MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- In 2020, COVID-19 forced the world to navigate new challenges. While most people found themselves seeking shelter, there were those who found themselves in the front line against a different type of enemy.
During this year’s Nurse and Tech week MacDill Air Force Base focused on thanking the Air Force’s nurses and medical technicians who have showcased their professionalism, world class abilities and incredible resilience.
“It’s been a challenge,” said Col. Cheryl Lockhart, the 6th Medical Group chief nurse. “It’s been difficult not always being able to provide in-person care, and changing the ways we’ve had to operate, all while fighting COVID-19.”
The nurses and technicians have had to adapt quickly to an enemy that had not been seen ever before. “Things changed from day to day, it seemed like every hour we were getting new information,” said Senior Airman Andrea Stutts, a medical technician with the 6th MDG.
The nurses and technicians of the 6th MDG have also been essential in projecting the joint force, through helping the Federal Emergency Management Agency hand out vaccines. The 6th MDG Airmen have also been deployed from coast-to-coast to provide COVID-19 screening, as well as all over the world to continue supporting hundreds of missions.
“They [The 6th MDG] have been challenged in countless different ways,” said Lockhart. “We’ve challenged them to screen, to go to contaminated sites, to provide thousands of vaccinations, to take part in a joint commission and they have risen to everything that has been asked of them.”
Looking back after such a difficult year, the 6th MDG has shown their value to both MacDill Air Force Base and to the Air Force mission as a whole.
Team MacDill celebrates the contributions of our trusted care warriors not only during Nurse and Tech Week, but every single day.
The nurses and technicians of the 6th MDG demonstrated their willingness to take on any challenge throughout the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Airmen of the 6th MDG are committed to ensuring the health of the force and that they are ready and able to adapt and they will overcome any obstacles that come their way.