Medic joins 'Hunters' on hurricane awareness tour Published May 23, 2012 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- An 81st Aerospace Medicine Squadron flight surgeon recently participated in the annual 403rd Wing Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour. Maj. (Dr.) Rhodora Beckinger joined the "Hurricane Hunters" of the Air Force Reserve Command's Keesler-based 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron during their travel to six locations in Mexico, Costa Rica, St. Maarten and Puerto Rico to perform hurricane awareness and coordinate with local emergency managers and weather services in the host countries. Lt. Col. Jonathan Talbot, 53rd WRS chief meteorologist, said, "The Caribbean Hurricane Awareness Tour allows the public to see the aircraft that collects hurricane data and fly within their airspace. We typically see 10-20,000 people during the visit. This year 13,350 people came out." The Hurricane Hunters usually don't take a flight surgeon on CHAT missions. Lt. Col. Sean Pierce, 53rd WRS director of operations, enabled the major to join the team. Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory Cornum, 81st Medical Group commander, wants the group's flight surgeons to support Keesler's flying mission, explained Col. (Dr.) Paul Nelson, 81st Medical Group chief of aerospace medicine. "Dr. Beckinger is now plugged in as the Hurricane Hunters' active-duty resource to support their flight surgeon operations," Nelson said. "This is another example of our Total Force support -- in this case, active-duty and Reserve Command medics working together to support the unique Hurricane Hunter mission." Beckinger recently returned from a six-month deployment to Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, where she cared for wounded warriors being medically evacuated from "down range." "Throughout our stops a lot of folks stopped me and asked me to sign autographs -- many of the people where we traveled to showcase the Hurricane Hunters were curious about my role with the crew," Beckinger said. "They thought I was the only female crew member -- actually there was another female who was one of our loadmasters. Many were impressed that I was also a doctor. "I believe I actually helped the most by being an inspiration to many people, especially women and school children in these countries," she added. "They not only saw a female crew member, but also a physician." Col. Craig LaFave, 403rd Wing vice commander, told Nelson, "Our CHAT mission was a complete success, and Major Beckinger was a large part of that success. She was by far the biggest attraction among the crew and was easily approached by the school kids and grandmas. "When I explained that 'Tulsa' was 'our' doctor, the folks were just amazed and had even more questions," he said. "We got hugged, kissed and tugged at like we were the Beatles in '64! Overall, it was a great display of American 'soft' power. Please pass along my congratulations for a job well done to Major Beckinger for spreading her good will throughout much of the Caribbean."