FORT MCCOY, Wis. - The 2015 78th Training Division’s Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 78-15-02, is the largest U.S. Army Reserve exercise in history, with more than 10,000 Soldiers conducting training operations on seven military installations throughout the United States. British and Canadian forces were also represented and trained alongside their U.S. military counterparts.
A fine example of the joint forces initiative can be found by observing the British Forces with 212 (Yorkshire) Field Hospital working alongside Soldiers assigned to the 94th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) out of Seagoville, Texas, June 6-26 at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. As medical units, they were given the opportunity to embrace their varied training expectations and experiences, but more often than not they found commonalities instead.
Maj. Reuben Argel, the Bravo Company commander for 94th CSH, took on the role of operations officer in order to facilitate full integration of leadership staff from the British Forces. Argel said this strategy was integral to their success, especially with such a difficult mission to execute in the training arena. It also allowed them to participate in training exercises with the Navy, such as air evacuation missions.
Argel said the mission was to create a hospital to perform Role 3 health care — which is a surgical capable hospital— within 72 hours, running 24/7 operations. Everything from putting up tents to setting generators up in the operating room was in their hands.
The main ingredient to making this daunting task a success was a strong staff.
“It’s the nurses, the medics,” said Argel. “They taught themselves how to be a power team, water team, things that they do not do on a regular basis. Our base engineer is our emergency room nurse.”
The British Forces, who were integrated into every section, also found themselves stepping into new and challenging roles, such as Capt. Mike R. Forbes, a medical support officer with 212 who also served as the intelligence officer. This was the first time the British soldiers joined their U.S. Army counterparts for training of this extent and they relished the opportunity.
“He dove right into mission essential tasks with minimal training within 24 hours,” said Argel of Forbes, noting that the transition was seamless.
“In terms of training experience, this is about as close to ops during Iraq and Afghanistan that we will ever get,” said Forbes, who noted chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear defense training was a welcomed addition to their knowledge base. “It’s been invaluable.”
Hitting the ground running with enthusiasm was also invaluable. Within 48 hours, Argel said, the team found their rhythm and began adjusting to the long shifts that blurred together, with attacks on the operations area mixed in.
“If there’s an attack during change of shift we’re staying up until the battle’s over,” said Argel, who noted that almost all of the Soldiers participating in the exercise were combat deployed and working in the civilian sector as medical personnel. This wasn’t new for them.
Still, care for Soldiers, both in the scenarios and in the real world, was the linchpin of their operation.
“That’s quite important, because in order to sustain your forces you need to be aware of when they’re eating and when they’re sleeping,” said Forbes. “Yes, it’s fine for a week, two weeks to [work] 16 hour days, but they become less and less effective as you go on.”
This is why the incorporation of several branches and forces during CSTX came in handy. In several instances, the British Forces were able to lend out manpower to the operations areas that were under-strength, which in turn allowed them to take full advantage of the hands on training available.
Argel said it was important to mention that none of this could have been possible without the dedicated support of a strong Noncommissioned Officer Corps.
“They did the lion’s share of making the hospital work 24/7. If the balloon drops tomorrow and the 212 and 94th have to start up a CSH anywhere in the world, we can do it,” he said.
All of this led to a successful mission, tactically and technically proficient medical personnel, and a once in a lifetime experience to work alongside Soldiers that might not otherwise have met without CSTX and Global Lightning.
By incorporating multinational, inter-service and multi-component forces into the exercise, the opportunity for these forces to train together just like they will overseas was presented and utilized to the fullest.
| Date Taken: | 06.22.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.24.2015 20:16 |
| Story ID: | 168014 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Hometown: | SHEFFIELD, SOUTH YORKSHIRE, GB |
| Hometown: | SEAGOVILLE, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 193 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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