The counting is not over

By Mr. Perry Jefferies (Army Medicine)December 22, 2010

Rugged Blood drive donors
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Rugged Blood Drive donors
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FORT HOOD, Texas (ASBP, December 8, 2010) - This blood drive turned out to be one of the largest held on Fort Hood in the last three years.

The 36th Engineer Brigade (Rugged) is one of the busiest and most deployed units on Fort Hood. The brigade sends groups of Soldiers overseas both as complete units and as supplements to other force packages. At present, the commander, Colonel Kent Savre is deployed to Iraq.

Major Michael Payne, rear detachment commander, set a goal of collecting more blood than the last large 36th Engineer blood drive. During that drive, held in April 2009, nearly 100 units of blood were collected and shipped overseas in support of deployed troops. Working closely with the S-3 Maj. Delisi, Staff Sgt. William Thompson and the Family Readiness Support Assistant Wendy Glazener put together a good plan to involve as many people from the rear detachment as possible.

"We had a real challenging blood drive at our community center," said Staff Sgt. Thompson. "So I challenged the commander and command sergeant major to do better. Major Payne wanted to meet or exceed last year's drive even though the unit is deployed."

Maj. Delisi wrote a comprehensive order and ensured that all bases were covered. He even held in-progress reviews, similar to preparing for a field problem, to keep track of progress. Because of his extensive preparation, the unit's estimates were accurate and the blood center was prepared for the influx of blood.

"Normally, we would ask units to spread out such large collections over several days or even weeks but with really good planning we were able to make good use of all these donations."

Some subordinate units, like the 572 Engineer Company, of 8th Engineer, did delay their actual donation dates by a week to make sure that all the products donated were available for shipment. These collections ensured that the blood donor center could meet its commitment to deployed troops. Overall, the 36th Engineer Brigade provided 180 donors to the Robertson Blood Center, across the holidays, while the unit was deployed. This feat is one more example of why the 36th Engineer Brigade is known as "Rugged."

To find out more about the Armed Services Blood Program or to make an appointment, please visit us online: www.militaryblood.dod.mil. To interact directly with some of our staff or to get the latest news, visit us here: www.facebook.com/militaryblood

Related Links:

Armed Services Blood Program

Military Blood Donors