Pride of the Pack: Staff Sergeant Kamau Joseph

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Gallahan
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  Staff Sergeant Kamau O. Joseph was selected as the Pride of the Pack for the week of May 7. 
Each week the 8th Fighter Wing commander recognizes one member of the Wolf Pack by awarding them with a Pride of the Pack certificate for their stellar commitment to excellence and superior mission accomplishment. 
Here are some of Sergeant Joseph's highlights:

Rank and full name: Staff Sgt. Kamau O. Joseph
Unit: 8th Medical Support Squadron
Duty Title: Non-commissioned officer in charge of the Tricare Element
Job in a nutshell: He helps "Keep the Wolf Pack Fit to Fight"
Hometown: Houston, Texas
Previous Base: Goodfellow AFB, Texas
Follow-on: Kadena AB, Japan
Hobbies: Spending time with his kids, writing, sports, hanging out with friends 
Favorite music: R&B 
Last good movie: Wild Hogs
Favorite Quote: "Let your heart be the pilot and your mind be the navigator" Kamau Joseph
Best thing you've done at Kunsan: Together, with the help of my team, change patients attitude towards Tricare for the better 

Col. Hernando Ortega's letter 
8th Medical Group commander

I strongly recommend Staff Sergeant Kamau O. Joseph from 8th Medical Support Squadron for the Pride of the Pack Award!

As the Non-commissioned officer in charge of TRICARE, he is directly responsible for the empanelment of more than 3,000 wing members into the DoD health care system. He oversees the $178,000 patient travel and $149,000 supplemental care budgets that fund the travel of Wolf Pack members to other DoD and downtown Korean hospitals. He personally provided more than 300 one-on-one TRICARE briefings and assisted with scheduling patients referred to off-base health care facilities for specialty care. Staff Sgt. Joseph is also the physical evaluation board liaison officer where he was responsible for submitting and counseling Wolf Pack members on their Medical Evaluation Board, or MEB, results and retirement benefits. Sergeant Joseph completely revamped the MEB program since his arrival here just two months ago. His energy is contagious and he personally developed end-of-day checklists and a patient referral tracking database to ensure all MEB evaluations were completed in 50 percent less time.

Sergeant Joseph aggressively eliminated a two-month back log of optometry referrals and scheduled 57 active duty and retired patients within two days during an Osan optometrist visit in March. Not only did he e-mail each member, but he personally called each Wolf Pack member prior to their appointment and eliminated the risk of a patient "no show."

In addition to his regular duties, he is also a member of the Patient Administration Disaster Team where he is responsible for loading exercise patient information into the C-STARS data base upon entering the clinic. He worked closely with the 8th Mission Support Squadron Casualty Affairs and Services personnel during the ORI, and combined they processed more than 100 exercise patients. They were lauded by the Inspector General as being 100 percent accurate. In addition to this, the teamwork of the Medical Group, Services and MSS resulted in the casualty process as being recognized as "best seen to date."

Furthermore, he is aggressively pursuing his Community College of the Air Force degree here and strongly supporting the 8th MDG by being on the intramural volleyball team. Staff Sgt. Joseph is an outstanding health care manager and embodies what a Wolf Pack NCO must be!