For Official Use Only (FOUI" 2014 MSC Annual Report
72B, Entomology
This 2014 MSC Annu-
al report marks my second
address as the 72B Army En-
tomology Consultant. As I
look across and through our AOC, I am excited and im-
pressed with the depth and
breadth of our talented officers
and the further development of
our field. Specifically, the fu-
ture we will shape in world-
wide support to Department of
Defense, Vector-borne Infec-
tious Diseases Research, Ar-
my Medicine Campaign Plan 2020 and the System for
Health transformation.
Over this past year we assessed five new ento-
mologists onto active duty meeting our recruiting and re-
tention goals. I look forward to continuing this positive
trend.
A second part of my excitement was the historic
promotion of BG Sandra Alvey to her current rank. This is
the first time for an entomologist to be promoted to this
rank. A true celebration and accomplishment; my warmest
congratulations to BG Alvey.
Additionally, I am excited for the promotion of two
of our senior leaders to colonel; the first such advance-
ments in 8 years for our AOC. Congratulations to COLs
Jamie Blow and Amy Korman.
Over the next few pages you will find highlights of
an AOC always pressing forward whether from the labora-
tory bench top, garrison support activities, field training
exercises, to the final days of involvement in a major com-
bat theater, Army Entomologists have made a difference in
the lives they touch and enhanced the quality of that life
for the future. This is but one chapter in our exciting story.
RETIREMENTS
COL Mustapha Debboun retired with 25 years of
military service. He was born in Tangier, Morocco and
was commissioned as a Captain in the U.S. Army Medical
Services Corps in 1989 after re-
ceiving a Doctorate Degree from
the University of Missouri-
Columbia, MO. His additional
civilian education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Cellular & Mo-
lecular Biology from Skidmore
College in Saratoga Springs, New
York, a Master of Science in
Medical Entomology from the
University of New Hampshire.
COL Debboun's military awards and decorations
include the Bronze Star Medal-2, Meritorious Service Med-
al-6, Army Commendation Medal-4, Army Achievement
Medal, National Defense Service Medal-2, Armed Forces
Expeditionary Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal,
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, Armed
Forces Service Medal, Outstanding Volunteer Service
Medal, Army Overseas Service Ribbon, NATO Medal, Ku-
wait Liberation Medal (Saudi Arabia), Kuwait Liberation
Medal (Kuwait) and the Expert Field Medical Badge. He is
a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit, and a re-
cipient of the US Army Surgeon General's "A" Professional
Proficiency Designator for expertise in Medical & Veteri-
nary Entomology.
COL Debboun now works at Harris County Public
Health and Environmental Services in Houston, Texas as
the Director of the Mosquito Control Division.
LTC Sonya Schleich
retired with 31 years of military
service on 1 September 2014.
She enlisted in the U.S. Army
Reserve as an Orthopedic Spe-
cialist, 31 August 1983. While
serving with the 382nd MASH,
Erie, PA, she attended Edinboro
University of Pennsylvania and
enrolled in the U.S. Army Re-
serve Simultaneous Member-
ship/ROTC Program. LTC
Schleich received her Bache-
COL Russell Coleman, 72B Consultant
lor's degree in Biology, graduated as a Distinguished Mili-tary Graduate, commissioned as a 2LT in the Medical Ser-vice Corps, and entered active duty service, 16 June 1989. LTC Schleich was awarded a Master of Science degree in Entomology from Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas and inducted into the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi for academic excellence in 1999. LTC Schleich is a Board Certified Medical and Veterinary Entomologist.Her awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit,
Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal-6, Joint Ser-vice Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal-4, Army Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Med-al-2, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Kosovo Cam-paign Medal, Iraq Campaign Medal, Overseas Service Rib-
bon, NCO Professional Development Ribbon, United Na-
tions Medal, NATO Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Saudi
Arabia), Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), Expert Field
Medical Badge, and the Parachutist Badge. LTC Schleich is a member of the Order of Military Medical Merit; award-ed the Chief, Medical Service Corps Award of Excellence; and, holds the Army Surgeon General "A" Proficiency Des-ignator in Entomology.
