COVID-19 Heroes: MD Associate, an Air Force Reservist, Serving Patients in NYC

MD’s Carrie Villa hugs her son, Santiago, before departing for New York City to help care for COVID-19 patients.

An Air Force Reservist in the Exchange’s Merchandising Directorate has deployed to New York City to help care for COVID-19 patients.

Tech Sgt. Carrie Villa, who works as a merchandising tech on the toy team at HQ and serves as an Air Force pharmacy technician, received her deployment orders in late April  from the 301st Medical Squadron at the Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. She will serve six months in the New York City area.

“I knew the possibility was high that I would be deployed,” said Villa, who served in Iraq in 2003 as a military police officer. “I am glad to be serving my country and the people on the front line of this pandemic.”

Her MD teammates have sent her emails showing their support for the work she’ll do in New York and vowing to keep her in their thoughts.

“Carrie is valuable to our team,” said Jorge Calandria, a sporting goods buyer. “We will miss her but know she’s serving our country.”