WEBVTT

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Yeah . Yeah .

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Hi . I'm Brigadier General Sean Bagby ,

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28th Army Dental Corps Chief , Thank

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you for joining me for the fourth

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episode of our 2021 Dental Corps Video

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Update series . First , let me say

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thank you for your continued dedication

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and support over the months . I

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appreciate everything you do for our

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patients and for our mission . You have

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been doing a tremendous job under

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difficult and uncertain conditions .

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Your leaders and I couldn't be more

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proud of your continued efforts to help

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combat this ongoing pandemic . Now

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let's get to our questions . The first

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question is , what is the status on

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reduction in personnel numbers

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anticipated for the Army Medical

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Department or a med ? That's an

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excellent question . As you maybe aware .

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Two years ago , the National Defense

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Authorization Act directed a reduction

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in a bed personnel . This proposed

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reduction is just part of the cost of

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rebalancing the generating force with

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the operating force . The generating

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force refers to the soldiers stationed

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here at home and in fixed facilities

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like those assigned to our dental

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activities . They produce highly

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qualified and ready members of the

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operating force by honing are required

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clinical skills . The operating forces

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comprised of service members assigned

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to deployable units , so they must be

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ready to deploy in direct support of

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the war fighter . The entire um ed is

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affected by this transition when the

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dental corps of the ideal ratio of

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generating forced operating four

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soldiers should be in the neighborhood

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of about 3.5 to 1 . Now , thanks to the

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effort of our leaders , the initial

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proposed reduction of soldiers from the

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UM ed had been decreased by roughly

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half . This reduction would have

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impacted the overall end strength of

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the dental corps as well , by

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eliminating or converting about 65

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officer positions . As of 2021 the

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Office of the Surgeon General announced

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that there is no longer a plan to

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reduce the numbers of Amen officers and

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enlisted . It's important to note that

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the analysis of this directive

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continues in order to determine the

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proper and strength and the

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relationship between the generating and

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operating forces for the dental corps .

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Your next question states in the

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intermediate level Education resident

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Course , the Medical Center of

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Excellence , discuss the change from

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combat support hospitals to field

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hospitals in the new field hospital

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construct only oral surgeons and

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comprehensive dentists are attached .

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Will we see a change in the

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organization of our den tax similar to

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what we're seeing in the Kanto units ?

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And how will that impact our ability to

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serve our patients ? Thank you for that

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question . The change from a combat

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support hospital to a field hospital

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should not affect the dent tax

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significantly regarding specialty

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treatment available , the number of

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patient care days for comp dentists and

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oral surgeons in a given period may be

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reduced slightly , with a difference in

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workload being transferred to other

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specialists within the den tack . The

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change to a field hospital may require

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the dental corps in the long run to

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consider increasing the number of oral

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surgeons and bravos in the current

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inventory to assist in the Garrison

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Readiness mission . The change may

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impact how specialists in many AOC s

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are also assessed in the future . One

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of the strengths of the dental corps is

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our commitment to our own personal

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deployment readiness , and that

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baseline skill set of fundamental

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general dentistry procedures ensures

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that our dental care is maintained

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regardless of the dental AOC , which

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deploys with the field hospital . Our

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final question for the day is that

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security force assistance brigades or S

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fabs have burst on the scene recently

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and have been very active in recruiting

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medical soldiers to join them . Has the

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Army considered assigning dental corps

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officers to the S fabs ? That's an

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excellent question as well . These new

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units work with our partner nations to

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provide combat advisory and assist

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functions in support of a larger

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conventional force . But the present

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moment the ESF ABS do not have

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authorizations for dental corps

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officers or for 68 echo dental care

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specialists , and at present , there

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are no plans to add them . The dental

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services provided by both the den tax

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and ah rental units currently meet the

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needs of their readiness requirements .

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Unlike the Special Forces groups ,

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these units have not yet requested to

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have dental professionals assigned

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organic to their formations . Now ,

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remember , while we are fighting to

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keep safe against covid , we are still

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in the middle of flu season . If you

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haven't gotten your flu vaccine , I

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recommend that you get it as soon as

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possible . The Covid 19 vaccine is now

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available and being administered in a

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phased approach as outlined by the C .

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D C and R D o t tiered schema . While

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the covid vaccine is voluntary under

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the F . D . A s emergency use

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authorization , I urge you to consider

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it for the safety and well being of

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your patients , your family and

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yourselves . Please remain vigilant in

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your efforts to control the spread of

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the virus , washing your hands or

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sanitizing them wearing a mask and

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practicing social distancing . We'll

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work to slow the spread of covid 19 and

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can help keep the fluid bay as well .

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Thank you for your commitment to our

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patients and to our mission . Army

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Medicine is army strong , mhm .