PITTSTON, PA — July 31, 2014 — U.S. servicemen, servicewomen and NATO troops under the care of Major Rick Coslett, D.M.D. received a gift of innovative provisions at The Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan. This past January, dental supplies and equipment requested by Major Coslett arrived in record time courtesy of Benco Dental Chairman and Chief Customer Advocate, Larry Cohen. Six months later on July 31, in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Major Coslett returned the favor with an unexpected presentation to the troops’ benefactor on his home base.
“I cannot express in words how grateful we are here to have such great American patriots as those who make up Benco Dental,” said Major Coslett, a Shavertown resident who, after serving his community as a dentist for 24 years, elected at age 51 to serve his country on August 28, 2009. After receiving a direct commission and obtaining the rank of Major, based on his civilian experience in the dental field, Major Coslett, served three mobilizations as a U.S. Army Dental Corp Reservist: the first in 2011, at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin; the second, in 2012, with the 94th Combat Support Hospital in Afghanistan, and third in 2014, with the 912th Dental Company, in Afghanistan.
Major Coslett, now 56, and back treating patients at his joint private practice, Brand & Coslett Family Dentistry, said he knew who to call upon arrival in Afghanistan to obtain the dental equipment and supplies that would allow him to provide the best care possible to troops from around the world.
“It’s the dental materials that have put Benco on the forefront of dentistry,” he said.
A Benco Dental customer since 1981, during his days at Temple University School of Dentistry in Philadelphia, Major Coslett was well-versed in the generosity of the 83-year strong-dental distribution company.
Overwhelmed by the donation Benco Dental provided, Major Coslett was moved to nominate Larry Cohen, the Chairman and Chief Customer Advocate of the nation’s fastest growing dental distributor, for the United States Army’s prestigious Certificate of Appreciation for Patriotic Civilian Service.
After an official nomination letter and approval process, Major Coslett received word in May that the Department of the Army had fulfilled his request with a proclamation.
With the help of Larry’s family, including wife, Sally, and sons, Chuck and Rick Cohen, Benco Dental Managing Directors, Major Coslett organized a surprise presentation July 31 at the Benco Dental home office, 295 CenterPoint Boulevard, Pittston, Pa.
“Who did this?” Larry Cohen joked, upon seeing Major Coslett and a crowd of nearly 100 Benco associates gathered at the company’s Summit Conference Center. “Dr. Coslett has always been a great customer and a good dentist, too. It’s a pleasure to help him and it’s a pleasure to help the Army. I was a dental assistant in the Army,” added Larry Cohen.
Major Coslett noted that, “As with any military deployment, you have your great days, your good days and your tough days. Although each day brought challenges and uncertainty, the one constant is the incredibly proud feeling of being an American soldier.”
The American soldiers with whom he served in Afghanistan were truly an inspiration to him, he said. Their commitment and bond to one another, their “Battle Buddies” is an unbreakable constant.
“In the Army it’s your ‘Battle Buddy’ that gets you through each day. With my wholehearted sincerity, I would like to say that Benco Dental is a ‘Battle Buddy’ of the U.S. Dental Corp.”
