Photo By Sharon Renee Taylor Retired Air Force Col. Benjamin McCarter chats with his transplant surgeon, Lt. Col. (Dr.) Edward Falta, chief of the Walter Reed Organ Transplant Service, in Heaton Pavilion at Walter Reed Army Medical Center Tuesday. McCarter received a kidney May 12 from a donor located at an area civilian hospital, and doctors recovered a kidney from his wife, Sharon, for a patient at another hospital May 10. Recalling when he awoke after the three-hour surgery, the retired colonel said, ‘‘I felt great. It was just so quick.” He said his new kidney began working after the operation ‘‘like clockwork.” ‘‘Everyone has been wonderful,” he said.

The tightly, coordinated series of detailed, organ-matching and trades, paired the healthy donor in each couple at Walter Reed Army Medical Center with a compatible recipient at a civilian hospital so their loved ones could receive a compatible kidney from a donor in the four-hospital organ exchange.

At WRAMC, retired Air Force Col. Benjamin McCarter received a kidney from a donor located at another area hospital, while his wife, Sharon, donated one of her kidneys to a patient located another hospital in the region.

‘‘Thanks to everyone and their hard work for another successful paired kidney exchange,” said Lt. Col. (Dr.) Edward Falta, chief of the Walter Reed Organ Transplant Service. ‘‘Ten families, 20 operations and four hospitals later with perfect results,” he added.

Walter Reed surgeons participated in the first-ever transplant involved in a kidney swap chain for a U.S. military treatment facility in November. Retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Joe Pinkowski received a kidney from a donor, and doctors recovered a kidney from his wife, Yolanda, for a patient at another hospital. The surgeries were a part of a record-setting kidney swap involving the couple and 24 other individuals in a series of 26 operations over six days at four hospitals in the region, saving the lives of 13 kidney patients .