U.S. Army Sgt. Elizabeth Fortkamp, a senior medic with the Fort Knox, Ky.-based Company C, 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, and a native of Coldwater, Ohio, examines the ear canal of a soldier at her unit's medical clinic, Forward Operating Base Salerno, July 19. Photo by Staff Sgt. John Zumer

As a young non-commissioned officer, U.S. Army Sgt. Elizabeth Fortkamp enjoys an enviable position. One of her biggest supporters happens to be her battalion commander, yet as far as Fortkamp is concerned, the feelings of professional respect in her unit have always been a two-way street.

Fortkamp, a senior medic with the Fort Knox, Ky.-based Company C, 201st Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Task Force Duke, is a five-year Army veteran presently serving in eastern Afghanistan on her second deployment.

Raised in a large family in Coldwater, Ohio, she is the fifth of seven children. Fortkamp cites that circumstance as one of the most influential reasons for joining the Army

“Coming from a large family, I wanted to get out and be my own person,” she said.

Three years spent as a certified nursing assistant at an Ohio nursing home before joining the Army convinced her she wanted to remain in the medical profession.

“I’ve always loved medicine and helping people,” said Fortkamp, adding that “seeing what’s wrong and being able to fix it” from a medical perspective always intrigued her.

As the senior enlisted member for the 201st BSB medical clinic at Forward Operating Base Salerno, Fortkamp supervises a team that fluctuates between three to six soldiers depending on patient numbers and mission assignments. That supervision consists of sick call duties, organizing training opportunities for the companies of the 201st BSB, and looking for ways to increase the skill sets of the soldiers working under her.

Having also been assigned to the 3rd BCT, 1st Inf. Div., on their last Afghanistan deployment in 2008–2009, she doesn’t hesitate to offer up advice to young soldiers preparing for their first deployment.

“Plan for the worst but hope for the best. If you can alleviate stressors affecting your soldiers, do it,” said Fortkamp.

That commitment to others hasn’t gone unnoticed.

“Absolutely one of the best medics I’ve ever worked with,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dave Brown, 201st BSB commander and a native of Dover, Del.

“She has a positive attitude, never backs away from a challenge, and is always teaching and making things better,” Brown added.

The ability to share her military and medical knowledge, as well as her enthusiasm and encouragement, have loomed large in the professional development of junior soldiers in her unit.

“She definitely lets us get our hands dirty,” said U.S. Army Pfc. Brandon Cupp, a combat medic with Company C., and a native of Des Moines, Iowa, serving on his first deployment.

He said Fortkamp encourages her Soldiers to rotate through many of the medical sections at FOB Salerno to supplement their skills.

This can include helping out at the Combat Support Hospital, staging combat lifesaver classes for the benefit of soldiers, conducting medical Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services before going out on missions, and accompanying the flight medics of TF Tiger Shark when they go out on missions.

“My medical knowledge has expanded greatly” under Fortkamp, he said.

Much work remains on this deployment, but Fortkamp does allow herself the luxury of thinking of her mid-tour leave in September and the end of her deployment later this year. Spending time with family and friends, getting married, and being reunited with her dog Zoe are just a few things she looks forward to. Her free time is spent exercising and with her new hobby, crochet.

Her Army enlistment will expire in April 2012, and while the military is losing a committed professional, she’s looking to help sick and injured civilians by pursuing a nursing degree, possibly in emergency medicine. She cites the teamwork, unit leadership and quality soldiers that she works with for making it possible to take care of the people her clinic is entrusted with.

“You couldn’t ask for a better command,” said Fortkamp. “If you need something they’ll get it for you,” she said.

But as grateful Fortkamp is for the environment and leadership team she works under, with mutual feelings expressed from above, the more revealing story may be in how she’s perceived by her peers and subordinates.

Army non-commissioned officers are entrusted with mentoring, counseling, teaching, leading and inspiring their Soldiers to reach their potential, while also looking out for their Soldiers’ daily welfare.

If such factors when fulfilled signify success, then at least one soldier considers Fortkamp’s example to be an open and shut case.

“Anything we soldiers need, she’s there for us,” said Cupp.

DVIDS
Story by Staff Sgt. John Zumer

First place winner Pfc. Geri Duenas dazzles the crowd while performing a traditional dance from her native country of Guam at the New Year’s Eve Talent Show held at Forward Operating Base Salerno

Task Force Currahee servicemembers took to the stage for a talent show at Forward Operating Base Salerno to ring in the New Year.

Donning New Year’s Eve hats and toting party favors, the audience was full of energy and responded loudly to every performance. Fifteen performers entertained for the nearly three hours as the show flowed with vocal, dance and musical talents.

Several Soldiers and contractors entertained the crowd with vocal songs such as “Let Me Love You” by Mario, “I Telling You” by Jennifer Holiday and “Play That Funky Music White Boy” by Wild Cherry.

A group of Afghan interpreters from FOB Salerno enthralled the audience with a traditional Afghan dance called attan, which is a common national dance at Afghan weddings and celebrations. Pfc. Geri Duenas, an administration specialist with the 4th BCT Headquarters and Headquarters Company, performed a dance from her native country of Guam.

