Photo By Master Sgt. Michele Hammonds | Brig. Gen. William D. Frink, Jr., commander, 311 Support Corps Command, observes...... read more read more
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by Master Sgt. Michele R. Hammonds
1st Sustainment Command (Theater)
CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait – Fifty Royal Marines from the Kingdom of Tonga did not storm the tropical beach in their native homeland – rather they hit the desert sand when they went through medical training at the Senior Training Facility, Camp Buehring, Sept. 11.
The U.S. military and civilian contractors provided medical training to 50 Tongan Marines led by Capt. Toni Fonokalafi, senior national representative contingent commander. He commented on the hands-on training as he went through the four-hour Tactical Combat Casualty Care: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures class.
"Recently we had (U.S.) Marines come over to Tonga for a week of training, after that we came through Camp Pendleton for another two weeks of training with the U.S. Marines," he said. "Then we came to Camp Buehring for another week. Now is our final week of training with the Army. Some of the training is repetitious, but overall it is good training for the team to get ready for the task ahead of us."
The medical training not only provided medical hands-on training, but it also helped the Tonga Marines build confidence, said Fonokalafi.
"All of this training gives us the confidence to do what is expected of us in Iraq," he said. "Like today, this medical training has shown us how to treat people in these situations (scenarios given in class) and this builds our confidence in whatever we should do in the north."
Fonokalafi said his Marines were eager to go through the practical exercises and hands-on training in Third Army/US Army Central's area before moving up north to assume their new assignment.
"We are currently in Kuwait doing our final part of the training ... every body is happy and everybody is excited to move on and conduct the missions outlined for us," said Fonokalafi.
Tongan society is a very close-knit community of small islands. Many of the deployed Marines are related to one another, said Capt. Sonne Aholelei, 2nd platoon leader for the Tongan Marines.
"It's a saying back home that everyone knows a bit about each other," Aholelei said. "Seeing the reality of what may happen – we need this type of skill to save the guy right next to us," Aholelei said.
The Marines went through a battery of hands-on training using mannequins to practice on, working to keep a patient alive until trained medical staff arrive.
Spc. James McClellan, of the 213th Air Support Medical Company, Arkansas National Guard, provided assistance to the Tongan's they went through the hands-on training.
"I think they are doing real well," said McClellan, a registered nurse with the White River Medical Center, Batesville, Ark., where he resided before he deployed with his guard unit. "They are energetic and want to learn how to do the medical tasks, and that goes a long way."
Brent Cloud, medical simulations training instructor, was the primary trainer for the Tongans. "We do what we can (in) getting the guys in here and we try to provide them with quality training," said Cloud, who teaches about 300 military personnel a day and 1,500 a week, including coalition forces.
"We try to accommodate every one regardless of their skill set," said Cloud. And apparently regardless of their nationality as well: The Tongan contingent is headed to Baghdad where they will employ the skills they learned during their stay in the Third Army/U.S. Army Central operational area.
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2007 13:19 |
| Story ID: | 12484 |
| Location: | CAMP BUEHRING, KW |
| Web Views: | 380 |
| Downloads: | 312 |
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