Air Force Medical Team Supports Humanitarian Exercise in Panama

COCLE, Panama —

Five members of the 2nd Medical Group, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, joined other teams of airmen, Marines and soldiers in support of the New Horizons 2018 humanitarian exercise in Panama.

New Horizons 2018 is a joint training exercise which provides training to U.S. military members in engineering, medical, and support services, as well as providing support to the Panamanian people.

Barksdale's team of four dental personnel and one logistics technician joined 10 Panamanian dentists and five U.S. Army dental personnel to deliver needed services to communities in Panama.

The dental team leader is Air Force Lt. Col Joanna McPherson, 2nd Dental Squadron clinical flight commander, who said she's excited to participate in New Horizons 2018 and grateful for the training it provides.

Valuable Training

“We have been able to train on equipment usage and utilization of our deployment dental units,” McPherson said. “We don't get a lot of hands-on time with those units, but here we are able to learn about trouble shooting and maintenance for them.

“We also get to train on mission planning, logistics and preparations for operations of a large magnitude,” she added.

During the exercise, the medical team has participated in three separate medical readiness training exercises, each in a different location….