t trust you, but I don’t trust you.”
Final Friday covered a variety of topics that all related to the 1108th TASMG’s deployment. The information that was discussed is all information that will be used throughout the time spent in theater and can also be used upon return home. Final Friday will be a monthly occurrence for the soldiers and it will give them an opportunity to remain current on annual training requirements, as well as refresher safety training that every soldier can benefit from.
Final Friday will continue to be held the last Friday of each month. The morning will be used for required training and safety information.
| Date Taken: | 04.24.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.14.2015 04:28 |
| Story ID: | 163277 |
| Location: | GULFPORT, KW |
| Web Views: | 112 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, Final Friday: A way to end the month on a safe note, by SFC Amber Simpkins, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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