Some normalcy returns to bases, relief for Japanese rolls in

From Stars and Stripes

Published: March 13, 2011

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Life started to return to normal Sunday for still-wary U.S. servicemembers and their families at most military bases throughout Japan, even as Japanese officials acknowledged Friday’s disaster may be exponentially worse than initially feared.

Meanwhile, assorted U.S. military personnel and equipment started to arrive to assist the millions of people still reeling from the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunamis, even as a new threat emerged. At least 12 people have tested positive for radiation exposure in the area surrounding two nuclear power plants, where one of the reactors was in danger of a partial meltdown and radiation leak.

[...]

At Misawa Air Base, the closest U.S. military base to the devastation, lights began flickering to life Sunday night. The base lost power and heat in the wake of the earthquake; it was the hardest hit of U.S. installations in Japan.

[...]

Misawa schools will be closed Monday and Tuesday, according to Pacific schools spokesman Charles Hoff. All other base schools in mainland Japan and Okinawa plan on having normal school days, Hoff said. Any changes would be broadcast on AFN, he added.

Navy installations around Japan said that business would continue as usual Monday.

“I expect it will be everyone at work and ... everything open as normal on our installations,” said Cmdr. Ron Steiner, spokesman for Commander Naval Forces Japan....

Much more here.

Experimental lung device kept British soldier alive

The herculean efforts by a massive team of Americans, saving a wounded British soldier, was all over the internet yesterday. The soldier was not named. Today comes this story of a British soldier, who is also not named:

Experimental lung device kept wounded British soldier alive

By Mark Abramson, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Thursday, August 20, 2009

Photo courtesy of Landstuhl Regional Medical Center

The Novalung works by filtering carbon dioxide out of a patient's blood and infusing oxygen into the blood.

Ben Bloker / S&S

Army Maj. (Dr.) Eric Osborn, the pulmonary critical team leader, recalls a recent mission to treat a British soldier wounded in Afghanistan as team member Air Force Maj. Shannon Womble, assistant head nurse of ICU, looks on Monday at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center.

LANDSTUHL, Germany — A team of doctors and nurses from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center used a revolutionary device during a recent medevac mission to save the life of a British soldier wounded in Afghanistan.

The 19-year-old soldier, whose name was not released, lost his right lung and suffered a damaged liver when he was shot July 25 near Camp Bastion, a British base in Helmand province. Within hours of getting the call, the LRMC Lung Rescue Team was bound for Afghanistan.

It took more than 200 pints of blood — and the use of a German-made device called the Novalung — to keep the soldier alive.

The Novalung works like a temporary lung by filtering out carbon dioxide from a patient’s blood and oxygenating it. To use the device, a physician reroutes blood flow from a patient’s major vessels through the box by tapping the femoral artery and vein in the upper thighs. As blood flows from one leg into the box, it passes through a filter that leeches off the carbon dioxide and infuses the cells with oxygen, mimicking the trade-off that should take place in the lungs. The blood then goes back into the system through the other leg, refreshed.

Last month’s flight was the first time the Novalung was used while transporting a patient.

“Up until now, it’s never been used to move a patient,” said Air Force Dr. (Lt. Col.) Raymond Fang, LRMC’s trauma director.

“He probably would have died [without the Novalung],” said Army Dr. (Maj.) Erik Osborn, the pulmonary critical team leader for the 38-hour mission....

As my eagle-eyed reader, Carla said(thanks, Carla!), this sounds as if it could be the same British soldier. We may never know. Be that as it may, just more evidence that when one of our coalition soldiers needs help, every effort is made, no matter what flag the participants serve under.

Read the rest here at Stars and Stripes.

Bonds with K-9 co-workers hard to break

Cindy Fisher / S&S Meister races to bring his toy back to his handler, Cpl. Kate Stanford, for more playtime. Everything these military working dogs do — whether training, working or playing — is fun for them, Stanford said.

Cindy Fisher / S&S Cpl. Kate Stanford, 21, from Hubbard, Ohio, plays with Meister at the Marine K-9 kennel on Kadena Air Base Wednesday. Stanford has only been Meister's handler for about five months, but already they have developed a pretty good bond, Stanford said.


Cindy Fisher / S&S Lance Cpl. Chase Paustian, 24, from Aurora, Ill., takes a few moments to rub Waldo's stomach after a training session at the Marine K-9 kennel. Paustian and Waldo recently returned from a seven-month deployment together to Anbar province, Iraq. Being there together only tightened their bond, Paustian said.

Cindy Fisher / S&S Rexo, a military working dog, lays quietly at Lance Cpl. Ariel Soto's feet after a training session. Even when these military working dogs are at rest, people should not come up and try to pat them as the dogs could misinterpret this as an attack on their handlers, dog handlers advise.
(And of course, this is Gabe, sent recently by Chuck! I had to include him in this K9 story..)

Bonds with K-9 co-workers hard to break

By Cindy Fisher, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Tuesday, January 6, 2009

KADENA AIR BASE, Okinawa — When Cpl. Kate Stanford arrived on Okinawa five months ago, she was assigned to Meister, a 5-year-old military working dog.

She immediately began building a bond with him.

"He kind of looked like, ‘Who are you? Where is my daddy?’ " Stanford, 21, from Hubbard, Ohio, recalled of their first meeting at the Marine Provost Marshal’s Office K-9 kennel on Kadena Air Base.

Fortunately, the German shepherd is carefree, and it’s been "easy to build rapport with him," she said. It also helped that his last handler was still on Okinawa and talked with her about Meister’s personality and quirks — such as a penchant for nipping at his handler’s ankles.

But it’s not always so easy for dogs when they change handlers or their handler goes on leave. Some even sink into depression.

All the new handler can do, Stanford said, is train and play with the dog. It’s time well spent because it creates trust in their own as well as their dog’s capabilities, she said....

This is a very interesting story, with insights. Go to Stars and Stripes, here, to read the rest.