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From the Desk of:
Col. Richard H. McBride, Director, ASBPO
 The Armed Services Blood Program Office has many things to celebrate this holiday season. We had a successful Blood Donor Challenge during the annual Army Navy football game this year, collecting 1,199 units of blood that will directly support service members, veterans and their families. We welcomed a new deputy director of policy, Navy Lt. Cmdr. Leslie (Les) Riggs and a new Director of the Army Blood Program Army Col. Richard Gonzales. We also said a fond farewell and thank you to the former Army Blood Program Quality Assurance Manager Ms. Kathleen Elder, who retired after more than 35 years of dedicated service, and the former Director of the Air Force Blood Program Lt. Col. Diane Davis, who retired after more than 28 years of dedicated service. We also thank the 73rd Ordnance Battalion for donating during Fort Gordon's annual "Red to Green" campaign and Ms. Anne Muzos for spending her birthday saving lives. Lastly, in our Picture This! section, we congratulate Ms. Traci Vactor for winning our "Holiday Survival Kit" gift basket during the 2012 Office of the Surgeon General Holiday Ball Basket Fundraiser. With the new year rapidly approaching, I would like to thank everyone who has made 2012 a success for the Armed Services Blood Program. With your help, we have made great strides forward and saved thousands of lives. On behalf of the Armed Services Blood Program family, thank you.
Happy holidays,
Col. Richard H. McBride
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A Lofty Army Navy Challenge
 Marine Cpl. Garret J. Carnes knew what he held in his hands after he accepted the Second Annual Army Navy Blood Donor Challenge trophy during the Army Navy Game on Dec. 8 at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. "That's what saves our lives! This trophy right here," Carnes paused, held it up high and continued," is a symbol of saving our lives out there." Read the entire article on the ASBP website. View more pictures from the event on Flickr.
Image: Air Force Col. Richard McBride, the director of the Armed Services Blood Program, presents the U.S. Army vs. U.S. Navy Blood Donor Challenge trophy to Marine Cpl. Garrett Carnes, from the Wounded Warrior Battalion East, Dec. 8 during the Army Navy Game at the Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia. Garrett was accepting the trophy on behalf of the U.S. Navy, which won the 2nd Annual U.S. Army vs. U.S. Navy Blood Donor Challenge. Representing the U.S. Army was Connecticut Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Brett Graveline, also with the Wounded Warrior Battalion East.
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Meet Our New Deputy Director of Policy: Lt. Cmdr. Leslie Riggs
Navy Lt. Cmdr. Leslie (Les) Riggs came to the Armed Services Blood Program Office as the new deputy director of policy in November. He comes from an almost three-year assignment as the assistant head of the Laboratory Department at the Naval Medical Center in Portsmouth, Va. He is a 14-year Navy veteran, who has been involved in military blood banking off and on for eight years. He graduated from the Specialist in Blood Banking Fellowship in 2008. "I am eagerly looking forward to working with and learning from my military blood banking counterparts," he said.
Image: Navy Lt. Cmdr. Leslie Riggs is the new Armed Services Blood Program deputy director of policy. |
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Army Blood Program Welcomes New Director
The Army Blood Program recently welcomed Army Col. Richard Gonzales as its new director. A native of San Antonio, Texas, Gonzales has served in a variety of military healthcare roles all over the world, but his most recent position was as the Advanced Development Blood Product Manager for the U.S. Army Medical Material Development Activity at Fort Detrick with duty at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research. He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in biology from St. Mary's University in San Antonio and graduated from the Specialist in Blood Banking Fellowship Program in 1993. The Army Blood Program and the Armed Services Blood Program are pleased to welcome Col. Gonzales to the team and we are looking forward to working with him in all our future endeavors. |
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Ordnance Battalion Contributes the Most Red for Green
 Two causes, one event. Each year organizations from Fort Gordon, Ga., step up during the annual "Red to Green" campaign-a program that gives hundreds of military families a holiday season to remember. This year, dedicated participants from the 73rd Ordnance Battalion came together to sponsor the most successful blood drive of the 2012 campaign. Not only did these soldiers give their blood and plasma to help care for their injured and ill battle buddies, but they also helped some military families experiencing a different kind of need.
