31 Dental Squadron partners with USS Lewis B. Puller to support Navy readiness
The four-day visit from Aviano Air Base’s 31st Dental Squadron allowed Sailors to receive care aboard the ship while remaining close to their work centers, reducing time away from daily responsibilities and supporting overall medical readiness.
Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Derek M. Jensen, Lewis B. Puller’s senior medical department representative, said routine dental care is an important part of keeping Sailors ready to perform their duties.
“Routine dental care is not just about wellness; it is a critical component of combat readiness,” Jensen said. “A Sailor struggling with dental pain is a Sailor who cannot fully focus on the mission.
Puller is the first purpose-built expeditionary sea base vessel for the United States Navy and is a hybrid-manned platform whose crew is comprised of a rotational military crew and Military Sealift Command civilian mariners. The visit marked thesecond visit to the ship for the 31st DS in 2026. The partnership began earlier in the year when Jensen contacted the clinic about providing dental examinations for Sailors and helped refine the process for the September mission.
“Learning from our last experience, we were able to see many more patients during the second trip,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ashley L. Majewski, the 31st DS Clinical Dentistry Flight Chief.
The travel team included Majewski and general dentists U.S. Air Force Capt. Kendyll Holbdy and Capt. Jenn Keegan, alongside dental technicians U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Michael Macion-Pointer and U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Tahquell Cadle.
For the most recent visit, the 31st DS transported dental equipment and supplies from Aviano AB, Italy, to Rijeka, Croatia, while Lewis B. Puller personnel provided the space and shipboard support needed to integrate the team into daily operations.
Planning the return visit required Air Force and Navy teams to align patient needs, staffing, equipment, transportation and appointment times with the ship’s and clinic’s schedules.
“Once we found dates that worked for both the ship and our clinic, I coordinated everything on our end — from the equipment and transportation to our personnel and patient schedule,” Majewski said. “We wanted to make sure all the pieces came together so we could provide the care they needed.”
The 31st DS team worked from a dedicated space aboard the ship generally reserved for embarked medical assets, where they provided dental examinations, cleanings and X-rays. The arrangement allowed dental care to continue alongside the ship’s normal operating schedule.
“This physical and operational integration allowed dental operations to run concurrently with shipboard drills, inspections and daily task completion without causing any disruption to the ship’s tight schedule,” Jensen said.
Bringing the care aboard also reduced the need for Sailors to travel to Aviano AB for appointments, allowing them to fulfill normal mission requirements while receiving routine dental care.
“Providing dental care directly aboard the ship makes it much easier for Sailors to get the care they need without taking them away from their normal duties,” Majewski said. “These visits showed how collaboration between the Air Force and Navy strengthens medical readiness and builds relationships that can support future missions.”
The September visit built on the partnership established earlier in the year and demonstrated how Air Force and Navy medical teams can combine personnel, resources and expertise to support service members while maintaining mission readiness.
USS Lewis B. Puller is named in honor of U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Lewis “Chesty” Burwell Puller, one of the most decorated Marines in American history and the only Marine to be awarded the Navy Cross five times for heroism in action. The vessel originally entered service as USNS Lewis B. Puller (T-ESB 3) on June 12, 2015, operating under the Military Sealift Command with a civilian crew. On Aug. 17, 2017, the ship was formally commissioned in Bahrain as a U.S. Navy warship, making it the first American warship to be commissioned in a foreign port.
The ESB ship class is a highly flexible platform that operates across a broad range of military operations. Acting as a mobile sea base, they are part of the critical access infrastructure that supports the deployment of forces and supplies to support missions assigned.
Lewis B. Puller is conducting routine operations in U.S. 6th Fleet. Headquartered in Naples, Italy, U.S. 6th Fleet conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with Allied, interagency and partner forces, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa.
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