Tropic Care Maui County 2018: IT at the Hana clinic

Photo By Staff Sgt. Kevin Schulze | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Mary Beth Thomas (left), an information technology technician assigned to the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Caitlin Lee (right), a client systems technician assigned to the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard, maintain a generator during Tropic Care Maui County 2018 at Hana Hi. Aug. 15, 2018. Tropic Care Maui County 2018 is a joint-service, “hands-on” readiness training mission offering no cost medical, dental, and vision services to people at six locations across Maui, Molokai and Lanai from August 11-19.(U.S. Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin D. Schulze)  

HANA, HAWAII, UNITED STATES

08.15.2018

Courtesy Story

194th Wing

HANA, Hawaii—Communications are a necessity when operating in military field conditions. Tropic Care Maui County 2018, a military Innovative Readiness Training mission, is operating from six clinic sites on Maui, Molokai, and Lanai. All require Information Technology to be set up.

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Mary Beth Thomas, an information technology technician assigned to the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Caitlin Lee, a client systems technician assigned to the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard, are responsible for IT at the Hana clinic for the duration of the mission. The clinic is operating from August 11-19.

“We had to come here ahead of time to make sure things were set up and ready to go,” said Thomas. “It was definitely a lot of work… we kind of hit the ground running.”

Tropic Care Maui County 2018 provides a unique training experience for IT specialists like Lee and Thomas.

“With the [Air National] Guard we just do base communications so everything we need is inside and already set up,” said Thomas. “Here…it’s the opposite. It’s more tactical communications.”

In such tactical training scenarios, Lee and Thomas are responsible for not only the computers, printers and internet, but also equipment like the tents and generators.

The initial set up was difficult, but once things got moving it was easy to jump into a supporting role, said Lee.

However, the services that IT specialists provide can be overlooked. “When things go right you don’t hear from anyone, but when things go wrong, it’s bad,” said Lee with a laugh.

(Story by Staff Sgt. Kevin Schulze, 181st Intelligence Wing, Indiana Air National Guard)

• Date Taken: 08.15.2018
• Date Posted: 08.16.2018 03:23
• Story ID: 288999
• Location: HANA, HAWAII, US