Frequent flier: Reservist travels from Jordan, back to serve in Reserve

  • Published
  • By Capt. Marnee A.C. Losurdo
  • 512th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  (Editor's note: This is the first of a three-part series featuring the flight surgeons of the 512th Airlift Wing.)

In the Reserve, it's not uncommon for reservists to travel hundreds of miles or from states away to serve in their unit. 

It's no different for the 512th Airlift Wing, which has 1,800 reservists from as many as 40 different states; and, one of those reservists even travels from another country. 

Lt. Col. (Dr.) Christopher Flynn, a flight surgeon with the 512th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, travels 72 hours round trip from Amman, Jordan, where he works for the U.S. Department of State as a regional medical officer in psychiatry. 

The reservist took the overseas job in December 2005 while working as the deputy director of the mental health services for the Department of State in Washington D.C. 

"The department needed someone to go over there to serve our foreign service officers, and I figured with my experience of being deployed in the Gulf War and working as the chief of psychiatry and as a flight surgeon at the NASA Johnson Space Center (in Houston, Texas) - I thought I could help," said the flight surgeon who lives in Jordan with his wife Alice. 

The U.S. Department of State is led by Secretary of State, Dr. Condoleezza Rice, the President's principal foreign policy advisor. While the department is headquartered in Washington D.C., it has embassies in more than 190 countries, according to the department's Web site. It's made up of a civilian workforce, consisting of foreign service personnel and civil service employees, who assist in accomplishing America's mission to use diplomacy to promote and protect American interests at home and around the world. 

At the American Embassy health unit in Amman, Colonel Flynn said he provides care to more than 2,500 foreign service officers and their family members from 14 regional posts in the Middle East, nine of which are considered danger posts. 

In November, the doctor made his tenth trip into Iraq as part of his state department job.
 
"It's an important mission; and, from my experience in the region and traveling into Iraq, I know what we are doing there is important," he said.
 
Working for the state department isn't the only way the doctor serves his nation. As a reservist, he works as a senior flight surgeon for the 512th AMDS. Colonel Flynn, along with two other flight surgeons, is responsible for the evaluation and flight status determination for Reserve aviators as well as periodic health examinations for all wing personnel. The colonel has been with the 512th AMDS since December 2004 when he transferred from the Texas Air National Guard. He had been a member of the Guard since 1997. He also served in the active-duty Air Force from 1987 to 1996. 

"It's been a challenge to be able to come back, but I've been fortunate enough to have so many people's support here," said the doctor who pays out of pocket about every three months for his trip to Delaware to complete his Reserve training obligations. "It's not easy to travel, but the camaraderie in this unit is very strong; it means so much to me to be part of such a great unit."