Mental Health team deploys with Army to Iraq Published Oct. 16, 2008 By Steve Pivnick 81st Medical Group Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- A three-person mental health team from Keesler recently returned from more than six months in Iraq providing mental health support to Army personnel. The team from the 81st Medical Operations Squadron mental health flight included family advocacy officer Capt. Bob Greiman and mental health technicians Senior Airman ShaQuanda Sullivan and Airman 1st Class Thomas Sandoz. Before deploying, the trio underwent 5½ weeks of grueling Army training at Fort Sill, Okla., and Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to "learn the Army way" of operating in combat zones. "When we left Keesler, we became 'soldiers,'" Captain Greiman said. The training included convoy operations and field medical techniques. They were in a bare-base environment where they stayed in tents, had shower tents and used port-a-potties. They had two hot meals daily and ate standing in full combat gear. The captain said the "base" was located in a parking lot of an abandoned artillery range. "You could hear the whistling of artillery shells being fired overhead," he recalled. Airman Sandoz added they had to learn to read maps; they would be taken into the "bush" and then find their way back. "I think the actual deployment was easier than the training," Airman Sullivan observed. "We spent a week driving around in Humvees rescuing 'wounded' soldiers, removing them from damaged vehicles and placing them on stretchers," Captain Greiman said. Airman Sandoz added, "We weren't allowed to sleep in the Humvees; we had to look for (improvised explosive devices) and possibly-hostile 'foreign nationals.'" The Keesler mental health team noted the Army had set up villages inhabited by "foreign nationals" with whom the trainees would interact after learning basic Arabic. Airman Sullivan actually "dismounted" and went into a village to converse with "locals." Their time at Fort Sam Houston was spent at a medical training facility learning Army-specific mental health areas. Airman Sullivan mentioned they were instructed in the Army's way of conducting mental health programs which varied slightly from the same Air Force programs. After arriving in Iraq, the team was attached to Army Task Force 56 at Combat Operations Base Adder, an element of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division in southern Iraq between Baghdad and Basra. They flew into area on a Japanese Air Force C-130. "The crew didn't speak English so they held up cards for our safety briefing," the captain commented. He explained that medical operations in southern Iraq worked with the 82nd Airborne and the 7th Sustainment Bri-gade, with TF 56 responsible for all medical operations in the region. The Keesler trio was part of a combat stress team comprised of 23 Air Force mental health personnel -- social workers, psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health technicians. The Army imbeds mental health teams with the troops. When the Army encountered manning shortfalls, they asked the Air Force for assistance. Separation from families and combat stress were major factors affecting the soldiers' mental health. A major part of their duties included traveling to several forward operating bases, such as Kalsu, Scania, Delta and Echo, where they conducted some individual and group sessions including smoking cessation and stress and anger management. The FOBs ranged in size from Adder, with about 15,000 personnel, to Combat Outpost 9, a 60-person post about the size of Keesler Medical Center's parking lot with blast walls around it. Airman Sandoz said they participated in outreach efforts or "walk-abouts," where they talked with soldiers to see how they were doing. "They weren't the friendliest people, but once they got used to you, these efforts became a gateway to get them into the clinic," Airman Sandoz explained. "We usually went as a two-person team, bringing the troops things such as phone cards and cookies. We'd walk into work areas and ask them how we could help. Most soldiers came to look forward to our visits." Captain Greiman added the high-stress units greatly appreciated them. Airman Sullivan said, "Even the ones who didn't appreciate us still met with us, but didn't stay as long. When we went out solo, we'd continue to do outreach to see if anyone wanted to be seen and we'd set up appointments." All three said they had a great relationship with the other providers and techs. "We jelled and worked well together," the captain said. "We had a 99 percent return-to-work rate among the soldiers we saw. We only had to medevac six people out and that's not bad. We tried to keep as many soldiers as possible." One memorable patient with post-traumatic stress disorder had carved "Hate" deeply into his arm. He couldn't function there anymore and was sent home. All agreed the regular rocket and mortar attacks probably were the most nerve-wracking element of their time in-country. Airman Sullivan recalled the first attack they experienced -- which seemed to occur almost every Wednesday night -- was about 11 p.m. "We heard a 'boom' and my bones were shaking," she said. Once she was caught in the shower during a rocket attack. Another time she was on the basketball court "when everyone stopped, looked up and hit the ground. I saw a rocket hit a new, empty (recreation) trailer. If anyone had been in it, they certainly would have been killed." Their experience also included combat-related action "outside the wire." "We went on combat convoys," Airman Sandoz said. "These were (in lieu of) missions where Airmen replaced or augmented the Army." Airman Sullivan remembers sitting in a Humvee for seven hours due to an IED. "We had to wait for the (explosive ordnance disposal) team," she recalled. "When I had to go to the bathroom, some soldiers held up their ponchos to provide some privacy." Captain Greiman noted, "Now that I'm back, I can look back and admit I kind of enjoyed it. I was able to do what I came into the Air Force to do. I got to see patients. I was there to do a job and I did it. The living conditions left a lot to be desired -- the dust, dirt and shelling and just being away from home." He said they recorded about 650 patient encounters during the deployment. This included around 150 new patients and some they saw once or twice while others came once or twice a week. They agreed that one major benefit of their experience was making some great friends. Captain Greiman said the worst part of the deployment was being away from his wife, Luci, when their daughter, Abby, was born May 28. The captain, who is from Cincinnati, has served in the Air Force and at Keesler for two years. Airman Sullivan has been in the Air Force for almost five years, all at Keesler. The Brooklyn, N.Y., native has a 3-year-old daughter, Jayla Harris. Airman Sandoz, from Abbeville, La., also has about two years of service, all at Keesler.