Greetings! Welcome to the November Focal Point. First off, I would like to thank all of the veterans of the U.S. military as we honor Veteran's Day. The Armed Services Blood Program honors all who have served our country, and we thank you for your bravery, patriotism, commitment and selflessness. I also send out my sincerest thank you to everyone who made the last month's ASBP Workshop at the 2014 AABB Annual Meeting in Philadelphia a huge success. It was a wonderful experience for everyone involved, and I truly believe this workshop was instrumental towards advancing the ASBP future goals and supporting our mission of saving lives.

 

During the AABB meeting, we heard from Ms. Stacy Fidler about how donated blood help save her son's life, we discussed ongoing research and development projects in the military blood banking community, explained how we cooperate with our civilian counterparts and honored two military blood banking legends with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award (LAA). You can learn more about both of the LAA recipients and watch videos highlighting their careers later in this issue.

 

Also in this issue, we meet Rosalind Griffin - a wonderful supporter of the ASBP in Hawaii. We also flashback to 2010 in Picture This!

 

As always, I would like to thank each and every one of the ASBP's supporters, volunteers and donors. Keep spreading the word about what you do! Tell everyone that you make a difference by simply rolling up your sleeve. We rely on you to save lives of service members worldwide. You all are the Armed Services Blood Program!

 

Respectfully,

 

Capt. Roland Fahie

The ASBP proudly awards retired Air Force Lt. Col. Ruth Sylvester and retired Navy Cmdr. Jerry Holmberg with this year's Lifetime Achievement Award.  Both Sylvester and Holmberg have had distinguished military careers, leaving a long-lasting impact on the military banking community. Learn more about their career accomplishments.

Watch Ruth Sylvester's LAA video.
Wach Jerry Holberg's LAA video.

Despite the shock and disappointment she felt for not being able to donate, Rosalind Griffin was determined to help the ASBP in any way she could. Find out what she did for staff members at the Tripler Army Medical Center Blood Donor Center.

It's an oldie, but a goodie! In this photo, the Kendrick Memorial Blood Center mascot poses with two muddy participants after the kid's portion of the 2010 Marine Mud Challenge at Fort Gordon, Ga. See more photos from the 2010 Marine Mud Challenge.

Why are we sharing a photo from four years ago? Because the ASBP has begun the process of archiving all of our photos from years past on our Flickr page! We've got photos from Fort Gordon, Great Lakes, Fort Hood and several others there already. Photos from our other blood donor centers will follow in the coming weeks. Check it out today to see what you might have missed, take a look back at and stay tuned for more.

               

The ASBP held the 2014 Naval Hospital Guam Blood Donor Drive aboard the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS George Washington during the ship's goodwill port visit to Guam last month. Read more.

The ASBP recently released a Blood Program Letter to address the ongoing Ebola virus concerns as it pertains to the safety of the blood supply. The military blood program concurs with the joint statement issued by the U.S. civilian blood banking community and although the Ebola virus has never been transmitted by blood transfusions, the ASBP is being very cautious while the epidemic unfolds in Africa. More information can be found on the ASBP website.