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Medical Flight Commander Awards
Flight Commander of Functional Medicine Flight
Major Katelyn Allen distinguished herself by meritorious service as Flight Commander of Functional Medicine Flight, 378th Expeditionary Medical Squadron, Prince Sultan Air Base, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. During this period, Major Allen's expert leadership of a flight of six providers and six technicians allowed for the most productive Mental Health, Physical Therapy, and Dental Clinics in Air Force Central Command during her command period. Additionally, as sole provider, responsible for austere clinic operations, the dental clinic was recognized as AFCENT's #1/6 to 437 patients, executing 2,344 procedures and treating 256 acute injuries. Their interventions saved the Air Force $12.6M in evacuation costs, ensured a 100% return-to-duty rate. Major Allen oversaw the tripling of the Physical Therapy footprint and secured a mission critical additional provider/tech team through a 3,000 joint-service personnel surge. Her actions boosted access to care by 84%, increasing efficiency by 504% saving an additional $455K. Furthermore, Major Allen helped secure additional staffing for Mental Health, thus decreasing acute mental health crisis in the field. Her actions directly enabled 2,557 sorties and 60 mission-critical encounters across 4.3M square miles for four named Operations. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Major Allen while serving her country reflect great credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
Optometry Flight Commander
Major Stephanie I. King distinguished herself in the performance of outstanding service to the United States as Optometry Flight Commander, 14th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, 14th Medical Group, 14th Flying Training Wing, Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. During this period, her outstanding professional skill and leadership resulted in major contributions to the superb care of the three thousand total force members by accomplishing over 2,800 exams including undergraduate pilot exams, flying class physicals and waiver evaluations. Her leadership also piloted the wing's first civilian Airman Leadership School graduate. Additionally, as Clinical Team Chief, she ensured 10 personnel were fully trained for disaster response emergencies. Finally, Major King was selected for the Chief BSC position, consulting with 3 commanders and providing mentorship to 13 officers. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Major King culminate a distinguished career in the service of her country and reflect great credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
Pathology Flight Commander
Lieutenant Colonel Anthony B. Polito distinguished himself while serving as Pathology Flight Commander, 633d Medical Support Squadron, 633d Medical Group, Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. During this period, Colonel Polito led 74 Airmen while commanding the second largest laboratory in Air Combat Command, oversaw a 19.8 million dollar budget, 2.2 million diagnostic tests, and 11.9 thousand surgical and cytology cases. He led the medical group through multiple flawless national regulatory agency inspections, each garnering re-accreditation for the medical facility. Additionally, as interim Squadron Commander, Colonel Polito led a no-notice combat support mission, processing 322 Airmen in 48 hours, driving the largest and fastest F-22 deployment ever. Furthermore, he piloted project BROWN HERON's risk-to-force dashboard that advised installation Commands and propelled emergency response for 4.2 million medical supplies for nine Area of Oprations. Moreover, he engineered an Air Force Office of Special Investigations program that safeguarded 92 military treatment facilities, garnering praise from the Commander of Air Force Special Investigations. Finally, Colonel Polito oversaw the Air Force's number one of 12 Laboratory Phase II programs for pass rate and his unrivaled leadership was recognized as his Flight was selected as the 2020 and 2021 633d Air Base Wing Team of the year. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Colonel Polito reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.
Optometry Flight Commander
Major Sarah P. Ganz distinguished herself in the performance of outstanding service to the United States as Optometry Flight Commander, 436th Operational Medical Readiness Squadron, 436th Medical Group, 436th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base, Delaware from 20 June 2021 to 29 July 2022. During this period, Major Ganz led a three-member team as the Wing's sole optometrist executing 788 visual exams and providing ophthalmic patient services for 10,000 beneficiaries and ensuring vision readiness for 477 rated personnel. She drove clinical operations, upgrading a $5,000 technical systems platform, which increased patient care efficiency by 35%. Additionally, she was dual-hatted serving as the interim Human Performance Flight Commander, directing an additional nine members in securing $342,000 in patient services. In this role she also managed the Operational Support Team mission by embedding with two high-risk squadrons supporting 140 patient evaluations and 11 classes which optimized resiliency for 908 members. Her performance was vital to the unit gaining The Joint Commission accreditation for 2022. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Major Ganz reflect great credit upon herself and the United States Air Force.
Flight Commander, Special Warfare Human Performance Squadron
Major Adrian N. Marrero distinguished himself in the performance of outstanding service to the United States as Operating Location-Foxtrot Flight Commander, Special Warfare Human Performance Squadron, Special Warfare Human Performance Support Group, Special Warfare Training Wing, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. During this period, Major Marrero commanded his flight in the development and mentorship of Tactical Sports and Orthopedic Manual Therapy Fellows, graduating ten fellows and setting up an additional six fellows for success. He flawlessly led an internal audit guiding seven education experts and revising thirty seven courses which resulted in the Health Professions Education Requirements Board approving a four month program extension. Additionally, he facilitated an advanced dry needling course teaching six continuing education credits over the course of sixteen hours ensuring the upgrade training and deployment readiness for nineteen Department of Defense medics across six major commands. Major Marrero positively represented the Air Force by publishing four poster presentations, influencing the greater international physical therapy audience and contributing to evidence based practice. Furthermore, Major Marrero earned dual orthopedics and sports board certification, a distinction held by less than one percent of Physical Therapists nation-wide. The singularly distinctive accomplishments of Major Marrero reflect great credit upon himself and the United States Air Force.