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Arnold School alumnus shares U.S. flag from Afghanistan with alma mater
February 18. 2010
U.S. Air Force Capt. Ronnie Mack, left, and
Dr. Jan Probst of the Arnold School
A U.S. flag that flew over Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan during a combat refueling mission is a reminder that public health reaches the far corners of the world, even those torn apart by war and devastation.
University of South Carolina alumnus Capt. Ronnie Mack, who earned a master’s degree in health administration from the Arnold School in 2008, donated the flag after serving a six-month tour as a hospital administrator at a field hospital in Kyrgyzstan.
“I wanted USC to have a part of my overseas experience,” said Mack, 37, who has served in the U.S. Air Force for 17 years. “This flag represents my service, and it will always be a part of the university.”
His tour of duty in the war zone gave him an even greater appreciation for his country and its citizens.
“America means family, friends, USC,” he said. “It’s the individuals who make up our great country, and they are the reason why I put on my uniform and go to work.”
He returned to the United States with a renewed appreciation for the nation’s healthcare system. “Technology in the United States is great. You realize just how great it is when you go to a place like Kyrgyzstan and work in a tent hospital.”
Mack, who grew up in Holly Hill, said he decided to pursue a military career after seeing the military’s Desert Storm operation in 1991 on television. After being selected as an Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) scholarship recipient in 2006, Mack chose Carolina as the university for his master’s degree.
His public health education was valuable in Kyrgyzstan.
“My public health background served me well,” he said, explaining that he was located near a city with more than 1.5 million people. “One person with an illness affected many more. We had a lot to deal with.”
He said that he missed game days during football season and the smell of grass.
“But I’m not any more enthusiastic to go out and mow grass,” he said. “I just missed the smell of grass.”
Mack said he especially enjoyed serving as the president of a local service organization in Kyrgyzstan that raised money for the needs of schoolchildren and also for repairs to the roof of a local school that had little, if any, heat.
Mack’s duty now is as a logistics officer at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. He divides his time between the base and his home in Columbia, where his wife Vernetta and children Ciara and Ronnie II live.
Dr. Jan Probst, interim chair of the department of health services policy and management, said the flag is an invaluable reminder of the dedicated men and women whose public health education and military service afford them the opportunity to make a difference around the world
“Ronnie Mack represents the Arnold School in his Air Force career, his work with adults and children at military bases throughout our nation and abroad, and in field hospitals serving our soldiers,” she said. “His service to our country is exemplary, and we are proud that he is one of our graduates.”
