Incirlik Readiness: Medics ensure members are ready to serve

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Eric Summers Jr.
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Editor's Note: This is the third in a series of articles designed to highlight mission readiness at Incirlik Air Base.

The Personnel Reliability Program serves a major function at Incirlik AB by ensuring members are ready and able to perform their jobs.

One facet of this program is the PRP clinic that includes subject matter experts within the 39th Medical Group who review records to make sure members are medically qualified to accomplish the mission.

"The medical component of the Personnel Reliability Program is a large piece of the program," said Capt Michael Shaw, 39th Medical Operations Squadron. "The certifying officials heavily rely on the PRP Clinic to pass on any medical information that could call a member's reliability into question. We work hand in hand with the COs and are available at a moment's notice to address their concerns about a member."

The medical PRP office guarantees members are medically reliable by conducting an initial review of records when the member arrives here as well as annual reviews thereafter.

"Upon the member's arrival our team performs the initial record review," Shaw said. "Because the record does not always arrive in the best shape, we completely take the records apart and rebuild them to be compliant within Air Force publication guidance."

"This is to ensure that our baseline record is a product we can trust and provides a good foundation for ongoing evaluation," Shaw said. "Once the initial certification review is complete, we are required by our guidance to review the records at least once per year."

When reviewing the records, the medical team evaluates them for administrative compliance, completeness, and identifies and passes along the appropriate notifications to the member's certifying official.

"The PRP clinic provides the CO with valuable information on the overall physical, emotional, and mental health of the member," said Capt. Amoy Manley, 39th Air Base Wing Command Post chief and certifying official. "The assessment completed by the PRP clinic helps the CO to make a decision on whether or not the member is suitable to perform their duties."

COs rely on the information provided by the clinic because they cannot directly access medical records in order to protect the member's privacy rights, making the clinic evaluations even more valuable to the COs.

"If the PRP clinic does not do their job correctly it impairs the CO's judgment and can adversely affect the unit's ability to carry out the mission effectively," Manley said. "The CO relies heavily on the accuracy, timeliness, and detailed information the PRP clinic provides to make decisions on the reliability of the unit's members."