Bioenvironmental flight conquers contaminants Published Feb. 8, 2012 By Airman 1st Class Madelyn Ottem 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- While all Airmen must maintain physical fitness for combat readiness to fight off enemies both foreign and domestic, there is a team that combats a much less obvious, but just as dangerous enemy. During Operation Tomodachi in March and April, 2011, Travis Air Force Base was the first stateside location for flights that were exiting Japan to land. The relief efforts of many Airmen saved lives during the operation. The bioenvironmental flight ensured that those lives remained safe by continually testing aircraft travelling to and from Japan for radiation contamination as a result of the reactors breaking down. In July 2011, a local plastics factory fire near Travis sent smoke plumes thousands of feet into the air. The bioenvironmental flight was on-scene to provide a health-risk assessment and determine what hazards were present in the burning material to protect the base populace. In a world where danger is everywhere, and in an Air Force where safety is priority, the Travis bioenvironmental engineer team keeps the Air Force mission prevailing by protecting Airmen and the base population from radiological, industrial and environmental hazards. "We are preventative maintenance," said Tech. Sgt. John Danne, 60th Medical Group bioenvironmental flight environmental protection elements NCO in charge. "Without our daily tasks, people could and would be exposed to hazards that would harm or even kill them." In times of emergency, the bioenvironmental flight performs and directs surveys to detect and identify chemical biological and radiological contaminants, said 2nd Lt. Michael Vickers, 60th MDG bioenvironmental flight officer in charge for environmental protection and readiness. The team provides technical assistance and guidance to base disaster preparedness personnel for detecting warfare agents, he said. The bioenvironmental team must constantly remain in a state of readiness and flexibility, maintaining the capability to respond to any incident on base that places the health of Travis residents at risk or if any type of hazardous material is a component of the incident. "We work with the joint task force to help mitigate any hazmat," Danne said. "We look at the health concerns while partnering with emergency management and the fire department to safely rescue and fix the issues at hand." With a mission of health risk assessment in order to protect the employees and families who work and live on Travis, the bioenvironmental team must adhere to multiple regulatory agencies such as Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Environmental Protection Agency as well as state and federal regulations. "Without Bioenvironmental, acute and chronic health problems would be more prevalent, causing medical separations, disability claims and loss of life to our valuable personnel," Vickers said. "On top of that, regulatory fines and potential closure of processes on base would halt the Air Force mission." We ensure mission continuity by making sure workers can stay at work so the planes can get off the ground, Danne said.