JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- On June 16, 2017, the 79th Medical Wing and all subordinate units were deactivated, to include the 779th Medical Group. The group reactivated as the 11th Medical Group, and all of the subordinate squadrons followed suit.
During that official ceremony, the 779th Medical Operations Squadron I took command of in July 2016 became the 11th Medical Operations Squadron. In that moment, the 11 MDOS inherited the unit emblem that had been officially approved and cataloged when the squadron was last active. However, the emblem was in need of an update.
This provided an opportunity to consider whether the unit motto on the emblem, “Healthcare with Hospitality” fully described our current mission/vision. Hospitality is an important dimension of patient care, but not the only one.
Since 2015, all medical treatment facilities in the Air Force began a Trusted Care journey. The ultimate goal is to eliminate serious harm to patients by transforming healthcare into safety and quality focused organizations. Along with hospitality or customer service, and Air Force core values, there are nine specific principles that guide this journey: respect for people; duty to speak up; commitment to resilience; a focus on frontline operations and the people who do the work; making every Airman, every day, a problem solver; constancy of purpose; systems thinking; maximizing value to the patient; and zero harm.
In addition to memorializing 11 MDOS’s commitment to patient safety through Trusted Care, I wanted our motto to describe the scope of our operations. 11 MDOS personnel are assigned to three operating locations in the National Capital Region, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Malcolm Grow Medical Clinics and Surgery Center and Fort Belvoir Community Hospital.
Our personnel deploy to contingency operations downrange, and also support the medical group’s Aeromedical Staging Facility. Thus, on any given day, 11 MDOS personnel treat and stabilize injured service members on the battlefield, receive them at the ASF, provide critical care at Walter Reed and Fort Belvoir and then meet their primary care and mental health care needs once they are ready for outpatient care. This is truly a one of a kind squadron with global impact!
As we join the 11 WG and begin another chapter in our history, our efforts will be guided by our new motto: “Deliver Trusted Care Worldwide.” This motto embodies the commitment of our personnel to use their healing skills to prepare other Airmen to be medically ready to deploy, as well as for our medics to maintain their own deployment readiness. It reflects our mission to deliver vital services in garrison, and to perform flawlessly in contested environments. We are truly honored to be America’s Airmen, part of the Chief’s Own.