DVIDS Hub works best with JavaScript enabled

Saving Lives Today for a Better Tomorrow

Photo By Pfc. Jonathan Beauchamp | U.S. service members pose for a photo during a blood drive on Camp Foster, Okinawa,...... read more read more

OKINAWA, JAPAN

02.16.2022

Courtesy Story

Marine Corps Installations Pacific

CAMP FOSTER, OKINAWA, Japan – The Armed Services Blood Program continued its outreach by allowing service members to donate blood for their brothers and sisters in arms on Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan, Feb. 16.

“The blood drive was held at the Camp Foster library from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Joshua Glentrvett, a senior noncommissioned officer with ASBP. “ASBP’s base of operation is at the Camp Foster Naval Hospital Okinawa. To have the maximum outreach to the military, ASBP rotates across Okinawa’s military bases to best compensate for patient health during a 56-day wait period between blood draws per person.”

Due to Camp Foster being one of the central bases, ASBP has a lot of different units that always give us support, said Glentrvett. ASBP is confident that if they come to Camp Foster, the service members will support their brothers and sisters in arms, he said.

Potential donors are screened for their eligibility to donate blood. Some of the most common disqualifying factors include new tattoos within the last three months and travel out of Japan and the U.S. within the last 6 months.

“When I give blood, I feel self-satisfaction, knowing that I helped save a life,” said U.S. Navy Seaman Caleb Werner, a mobile team member with ASBP.

In 1952, the Department of Defense formally established the Armed Forces Blood Donor Program in response to the Korean War. The ASBP's mission is to provide quality blood products for service members, veterans, and their families during peacetime operations and at war. As a joint operation among the services, the program has many components working together to collect, process, store, distribute, and transfuse blood worldwide. The blood collected by the ASBP is used to support all military medical facilities, training and operations across the Pacific.

ASBP hosts blood drives every Tuesday at the Camp Foster movie theater from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Additional information can be found at https://okinawa.tricare.mil/ or via phone at 098-971-9355.

“One blood donation can possibly save up to two lives, with only a few minutes of your time,” said Werner. “You never know the full repercussions of not having blood until you need blood.”