Little Manning, Big World Published July 14, 2015 By Airman 1st Class Christian Sullivan Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- A job in the military has proven to be one of the most stressful jobs in America, according to Forbes Magazine. Adding low-manning and a high volume of customers and special duties only adds more stress, this is what Senior Airman Luis Poblano, 5th Medical Support Squadron laboratory technician, and the other few Airmen working in his shop experience day-to-day. Poblano's work may not be considered glamorous, but it is important to the mission. He, along with three other Airmen, work in the 5th Medical Support Squadron lab where primary duties include working the front desk, urinalysis, microbiology and chemistry. Though his workplace is smaller compared to other bases, Poblano said the work demand hasn't changed much. "At my last base, it was a hospital so it was a lot of members, but we still stayed busy," said Poblano. "But when you compare the manning to the patient ratio, it's kind of the same." Often times, extra hours along with additional duties may potentially add to the stress or perhaps bring down an Airman's morale, not Poblano. "It sucks when it falls on a holiday, other than that it's okay," said Poblano. Patients vary coming in and out of the lab at the 5th Medical Group here at Minot Air Force Base according to Poblano, but he insists that they usually keep pretty busy. Poblano said that patients coming in can be from 10 to 15 on a slow day to maybe 40 or 50 on an extra hectic day. Staff Sgt. Hollie Crawford, 5th Medical Support Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of laboratory services, agrees adding that their often busiest times are permanent change of station season and the winter when cold and flu season hits. Just because it can be considered a stressful and busy work environment, Poblano manages to find positives in his busy work lifestyle. "You get to do more, with extra responsibilities," said Poblano. Crawford adds on from a NCOs perspective that these responsibilities build good Airmen. "Everything is on a smaller scale here. When you're in a large lab, you're assigned to one section for sometimes years so you end up forgetting a lot of your training," Crawford said. "Here they rotate through all the sections, it keeps that knowledge and expertise up for testing. I'm the only NCO here and there are two Airmen so they're learning how to be a staff sergeant first hand." Poblano agrees with Crawford that these extra responsibilities and duties are better preparing these Airmen to be successful in their career in the future. Poblano said that he feels that he has been better prepared due to the extra responsibilities given to him. He also added that he is able to study for his promotion testing when he is at the front desk and they do not have customers.