Dover AFB Dental Squadron Tour

“Wow, what a great service you provide”

It’s an honor to be selected as the 436^th Dental Squadron Honorary Commander this year.  Dr. Eric Cathey – Commander of the 436^th Dental Squadron – joined me at the induction ceremony, along with dozens of newly-selected business professionals and their 436^th and 512^th Air Force partners.  Dr. Cathey is also an avid “triathloner”, so we shared our sports stories as well.

Honorary Commanders are charged to learn more about the US Air Force and the mission of Team Dover, attend squadron functions, and interact with unit personnel.  The events are scheduled through-out the year and the event coordinator does a great job giving notice so even busy people can attend some of the ceremonies held on base.

My OSL team toured the DAFB dental squadron with me on May 5^th.  Dr. Cathey presented on the USAF Dental Service Mission which is to ‘provide the highest quality care to support the 436^th Airlift wing’s mission through dental readiness’.  We attended a true Air Force briefing and got to experience what briefings are like for Active Duty Military.  The staff of the Dental Squadron exhibited great structure and professionalism through the entire visit, beginning with lunch at Grottos and ending with the gift of a coin to all of our attending staff.  We have a staff member, Natalia, whose husband is Active Duty Air Force and she was very interested in experiencing a true Air Force briefing.  She said she enjoyed seeing what her husband experiences on a day-to-day basis.

MSgt. Jennifer Jones – the Superintendent of the Dental Squadron – led the tour and discussed the upgrades in the facility.  It’s great to see the facility getting needed upgrades in technology.  More importantly, both Dr. Cathey and MSgt Jones are passionately committed to their mission and to their team morale.  The team suggestion board and the “Great Patient Award” they give to their great patients demonstrate that excellence is a journey to which they are enthusiastically committed. Lunch at Grotto’s was great too!  We plan on reciprocating with a tour at OSL soon.

Next month, new topic!