After the first round, three finalists were chosen by the judges: 1st Lt. Benjamin Bronkema, 4th BCT HHC executive officer; Sgt. First Class Christopher Peveler, 4th BCT engineer cell NCOIC; and Sgt. First Class Beverly Franklin, TF Currahee Brigade Intelligence Support Element NCOIC.

The finalists performed a second time, and then the judging was left to the audience. The louder the crowd cheered for each contestant, the better their score.

The first place award went to Duenas, second place to Maj. Ron Carden from TF Attack, and third place was given to Spc. Nelson Valentine.

The tent walls shook with cheering and deafening applause as the crowd cheered for their favorite performer.

“The show was great,” said Spc. Andrea Valeriano, a human resources specialist with 4th BCT. “It was very positive, very active and the performers did a good job of not only keeping the audience’s attention but also getting us to participate. It was a good morale event for the Soldier’s here. I know I was having fun the entire time.”

This isn’t the first talent show that has been held here on FOB Salerno, but the audience was noticeably larger than the last talent show in the fall.

“The turnout was more than I expected,” said Sgt. First Class Michael Conner, 4th Brigade Combat Team school NCO, and talent show host. “The support and size of the audience, and number of performers was truly amazing.”

Conner credits the success of the event to his co-host Sgt. Kellie Mock, 4th BCT HHC supply sergeant; and contestants Spc. Willie Jordan, a TF Currahee topographical specialist; Spc. Kevin Mitchell and Duenas.

“When we were planning the talent show, we thought it might get cancelled,” said Conner. “But we made it work and it turned out to be a great success. The performers really put on a great show.”

CJTF-101
Written by Pfc. Christina Sinders, 4th Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Public Affairs Office

Army Soldier’s Medal

Smoke rose in thick, dark wisps as bricks, wood and stones lay scattered around a darkened crevice. A charred shell that was once a small vehicle lay nearby and an enormous hole exposed the bare insides of the targeted building. Inside, a humvee turret was lying beside the cabinets of what was once a kitchen, evidence of the deadly force of the explosion.

When a suicide vehicle-borne IED detonated 15 meters from the Sabari District Center just before 4 p.m. on March 3, the blast leveled the building’s entire southern wall and destroyed a nearby humvee.

“We received the emergency call during a fast-roping exercise,” said Pfc. Steve Egovail, Co. F, 5th Battalion 101st Aviation Regt., 101st Combat Aviation Brigade as he recalled the emergency mission his unit responded to Khost province, in early March.

For his heroic actions recovering, treating and evacuating trapped and wounded Soldiers during an emergency personnel recovery mission, Egovail was awarded the Army Soldier’s Medal during a ceremony Sept. 19 at Forward Operating Base Salerno. He was presented the award by Brig. Gen. James McConville, deputy commanding general-support for Combined Joint Task Force-101.

As UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters brought in the rescue effort, Egovail dismounted the helicopter and immediately assisted Spc. Pete Shearer, a Pathfinder Co. medic, with the evacuation of a dead Soldier by helicopter.

The pair then quickly moved to the mangled remains of the first building.

“[It] was hit badly,” said Egovail. “Shearer and I started moving rubble aside and after 20 minutes, we heard someone calling out to us.”

Trapped beneath the rubble, a Soldier called out from a small space created by several collapsed ceiling beams. The beams had created a pocket, protecting him from falling debris, but making medical aid nearly impossible. Egovail and Shearer began trying to uncover the man by pulling sandbags, plywood, bricks and roof tiles off the pile of rubble covering the beams.

The damaged roof and piles of debris were a constant danger to Shearer and Egovail putting them at risk of becoming trapped as well. Finally, after clearing a small entry, they began to assess the trapped Soldier’s medical condition.

“We realized that a pillar was crushing one of his legs,” said Egovail. “We ended up using several car-jacks to lift the pillar off the guy’s leg.”

Deciding that he could fit through the crawl space, Egovail slid into it and aided Shearer in administering oxygen to the Soldier with a face mask. Egovail remained buried in the small space with the Soldier as rescue forces continued to remove the debris blocking them in.

The rescue forces had to work slowly and carefully, removing too much of the rubble would have caused the roof and the weight of the building to collapse, possibly killing Egovail and the trapped Soldier.

After two hours and two tanks of oxygen, enough debris was cleared for Egovail and the other rescuers to free the trapped Soldier. After learning from the rescued Soldier that there was another person near him when the explosion occurred, Egovail immediately began looking for the third person still trapped in the debris.

The FOB Salerno Fire and Rescue team began assisting the Soldiers by removing major debris with a front end loader. Finally rescuers uncovered the third man. He was immediately pronounced dead.

The Soldiers and Fire and Rescue team spent many hours trying to secure and stabilize the collapsing building and shifting roof they were working underneath to continue to recover, treat and evacuate any additional casualties.

“Our mission is need and emergency, if everything in every mission went exactly as planned, then we would have no mission,” said Capt. Brian McCray, Pathfinder Co.commander. “The guys on that mission did exactly what they should do, that’s how they were trained and that’s how they acted.”

McCray recommended Egovail for the Army Soldier’s Medal a week after the incident, the award was approved Sept.18.

“I have never felt so proud to be in the Army as I did at that moment,” said Egovail, as he spoke about that mission. “The training, the amount of time put in and all the hard things were well worth it to be able to go out and help like that.”

CJTF-101
Written by Pfc. Christina Sinders CTF Currahee Public Affairs