FORT SILL, Okla., Aug. 20, 2020 -- There’s a much more to being an Army veterinarian than meets the eye.
Though most people here at Fort Sill refer to Capt. Moriah Kaufman as the post veterinarian, her actual title is officer in charge of Oklahoma Branch Veterinary Services and her responsibilities are far-reaching.
The Oklahoma branch has a staff of 16 active-duty service members and 13 civilians based at Fort Sill and Tinker Air Force Base. They see privately-owned animals for service members and retirees, but they are also responsible for the health and well-being of 32 military working dogs – not only Fort Sill’s but also those at Tinker, Altus, Sheppard, and Vance Air Force bases and the Army Ammunition Plant at McAlester.
And then there are the horses of the Artillery Half Section, which she enjoys taking care of.
“I love the Half Section. I love the horses. It’s an interesting piece of Fort Sill history,” she said.
When Sportsmen’s Services had a wildlife sanctuary she consulted on the bobcats and the coyote that lived there. These have since been transferred to the Medicine Park Aquarium. She provided advice on the new enclosures the aquarium would have for them when that happened.
“I’ve also done a pretty decent amount of work with small reptiles and mammals, which I really enjoy. I like pet lizards and snakes and guinea pigs, that kind of thing,” she said.
In addition to clinical exams, Army veterinarians do nearly every type of surgery except for some specialized surgery.
“We have a full surgical suite here, and we do offer those services,” she said.
Certain food inspections also fall under the purview of Veterinary Services.
“That entails inspecting the Shoppettes, the Commissary, the TISA (Troop Issue Subsistence Activity, which has to do with the Army Field Feeding System), and the PX. That’s all locally. And then we do have some Shoppettes out at the Army Ammunition Plant at McAlester, Oklahoma, that I inspect once every quarter, and then I do food inspection/military audits for contracted companies that provide either beverages or food or some kind of service that provides food products for the Army,” said the captain.
Her food inspectors work with Preventive Medicine to make sure the dining facilities get regular inspections. Preventive Medicine mostly does the food trucks, but the veterinary staff assists as needed.
Free rabies clinics for the southwest Oklahoma Indian tribes are another service that Oklahoma Branch Veterinary Services provides. The staff partners with the Comanche, Kiowa, Apache, Wichita, Caddo, and Delaware tribes to put these on. One recent rabies clinic at the Apache Tribal Headquarters in Anadarko had cars lined up around the block.
“It’s very popular. They really need it. We do between 50 and 150 at each location,” Kaufman said.
Anyone familiar with the writings of James Herriott knows that veterinarians have lots of stories to tell.
“I’ve certainly had some interesting cases, for sure,” she said.
“I once saw a small dog that had had a piece of plastic actually stuck over his teeth inside his jaw. I don’t know really where it came from, but that had been there long enough that it had like a quarter-inch layer of plaque on it – along with the teeth. So I ended up taking that out. That was interesting.
“I’ve pulled interesting things from the insides of animals. I did a surgery recently on one of my co-worker’s cats, and there was a little rubber plug in her intestines. We still don’t really know what it was.
“I pulled out a big hairball that was rubber bands and hair from a cat, cloth and toys out of dogs. So that’s interesting. It’s always interesting to go to surgery and see what you pull out.”
Kaufman said she went into veterinary medicine because she has always been interested in science and medicine, and for a long time that manifested itself as an interest in research. While doing research as an undergrad, she was exposed to the veterinary side – clinical practice as well as taking care of some research animals – and then she really got interested.
Veterinary schools are few and far between, and they are notoriously hard to get into. Good grades are a big part of getting in, but there are other ways to diversify an applicant’s experience so that a school will accept you.
Kaufman was accepted at two veterinary schools, Oregon State University and Kansas State University. She chose the one in Oregon because that was her home state and earned her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree there. The Army did not pay for any of her schooling, and it wasn’t until after she graduated that she elected to become an Army veterinarian.
“I’ve just always been interested in the nontraditional areas of veterinary medicine. I do like clinical practice, but there are a lot of other things that you can do as a veterinarian. The public health aspect that the Army focuses on, food inspection, that kind of a thing. That offered me an opportunity to do something a little bit out of the norm, as far as a straight clinical practice goes.
“And I’m also interested in possibly pursuing a specialty and becoming a board-certified laboratory animal vet. So the Army and the Department of Defense have a lot of research facilities, and they do a lot of interesting research, and that is something I would not be able to do as a civilian,” she explained.
A new captain will soon take over as officer in charge of Fort Sill’s vet clinic, and Kaufman will transition to branch-level management. She will coordinate care for all the installations’ dogs and handle things like training, meetings, and higher-level administrative chores.
To anyone considering a career in veterinary medicine she has this to say:
“It can be a difficult job, but it definitely is rewarding. You shouldn’t get into this field if you don’t like talking to people and you don’t like people. People often say, ‘Oh, I just want to hang out with animals. I don’t like people.’ But talking to people is what I do all day long every day. So if you don’t have good skills in communication, it’s a very hard job.
“And then, just being able to develop your leadership skills over time. That is something that is also very important. If you’re prepping for a career in this field those are the most important things to do.”
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