Photo By Michael Strasser | Navy Reservists with Naval Hospital Portsmouth negotiate the combat trauma lanes...... read more read more
FORT DRUM, N.Y. (Aug. 5, 2024) -- A resupply convoy is ambushed, and a vehicle gets separated in the chaos.
Then a quick reaction force is sent to recover their teammates, treat the wounded under enemy fire, and move to the landing zone for casualty evacuation by helicopter.
This was the scenario presented to U.S. Navy Reserve medical personnel Aug. 1 outside the Bridgewater-Vaccaro Medical Simulation Training Center (MSTC), ending their two-week training rotation at Fort Drum.
Ken Walters, MSTC instructor, informed the first squad entering the combat trauma lanes that they would serve as infantry, litter carriers and medics, but ultimately, they were being tested on tactical combat casualty care.
After his short briefing, things got intense.
“No more Mr. Nice Guy from this moment on,” Walters said. “Ready, set ...”
And then simulated gunfire and explosions echoed through the woods as squads of eight negotiated a series of obstacles. Through a tunnel, over a hill, wading waist deep through water while holding a weighted litter above their heads, the Navy Reservists provided casualty care under fire as instructors provided them with motivation to achieve their objectives.
“Why are you still here? Move faster.”
“Get that tourniquet on or you won’t need a litter. He will be dead.”
“You need to work together. Communicate!”
Hospital Corpsman First Class Tiny Medallo said she never experienced a training exercise like that before.
“I think the training prepares you for what would happen in real life,” she said. “It was intense, especially for members who have never gone through combat like that before.”
Since 2012, Navy Reserve personnel from across the U.S. have conducted a two-week annual training program at Fort Drum called Operation Commanding Force. This was the first year for personnel assigned to Expeditionary Medicine Unit Jacksonville, Florida.
“I’m used to clinical settings and hospital care for my annual training,” Medallo said. “But in reality, as Reservists, we’re going to be put on the front lines and we need to be prepared. So, training like this is pretty amazing because it put us in the perspective of what combat care looks like.”
Mike Walker, MSTC site lead, said Operation Commanding Force enables Navy Reservists to use all training assets Fort Drum has to offer, such as weapon qualification ranges and the engagement skills trainer.
“Just like every other military branch, the Navy has annual requirements for certifications and Operation Commanding Force is designed to check all of those boxes,” he said. “They conduct Hospital Corpsman Skills Basic, Tactical Combat Casualty Care, water survival, and also simulations for convoys and squad movement techniques.”
Hospital Corpsman First Class Javier Toscano said that some of his certifications had expired, and so he felt fortunate to be able to accomplish a lot in the past two weeks.
“As Reservists, we don’t actually have a lot of opportunities to get these required courses and required training done during the year,” he said. “So being here was very important for a lot of us. For some, like myself – I’m an insurance adjuster in the real world – we don’t get a lot of the hands-on medical experience in our normal jobs. So, being able to learn and keep up with our skills is great.”
Toscano said this was his first time practicing Tactical Combat Casualty Care and performing an advanced airway procedure.
“I’m really glad that they put all this training together for us, because I learned a lot,” he said. “And I think it’s important because if it ever comes up where I have to be activated and actually do these things, it’s not going to be my first time ever doing it.”
Navy Reservists also teamed with Army and Coast Guard personnel for water recovery operations in Alexandria Bay. The culminating exercise at the MSTC included support from 10th Mountain Division (LI) medics, a Kentucky Army Reserve DUSTOFF crew, and Vermont National Guard Soldiers with members of their sponsored unit from the Austrian Armed Forces.
“The advantage to that is it shows to all the units participating how all the other sister services and components of the Army operate,” Walker said. “We always say, ‘train as you fight,’ and this is exactly how we do that. If you look at the current medical support of military structure in global missions, this is how we fight.”
This was also the first year that the MSTC staff hosted two evolutions of Operation Commanding Force, first with detachments from Naval Hospital Portsmouth, Virginia, and then EMU Jacksonville. In all, more than 100 students completed the training.
“We didn’t want to swamp the two-week period with that many people from two different units, so we thought having two completely identical evolutions, back-to-back would work,” Walters said. “That’s more than we are used to in a normal working day, but we did not have to deny any requests from units in the 10th Mountain Division for instructors or space.”
Navy Reserve Lt. Mike Park, served as the assistant training officer for EMU Jacksonville during Operation Commanding Force.
“All the personnel here at Fort Drum, including the civilian and military units, that we worked with directly have been nothing but supportive,” he said. “Our personnel felt like they got some of the best training they’ve had in years, and they were very happy with what they received.”
| Date Taken: | 08.05.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.05.2024 07:47 |
| Story ID: | 477774 |
| Location: | FORT DRUM, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 858 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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