ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam — In response to the growing number of COVID-19 cases on Guam, the 36th Wing, with support from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and Hickam Air Force Base, is constructing an Expeditionary Medical Support System or EMEDS, on the grounds of U.S. Naval Hospital Guam. The EMEDS facility consists of 11 medical units, and 6 warehouse units.
The extra space and additional staff of 77 Air Force personnel will allow for expanded capacity for U.S. Naval Hospital Guam, adding an additional 25 total beds that can be used for COVID-19 patients. The warehouses will be used to store medical equipment used at the EMEDS facility.
“This is very much a joint effort,” said Senior Master Sergeant Marty Treml, 554th RED HORSE Squadron Operations Superintendent. “We have assets and support from both the Navy and Andersen, as well as medical supplies being flown in from JBER and Hickam.”
With the rapid support of 30 Airmen from the 554th RED HORSE Squadron, the EMEDS facility has been almost completely finished within the span of just a couple days.
“It’s truly a testament to the preparedness and hard work of our Airmen in the 554th,” said Treml.
Fortunately, this quick-turn operation is exactly what these units have been trained for, having completed a similar exercise during Cope North 2020 only a few months ago.
“It really is a culminated effort of many different units from multiple bases to pull off the logistics of getting all the supplies here for this operation,” said Lt. Col. David Johnson, Troop Commander for the operation. “This is a huge operation that took a lot of work to complete, but in this instance, it was incredibly smooth.”
This project will directly support military efforts to get the crew of the USS Theodore Roosevelt healthy and back out to sea, but will also give U.S. Naval Hospital Guam capability to further support the Government of Guam’s medical capacity in the island-wide fight against COVID-19.
“Our mission here is to help support the Navy operations with the USS Roosevelt,” said Lt. Col. Damian Pardue, 36th Medical Group Administrator. “The intent is that we are ready for whatever we are needed for during this unprecedented time.”
“We can’t say enough good things about the RED HORSE Squadron,” said Pardue. “They’ve been instrumental to getting this operation off the ground.”
