The 23rd Medical Group welcomed the U.S. Air Force Surgeon General and Medical Service Corps leaders, May 18, 2022, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia.

U.S. Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Robert Miller; Chief Master Sgt. Dawn Kolczynski, Chief, Medical Enlisted Force and Enlisted Corps Chief; Brig. Gen. Robert K. Bogart, Air Combat Command surgeon general; and Chief Master Sgt. Kimberly Green, 60th Aerospace Medicine Squadron Superintendent, visited the 23rd MDG and 820th Base Defense Group to get familiarized with the medical capabilities they provide to Team Moody Airmen.

“We were excited to have (the Medical Service Corps leaders) here to meet our staff and brief them on our mission, in particular, how we pull together as a team to help our Airmen deploy at a moment’s notice with ready warfighters and well-trained medics,” said Lt. Col. Andy Rees, 23rd Operational Medical Readiness Squadron commander.

Part of the visit included a brief on process improvements at public health, which showcased medical readiness software. As the 23rd Wing gears up to become Lead-Wing ready in the fall, the software could potentially benefit both ACC and the entire U.S. Air Force Medical Service.

“We’ve got 300 Tiger Medics that have been grinding pretty good here on Lead-Wing efforts, as well as COVID, and overall taking care of the health of 17,000 beneficiaries in our defense health agency,” said Col. Ronald Merchant, 23rd MDG commander. “We’re blessed General Miller and General Bogart visited here, and are excited they recognized a number of our Tiger Medics for the wonderful work they’ve been doing over the last year – it meant a lot to the team.”

Along with the hundreds of personnel working in the medical group, the Tiger Medics have embedded a handful of independent duty medical technicians into other squadrons on Moody, like the 820th BDG.

Having IDMTs present in the BDG is beneficial, because the medical personnel are able to train, assess and evaluate the Airmen in need of training physicals and certifications for deployments and temporary duty travel.

“The wonderful thing is we've got a number of embedded medical personnel at the 820th BDG,” Merchant said. “The brief at the BDG gave the (Medical Service Corps leaders) a true perspective and recognition for what our medics are doing outside of the medical group to support our combat warfighters and their mission sets.”

After learning the mission set of the BDG and what the embedded medics do for the group, the Medical Service Corps leaders made their way back to the medical building to end the tour.

“I think they walked away with a lot of new perspectives,” Merchant said. “I hope they have a lot of things that they're going to take back and discuss for the 23rd MDG and the BDG-embedded medics.”