LTC Jason Pike retired
on 1 October 2014 following 31 years of military service. His
enlisted military career began in
the South Carolina National
Guard as a Field Artilleryman in 1982. After earning an ROTC scholarship at Clemson Univer-sity, Clemson, SC, he was com- missioned as a second lieutenant in 1988, completed col-lege, and became a Chemical Officer with the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Devens, MA. In 1994, he became a Medical Entomologist and served in this specialty for more
than 20 years. LTC Pike holds Masters of Science de-grees in Agriculture Education and Entomology and he is a Certified Environmental Heath Sanitarian. His military awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal-2, Joint Meritorious Unit Award-2, Army Commendation Medal-4, Army Achieve-ment Medal-2, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal, National Defense Service Medal-2, Afghanistan
Campaign Medal, Korea Defense Service Medal, Humani-tarian Service Medal, Outstanding Volunteer Service Med-al, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, NCO Professional De-velopment Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon-4, Army Re-serve Components Overseas Training Ribbon, NATO Medal, Expert Field Medical Badge, Parachutist Badge,
and the Air Assault Badge.
LTC Van Sherwood retired
following 30 years of military service. Beginning with his enlistment as a private in the Field Artillery in 1984,1 LTC Sherwood was later commis-sioned and transferred to the Medical
Service Corps, serving first as a Clin-
ical Laboratory Officer at the Army
hospital at Fort Knox, Kentucky, be-fore becoming an Army Entomologist in 1997. LTC Sherwood completed his Bachelor of Science Degree in Zoology and his Master of Science Degree in Medical Entomology from the Univer-sity of Florida in 1981 and 1997 respectively.His military
awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal-2, Meritorious Service Medal-5, Army Commendation Medal-
4, Army Achievement Medal-2, Army Good Conduct Med-
al, National Defense Service Medal-2, Armed Forces Ex-peditionary Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal, Iraq Cam-
paign Medal-2, Global War on Terror Expeditionary Medal,
Korea Defense Service Medal, Overseas Service Ribbon-4, NATO Medal, Air Assault Badge, Expert Field Medical Badge, and the Parachutist Badge.
FIRST MEDICAL ENTOMOLOGIST GENERAL OFFICER
BG Sandra Alvey be-came the first 72B to obtain the
rank of brigadier general. She
has served a total of 27 years in
the military, 10 years on active duty and 17 years in the Re-
serves. BG Alvey entered the
military as a 4-year Reserve Officers' Training Corps scholar-ship recipient and graduated
162
For Official Use 2014 MSC Annual Report
72B, Entomology
from Western Maryland College in 1987. She was commis-sioned as a 2LT in the Ordnance Corps. Her civilian edu-cation includes a Master of Science Degree in medical entomology from Georgia Southern University, acquisition certification, medical intelligence and intelligence commu-nity tradecraft skills.
In her civilian capacity, BG Alvey is an intelligence analyst with the Defense Intelligence Agency, Bolling Air
Force Base, Washington, D.C. (2009-Present). Her new
position is as the Deputy Commanding General
(Operations) for the 807 th Medical Command (Deployment Support) at Fort Douglas, Utah.
NEW 72B RESERVE COMPONENT CONSULTANT
LTC Larry (Jeff) Luedeman has replaced BG Sandra Alvey as the 72B Reserve Component Consultant. LTC Luedeman has served 20 years
in the military with 5 years of AC ser-
vice and 10 years of RC service. He is also currently the Commander of the 7212th Medical Support Unit in Rochester, Minnesota. He was awarded the US Army Surgeon General's "A" Professional Proficiency Designator for expertise in Medical & Veteri-nary Entomology in 2013.
Scharninghausen (Reserve); LTC- MAJ(P) Jason Squitier
(Reserve); MAJ- CPT(P) David Delong (Reserve), CPT(P) Derek Monthei, and CPT(P) Scott Mueller.
LONG TERM HEALTH EDUCATION AND TRAINING
Medical Entomologists are currently well repre-sented in furthering their education and professional devel-
opment through LTHET at USUHS and various schools of
choice. CPT Lee McPhatter is in his final year at the Uni-
versity of California, Riverside completing his PhD in ento-mology. CPT Anthony John III and CPT Wade Deyoung are in their final year for their MSPH degree in entomology at USUHS. MAJ Lesly Calix is completing a one year TWI assignment with the Center for Medical and Veterinary Entomology at the USDA — Agricultural Research Service
in Gainesville, Florida. CPT Amanda Catena is in her sec-ond year of pursuing her PhD in entomology at Pennsylva-
nia State University. MAJ Hee Kim began pursuing his
PhD in entomology at Texas A&M University and CPT Amanda Cline began her MSPH degree in entomology at USUHS this year. CPT Jennifer Boyd was selected to pur-sue a PhD in entomology at a school of choice and CPT Nicholas Tucker was selected to pursue his MSPH degree at USHUS starting in 2015.
