FORT DETRICK, Md. -- Two Soldiers and a U.S. Army Civilian joined the prestigious ranks of Dean R. Ohlsen Award of Excellence recipients during a ceremony May 21.
Announced at the conclusion of Army Medical Logistics Command’s Healthcare Technology Management, or HTM, week workshop at Fort Detrick, the winners included Chief Warrant Officer 3 David Turner, Master Sgt. Peung Kim and Thuy Dao.
“This is an absolute honor,” Kim said afterward. “To have my name on this award alongside such an amazing leader like Dean Ohlsen, it’s just such an honor. I don’t feel like I deserve this.”
The fourth annual award -- recognizing one warrant officer, one enlisted Soldier and one civilian -- is named after the late retired Sgt. Maj. Dean R. Ohlsen, who was known as a pioneer in the HTM community.
Ohlsen gave over 60 years of combined service as a Soldier and Army Civilian, dedicating most of his life to the advancement of the Army’s medical maintenance career field over his decades of governmental service.
The Dean Ohlsen awards served as the capstone for the daylong workshop that highlights the HTM career field and its roles throughout the Department of Defense.
The military’s HTM workforce consists of warrant officers, enlisted Soldiers and civilian employees committed to the care of the nation’s warfighters through planning, procurement and sustainment of medical devices.
A team of dedicated professionals, the HTM community works collectively to deliver effective, efficient health care support, contributing to the overall medical readiness.
“This year’s HTM Week event was a great time for us to recognize the great work of this community and the importance it holds for medical readiness throughout the DOD,” said Chief Warrant Officer 5 Lee Nelson, AMLC’s command chief warrant officer. “A great group of professionals came together to share experiences and knowledge with the goal of better synchronizing our efforts to support the warfighter.”
Turner and Kim were present to receive their awards at the HTM event, while Dao received her award virtually. The two Fort Detrick-based Soldiers both said they were blindsided by the honor, calling it very humbling.
“I had no idea I was even considered,” Turner said. “I was shocked. And I can’t take credit for this. Everything we’ve accomplished has been a team effort.”
Turner currently serves as deputy director of the Readiness and Sustainment Directorate within AMLC’s Integrated Logistics Support Center. He’s been a leader in developing new life cycle sustainment plans for dozens of medical devices under the ILSC’s purview.
Kim is serving as senior enlisted leader for the U.S. Army Medical Materiel Agency, an AMLC direct reporting unit, and Dao is chief of clinical engineering and deputy S-4 for the U.S. Army Medical Institute of Chemical Defense.
Throughout the day, the HTM workshop brought together dozens of professionals from the installation and beyond. It featured updates from the military service branches, as well as from Defense Health Agency, Army Medical Center of Excellence and private industry groups that support the warfighter.
The afternoon sessions included a senior panel discussion and stories shared by several current and former service members about their careers, including Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Fraser, who in 2009 experienced a moment that underscored why he became a medical maintainer.
At Germany’s Ramstein Air Base, he was called to the flight line for an arriving C-17 carrying wounded service members. One of them was severely injured in an IED attack in Libya.
“As we were carrying this guy off the plane, a vent was breathing for him,” Fraser recounted to attendees. “I looked down at the vent and there was a sticker with my name on it.”
That was the moment Fraser said he learned that all the hours put in by maintainers can be the difference when a life is on the line.
“After that moment, every vent I worked on I felt like a life was potentially being saved,” he said. “Medical is the humanity of the military. Yes, we’re supposed to go to war, but we save people.
“In order to save lives, you have to have the equipment to do it.”
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