Air Force photograph by Senior Airman James Hensley

Doug Beaudette, 56th Medical Operations Squadron chiropractic physician, performs an adjustment on Tech. Sgt. Alexandria Valdez, 56th MDOS physical therapy clinic noncommissioned officer in charge, at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., Nov. 21, 2017. Beaudette takes care of more than 20 patients daily as the sole chiropractic physician at Luke.

The chiropractic clinic at Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., is a team of two Thunderbolts, the scheduler and the physician.

Each day they take care of approximately 25 patients by utilizing hands-on spinal manipulation and other alternative treatments to keep Airmen fit to fight.

“Our mission is to provide quality chiropractic care for our patients and educate them to live a healthier, pain-free lifestyle,” said Doug Beaudette, 56th Medical Operations Squadron chiropractic physician. “We save the Air Force approximately $120,000 to $140,000 in referrals and off-base expenses. We’re only able to see active duty personnel, but that’s a military-wide policy for chiropractic clinics. We get a lot of people here for the first time who have been on bases where they had to pay out of pocket or just deal with it. Having this option available for active duty members is a big help for Airmen.”

Beaudette explained, the clinic helps ease neck and back pain, as well as headaches. For Airmen seeking treatment, scheduling an appointment is a simple process.

“You don’t have to go see your primary care manager to get a referral to come to chiropractic, just call the clinic,” said Master Sgt. Erik Mena, 56th MDOS surgical services flight chief. “It’s good having direct access because normally an Airman would have to schedule an appointment to see there PCM, which could take up to two weeks. If they have back pain, they can call directly to chiropractic and be seen tomorrow or the next day.”

After the appointment is made and an Airman is seen, treatment takes only a few minutes.

“Visits generally last 10 to 15 minutes, it’s not a lot of time out of people’s day,” Beaudette said. “Our job and goal is to get people better. We treat them just like family. We wouldn’t be here if not for our patients.”

The chiropractic clinic’s hours of operation are 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 623-856-9179.