30th MDG takes home Medical Service Awards

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Robert J. Volio
  • 30th Space Wing Public Affairs
The 30th Medical Group was recently recognized for its outstanding service, both individually and as a team, winning multiple Major Command-level Medical Service Awards.

A multitude of 30th MDG personnel were among those who received the prestigious accolades, tallying six team and six individual awards.

"We were really excited to hear about the awards," said Lt. Col. Maiya Anderson, 30th Medical Operations Squadron commander. "Whether it is the team or individual awards, it's great to see all of our folks' hard work being recognized at a higher level."

Among the individual winners was Staff Sgt. Julynn Guiwan-Hayes, 30th MDOS Personnel Reliability Program NCOIC, who provided insight into her daily duties.

"My job entails overseeing medical clearances for the officers and enlisted students going through nuclear weapons training at the 381st Training Group," said Guiwan-Hayes. "The medical clearances ensure that these students are physically, mentally and emotionally fit to perform nuclear weapons duties before they depart up north to F.E. Warren, Minot, or Malmstrom Air Force Base. Additionally, I perform continuous medical monitoring of individuals at the 576th Flight Test Squadron who perform real world nuclear weapons duties everyday here at Vandenberg."

Although the recipient of an individual honor, Guiwan-Hayes divulged that her success wouldn't have been possible without her colleagues.

"When I first arrived here at Vandenberg, we nearly failed our first inspection because of several deficiencies," said Guiwan-Hayes. "We knew what we had to do to fix our program so we worked hard to get there. When the same inspectors returned two years later, they could not identify a single deficiency. From the dental and mental health clinics, to the Space and Missile Medicine clinic and everywhere in between, it took a lot of team work and communication to bring the program where it stands today."

While some were astonished and caught off guard by their award win, others, like 2nd Lt. Sean Bundles, 30th MDG resource management flight commander, didn't expect anything less from his team.

"I was surprised, but at the same time not really," said Bundles. "We have an awesome team here and this is actually our second consecutive award for 'Outstanding Resource Management Team of the Year'. We have a tight-knit team and I'm glad their hard work and diligence didn't go unnoticed."

The 30th MDG's ability to accomplish its mission and collect accolades along the way, all while coping with minimal manning is an impressive feat.

"We like to focus on working together to get the mission done - and that's providing the highest quality of care, customer service and process improvement," said Anderson. "I think most career fields in the Air Force are facing low resources and manning, so having folks who are working hard together to come up with creative solutions has helped make a difference here at the 30th Medical Group - to be able to produce several awards on top of that is an awesome bonus."