By Sgt. Sidnie Smith
4th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs Office, 4th Infantry Division
FORT CARSON, Colo. — Training holidays are coveted by Soldiers who work long hours and tough jobs. However, when 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, medics heard the 627th Hospital Center Soldiers were deploying in late March, they gave up their holiday to support. When the hospital center deployed to Washington to assist local hospitals with the COVID-19 pandemic, the 4th CAB medics knew the mission needed to be accomplished — and how to best make the transition happen.
Sgt. Louis Yurkovic, a behavioral health specialist with 4th CAB, said he knew how hard it was to learn and be trained properly on the programs at the Soldier Readiness Processing (SRP) site. SRP centers have different stations including immunizations, dental, administrative and many more to ensure each Soldier is prepared for a deployment
Having experienced rocky transitions, the 4th CAB Soldiers remembered what it was like to return from a deployment to Germany last year.
“The last thing I wanted for other people was to walk into a seven-hour SRP process,” he said. “I organized how we ran the SRP this time, so people were able to only be at the site for three or four hours and be able to go home and spend time with their Families.”
Yurkovic said helping run an SRP center means organizing the Soldiers in a manner that ensures a smooth process and that all stations are completed. Sometimes that meant directing Soldiers to various stations when the lines start to back up, in order to spread the Soldiers out as much as possible — resulting in a quicker process.
Helping people was very rewarding, Yurkovic said.
“Our bridge surgeon said ‘We’re in the middle of a public health crisis and we haven’t done anything to support the public health crisis,’” Yurkovic said. “‘Let’s give up this training day March 23, to assist the 627th HC and help them.’ That’s our main goal as medical personnel and a huge assistance to helping fight this pandemic.”
Staff Sgt. Joshua Nobles, a combat medic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th CAB, said the medics processed almost 200 Soldiers in less than a day.
“This was good for us because we had the system down,” Nobles said. “We were able to grab a few of 627th HC’s personnel and show them what needs to happen in the future.”
Nobles said he felt that the 4th CAB medics were beneficial in helping with the COVID-19 response and making a difference.
“These Soldiers we were able to help get out the door are force multipliers in helping offset this crisis,” he said.
Yurkovic said he and the other medics were just doing their job.
“My supervisor sent me a text message her mother sent her,” he said. “Her mom said, ‘we were American heroes for helping get those Soldiers through SRP so they could get to Washington on time.’ I never considered it that way because we’re just doing our job. Helping Soldiers to help each other.”