MS 9A PROFICIENCY DESIGNATOR ACCESSIONS
In 2014, five new Medical Entomologists joined
our ranks: CPT Jennifer Boyd (MPH, A.T. Still University), CPT Neil Milan (PhD, Emory University), CPT Thomas
Gilbreath (PhD, University of California, Irvine), 1LT Chris-tian Paulsen (MS, University of Georgia) and 1LT Tyler Ito (MS, University of Hawaii, Manoa).
PROMOTIONS
In 2014 the following officers were promoted to
their current rank: BG Sandra Alvey (Reserve), COL Amy Korman, COL Jamie Blow, MAJ Cynthia Tucker, MAJ
Wade Petersen, MAJ Wesley McCardle, CPT Travis Cul-
pepper and CPT Susana Padilla. Additionally, the following officers were selected for promotion: COL- LTC(P) Jerrold
LTC Anthony Schuster was selected as a recipient
of the highly prestigious US Army Surgeon General's "A"
Professional Proficiency Designator for expertise in Medi-
cal & Veterinary Entomology. Receiving the 9A Proficiency Designator recogniz-
es officers who are eminently qualified in their specialty and who have made significant contributions to the ad-vancement of knowledge through publications and active national professional organizational membership.
RECRUITING
LTC Jason Richardson, CPT Scott Stanley, and 1LT Bevin McWilliams attended the Entomological Society of America (ESA) meeting 16-19 November 2014 in Port-land, Oregon and assisted the 6 th Medical Recruiting Bat-
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2014 MSC Annual Report
72B, Entomology
talion in recruit-
ing entomolo-
gists that were
attending the
meeting. Their
efforts resulted
in over 400 visi-
tors to their
booth and 33
new accession
leads.
DEPLOYMENT
The 172nd MED DET (PM) deployed in support of
OEF XIV on 1 June 2014 replacing the 926th MED DET
(PM) commanded by MAJ Scott Vial. The 172nd PM DET
was commanded by MAJ Joshua Bast and led by SFC
Loretta Whitehurst. While most PM Detachments have an
Environmental Science / Engineering Officer and Entomol-
ogist in the Command/XO position, the 172nd managed to
survive with two entomologists at the helm. CPT Mauricio
Solis served as the X0 and OIC of the PM team covering
Southern Afghanistan. The 172nd Medical Detachment's
mission was to provide Level II & III PM support to over
60,000 US and Coalition Forces and tens of thousands of
additional civilian contractors across all six Regional / Train
Advise Assist Commands (RC/TAAC-North, East, South,
West, Southwest and Capital). In October 2014, the 172nd
became the only PM unit in the Combined Joint Operation-
al Area — Afghanistan (CJOA-A) after the departure of the
1st Combat Logistics Battalion Navy Preventive Medicine
Unit from Camp Leatherneck. Due to Resolute Support
Mission Force Manning reductions, the unit went from 13
Soldiers down to 8 in November 2014 while still providing
Direct Support to Bagram, Kandahar and the Kabul Base
Cluster as well as
Area Support to the
rest of the CJOA-A.
By November 2014,
there were only 2
other PM special-
ists under US Forc-
es — Afghanistan
(USFOR-A) providing Level II PM support across the
CJ OA-A.
MAJ Bast assumed the role of the USFOR-A Force
Health Protection (FHP) Consultant in October 2014. This
was previously a full-time position occupied by LTC Scott Mower, an ESEO working at ISAF Joint Command in Ka-
bul. In his role as FHP Consultant, he assisted in the de-
velopment of USFOR-A and ISAF policy on Ebola Virus
Disease, development of a USFOR-A radioactive commod-
ity retrograde SOP, revised ISAF food protection policies,
conducted monthly theater-wide PM synchronization meet-
ings including both US and ISAF FHP assets, conducted
monthly reporting and review of Occupational and Environ-
mental Health Site Assessments (OEHSA) and staffing of
Periodic Occupational Environmental Monitoring Summar-
ies (POEMS) for the CJOA-A to CENTCOM, assisted
USFOR-A in congressional inquiries to previous burn-pit
use in Afghanistan and GAO inquiries on Occupational and
Environmental Health Surveillance (OEHS) policies and
procedures in place in Afghanistan.
