Medical Group civilian takes Air Force award Published Feb. 19, 2009 By Carl Bergquist Air University Public Affairs MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The medical readiness flight chief for the 42nd Medical Group distinguished himself, the group and Maxwell-Gunter recently when he was named the winner of the Expeditionary Medical Operations Award in the civilian category by the Air Force. "To be recognized at that level is humbling," John Henry said. "There are a lot of people out there doing even more than I am, and to be mentioned with them, let alone to win the award, is a great honor." He said he is also happy about the award because he feels it's good for the 42nd MDG and the base. "The exposure for the 42nd MDG and Maxwell-Gunter is fantastic," Mr. Henry said. "It highlights the contributions of our current leadership, as well as the contributions of all past commanders who helped develop the programs that led to this award. All I can say is that I'm glad to be a part of it." Bullets on the nomination package were numerous and included Mr. Henry being an "IG top pick" who augmented four Inspector General Operational Readiness Inspection teams. Also mentioned was his being the lead planner for Air Force SOUTH medical readiness training exercises in Panama and El Salvador; obtaining $80,000 in medical supplies for the events and coordinating public affairs coverage for those exercises. Described in the nomination as a "fiscal wizard," Mr. Henry ensured his office was 100 percent mission ready with no short falls and did so on a $22,000-per-year budget. He also was a key player in initiating emergency management disaster relief for Hurricanes Gustav and Ike; is an experienced and valued member of the base exercise evaluation team; was instrumental in coordinating the on-scene medical group team and the Maxwell-Gunter emergency management team during a tornado incident in the nearby community of Prattville, Ala.; and executed 85 deployments supporting Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom as well as humanitarian missions. Mr. Henry said one of his strengths is that he doesn't stay at Maxwell-Gunter all the time, but gets "out and about" in his job. He said he feels that may have been a factor that made a difference in his winning the award. "I have participated in several ORIs, and that gives me the chance to get out and see what other bases are doing," he said. "That also allows me to bring back new ideas, for the EET or for field exercises, that help us improve our organization and the base in general. Additionally, we have been receiving better communications from combatant commanders, and that has drastically improved our processes." Mr. Henry said the next big project for him and the medical group is a humanitarian mission to the Dominican Republic in April. He said he is looking forward to this mission because it is joint in nature. "We will be doing a joint exercise called 'Beyond the Horizons' with the Army and Navy in the Dominican Republic that will be coordinated by the Army. It will be a lot like other humanitarian missions, but different," he said. "A general medical mission with doctors, dentists, pharmacists and a large quantity of medications, I'm excited about the joint-aspect of this one because in addition to the medical part, there will be Army engineering units repairing roads, drains, buildings and whatever else needs fixing. It's going to be very interesting." Mr. Henry said he feels Maxwell-Gunter has benefitted from all that has happened over the last few years in terms of medical readiness. "I think we have streamlined our deployment process to meet the needs of the Air Force, especially in the last year," he said. "It is a big improvement, and a lot of this can be attributed to combatant commanders making their needs known." Mr. Henry retired from a 23-year career in the Air Force two years ago. Reaching the rank of master sergeant, he spent his career with several different medical groups, except for two years when he was an instructor at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.