DVIDS – News – Supporting servicemembers at the top of the world

PITUFFIK SPACE BASE, Greenland – For the Guardians and Airmen serving a one-year rotation at Pituffik House Base, it may be simple to really feel such as you’re on prime of the world. On the similar time, it’s additionally not unusual to really feel such as you’re the one ones left on Earth.

For members of the Schriever House Pressure Base Operational Help Group, a latest journey to Pituffik aimed to handle the bodily and psychological toll that comes with serving half-way the world over.

Along with arctic fox, arctic hare, musk ox and the occasional polar bear, Pituffik is dwelling to the 821st House Base Group, twelfth House Warning Squadron, and the twenty third House Operations Squadron, Det. 1, to call a number of.

From March 15-22, the three-person group offered servicemembers with holistic well being assist and schooling within the type of postural syndromes, sleep, and relationships briefs; damage prevention and purposeful mobility coaching; office ergonomic assessments; purposeful motion assessments; Fundamental Life Help coaching; and a 120-page digital reference handbook to recap all the things taught over the nine-day go to.

“The aim of the go to was to offer members stationed at Pituffik with injury-prevention efforts and schooling within the musculoskeletal and psychological well being arenas,” mentioned U.S. Air Pressure Maj. Sean Batzer, OST flight commander. “Pituffik’s mission is completely crucial to the joint struggle and caring for our service members will assist them to carry out at their greatest.”

Not like a typical Air Pressure or House Pressure responsibility location, Batzer compares the challenges posed by a Pituffik rotation to these generally discovered on deployments.

“Pituffik is a novel however distant location the place servicemembers may really feel disconnected from household or may even expertise sleep points because of the gentle and darkish cycles all year long,” defined Batzer. “Our mission was to extend servicemembers’ understanding of the affect their atmosphere performs on their bodily well being whereas offering them with the instruments to fight these each day stressors in an effort to optimize their efficiency and stop potential accidents.”

With three-month durations of 24-hours of daylight and 24-hours of darkness, a rotation at Pituffik is definitely not like something you’d anticipate finding within the continental U.S.

“As a result of distant location and excessive atmosphere, members of Group Pituffik work, stay, train and recreate collectively,” mentioned Col. Jason Terry, 821st House Base Group commander. “Interpersonal relationships and psychological well being resiliency are crucial. That’s why it was necessary for our personnel to obtain specialised, in-person coaching and counseling.”

“Individuals will do their greatest to deal with the isolation from household and society. Nevertheless, the OST professionals include the talents and recent views to see the place our Airmen and Guardians are struggling and supply that crucial assist.”

Schriever OST’s journey to Greenland marks the primary time an OST has visited the distant House Base. With over a dozen of geographically separated items supporting House Base Delta 1’s crucial missions, Batzer believes he and his group have their work lower out for them – in the easiest way potential.

“Simply because a unit isn’t bodily positioned on Peterson or Schriever SFB doesn’t imply these servicemembers ought to go with out assist,” mentioned Batzer.

Whether or not it involves psychological or bodily well being, Batzer and his OST teammates will let you know consistency is essential. Whereas offering Pituffik servicemembers with constant assist poses a problem as distinctive as the placement itself, Batzer says he’s trying ahead to working with service members stationed at Pituffik in addition to future journeys to the House Base.

“We’re exploring future alternatives to offer constant assist to the Guardians and Airman who name Pituffik their non permanent dwelling,” mentioned Batzer. “No matter they want, we’ll be standing by to assist.”

Situated at Schriever House Pressure Base, the OST is a multidisciplinary group comprised of a bodily therapist, licensed medical social employee, psychological well being technician, and licensed power and conditioning specialist. The group works to establish high-risk items of their space of duty and integrates into these items for 3 to 6 months to assist deal with these issues. OST’s mission is to optimize unit readiness by evidence-informed and data-driven prevention, analysis, and therapy whereas partaking with particular person unit members to scale back bodily and psychological well being challenges.