Initially MAJ Bast and then CPT Solis served as
the USFOR-A Pest Management Consultant / Entomology
Consultant. They provided CJOA-A wide policies for pest
management, training, pesticide application, and record-
keeping. They closely coordinated with the Armed Forces
Pest Management Board, USFOR-A, Defense Contract
Management Agency, Regional Contracting Commands
and the individual contracted pest management partners to
ensure full compliance with current laws, regulations, and
best practices. Two key contract modifications occurred
during this period which allowed for herbicide applications
to the Bagram flight line and an agreement with the Ger-
man Forces to accept feral animals in the RC/TAAC-N ar-
ea of operations which allowed for continued trapping by
US contract pest controllers.
RESEARCH
With the largest outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic
fever ever recorded still smoldering in West Africa, U.S.
Military personnel have been deployed to help. Ebola how-
ever, is certainly not the only risk they must plan for.
In addition to the current risk of Ebola, military and
deployed humanitarian efforts are much more likely to be
exposed to a number of endemic vectors and vector-borne
164
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72B, Entomology
diseases (VBD) that are prevalent in West Africa. From
malaria and dengue fever to leishmaniasis and Crimean-
Congo hemorrhagic fever, the mosquitoes, sand flies and
ticks of the region pose a significant problem.
The Walter Reed Biosystematics Unit (WRBU)
provides military personnel with valuable information and
products to help mitigate the risk of VBDs. One such prod-
uct is VectorMap.org , an online resource for assessing
VBD risk.
When planning began for military deployments to West
Africa, a request was made to the WRBU for information
that would help protect soldiers, sailors and airmen from
exposure to VBDs.
In response to this request, the VectorMap team
quickly packaged relevant information found on VM into an
easily sharable report containing VBD risk maps, vector
habitat suitability models as well as background infor-
mation on the climate, vectors and diseases of the area.
Dubbed the West Africa Vector Hazard Report, the docu-
ment was easily created by browsing through the Vector-
Map data portal and linking to relevant informational web-
sites like the WRBU mosquito catalog and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
VectorMap operates on a global scale and con-
tains the world's largest database of well curated collection
records and VBD risk maps. This provides the military with
access to knowledge of VBD risk in any part of the world
which can be used to plan appropriate measures before
boots hit the ground.
Those interested in learning more about creating
similar reports can contact the VectorMap team at mosqui-
[email protected] . The VectorMap team will gladly accommo-
date training requests and custom educational / risk as-
sessment products for deployments and other military en-
tomology / public health needs. They are located at the
WRBU located at the Smithsonian Institution Museum Sup-
port Center in Suitland, MD. The team can schedule an
online training session through DCO.
ESA FELLOW SELECTION
COL (Ret.) Dr. Phillip G. Lawyer was elected by
the Governing Board of the Entomological Society of
America (ESA) as one of ten new Fellows of the Society
for 2014. The election as a Fellow acknowledges outstand-
ing contributions to entomology in research, teaching, ex-
tension, or administration.
Dr. Lawyer recently retired as core staff scientist/
medical entomologist at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseas-
es, NIAID, NIH, from which he also served the Division of
Entomology at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
(WRAIR). He is recognized internationally for research on
sand flies and associated diseases, with special emphasis
on sand fly biology and vector-parasite interactions
(Leishmania and Bartonella).
His professional experience spans over 43 years
in operational and extension entomology, teaching, and
research, including 30 years in the U.S. Army as a 72B.
Dr. Lawyer's international experience includes nu-
merous research projects in Central and South America,
the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. He has authored or co-
authored more than 70 refereed
publications and four book
chapters. He served seven
years as sand fly subject matter
editor for the Journal of Medical
Entomology and has organized
several sand fly symposia for
ESA Annual Meetings. He has
also served on the Scientific
Program Committee for the In-
ternational Symposium on
Phlebotomine Sand Flies since
1991.