Read the entire article on the ASBP website.
Image: Private 2nd Class Dominic Colling, Company B, 73rd Ordnance Battalion, donates plasma during his unit's blood drive.
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No Uniform Required
The ASBP Focal Point civilian hero of the month
 Anne Muzos spent her birthday a little differently this year. Instead of a cake and receiving gifts, Muzos spent her birthday at the Robertson Blood Center giving the gift of donated blood to a service member. On Nov. 5, Muzos traveled to Fort Hood, Texas, despite her one-hour commute from Austin, to donate blood to the Armed Services Blood Program. This was her first donation to the military blood program, but for Muzos it is the start of an annual tradition stemming from a long-time altruistic outlook and a personal story.
Read the entire article on the ASBP website.
Image: Anne Muzos and Steve Muzos proudly show off their Armed Services Blood Program shirts and their brightly colored bandages after donating blood.
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Picture This!
The ASBP Focal Point picture of the month
 On Nov. 30, Traci Vactor, a health systems specialist with the Military Vaccinations Agency, won the "Holiday Survival Kit" that was created by staff members of the Armed Services Blood Program Office for the 2012 Office of the Surgeon General Holiday Ball Basket Fundraiser that took place throughout the Defense Health Headquarters in Falls Church, Va. The basket contained a variety of chocolate, sweet and savory treats, coffee and some fun items such as a Dracula teeth ice tray and a Christmas ornament. View more photos of the 2012 Office of the Surgeon General Holiday Ball Basket Fundraiser by visiting our Flickr page.
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Checkin' in with the:
Wright-Patterson Blood Donor Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
The Wright-Patterson Air Force Base community is filled with people who donate blood with no other incentive than the goodness in their hearts. Then there are those who are not able to donate due to travel or health restrictions, so they choose to support the Armed Services Blood Program in other ways. Recently, one donor decided to donate an incentive in place of his blood.
"It's October and it's getting cold out there," said the donor, who wished to remain anonymous. "And the trick is to get the treat to fit the occasion." So during a week shortened due to a holiday, the donor provided a K-cup coffee brewer that could be won by donors who came out to donate.
"Long holiday weekends make it more difficult to collect the blood required to meet the week's mission quota," said Dusty Suther, lead component technician at the Wright-Patterson Blood Donor Center. "We label and ship a steady number of units daily, but there is usually a drop-off as a long weekend approaches. Unfortunately, the donor center is not open for the full week, and there are no blood drives held on holidays."
The donor center staff as a whole agreed the timing of the coffee maker donation was perfect in every way. Both of the blood drives held in the period of the drawing had a 60 percent increase in the number of donors signing in and the donor center enjoyed increased donor traffic as well.
Senior Airman Jonathan S. Taylor of the Medical Operations Squadron at the Family Health Clinic was the winner of the drawing, but said he would have been happy whether or not he won the coffee maker. After an enjoyable experience donating for the first time during basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, Taylor arrived at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in 2009, found the donor center, and has been a regular donor ever since.
"The funny thing is that I haven't donated for a while due to a restriction," said Taylor. "But I knew it was about the right time to donate when I saw the email [explaining the special need and drawing]. I decided that there was no time like the present."
Taylor is indeed a regular donor whose record shows that he donates every 56 days. With only the one break in his self-imposed schedule, he has donated more than one gallon of blood to the Armed Services Blood Program since his arrival to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base.
Read the entire story on the ASBP website.
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Featured Video
A tribute and celebration of the life of Lt. Col. David Lincoln, on behalf of the Armed Services Blood Program. Lt. Col. Lincoln passed away on Nov. 18, 2012. He will be sorely missed by all.
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