US, ROK armies work together on CBRNE doctrine

Photo By Sgt. SeoWon Lee | Republic of Korea Army soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division cover a simulated casualty before the evacuation during the combined demonstration training at H221 helipad, Camp Casey, South Korea, Dec. 10. The exercise was held in order to work toward the completion of combined doctrine for a mass casualty incident.  

CAMP CASEY, 41, SOUTH KOREA

12.10.2014

Story by Pfc. SeoWon Lee 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division

CAMP CASEY, South Korea – Republic of Korea Army soldiers from the 25th Infantry Division and Soldiers from the 1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division demonstrated their handling process of a mass casualty incident due to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosive weapons at H221 Helipad, Camp Casey, South Korea, Dec. 10.

The exercise was held in order to work toward the completion of combined doctrine for a MASCAL according to Col. Kang, Jong-gu, chief of Medical Division ROK and U.S. Combined Forces Command. The idea of the combined doctrine was proposed from the medical officers of CFC.

“Today, we had time for discussion in ROK-US doctrine, and we also saw how both ROK and U.S. treat their patients,” said Kang. “For the most part, patient treatment procedure is similar, but for some part, there is a clear difference.”

Even though the U.S. Army and ROK Army have been together for more than 60 years, they had almost no interaction for the medical processes concerning CBRNE. Kang strongly emphasized during wartime, it is important to know each other’s medical capabilities to efficiently evacuate Soldiers and save lives.

“Through today’s demonstration training, we could determine both countries’ doctrines,” said Lt. Col. Kim, Yeong-sin, division surgeon with the 25th Infantry Division. “Thus, for combined trainings, we would know the differences between two countries and how to overcome them. I hope to form a combined medical team that can take care of patients from both countries.”

At the helipad, the CBRNE Soldiers set up their demonstration sites. They introduced their devices and procedures with descriptive explanations and answered any questions. The demonstration participants included the ROKA surgeon, the U.S. Forces Korea surgeon, and the 8th Army surgeon.

“They [ROKA Soldiers] walked us from the point of injury, all the way to triage, lastly to decontaminating the patient,” said Capt. Ariel S. Castro, medical planner in 1st ABCT, 2nd Infantry Division. “What we were asked was to show a static display of our capabilities. We are not going to have as thorough demonstration as they did. But, what we have out here, we have a M1135 which is the reconnaissance platform that does decontamination of soil, atmosphere so and so forth. It is a striker piece of equipment from 23rd Chemical Battalion. We also have Charlie medics from 302rd Brigade Support Battalion that are going to demonstrate decontamination of a row one. They are going to talk from point of injury, all the way to evacuation and FLA [Field Litter Ambulance]. Ours is similar to them, but it is more compressed and short.”

The plan has just begun. If both armies work toward finishing the plan, it could be done quickly.

“Since Soldiers from both countries acknowledge the needs of the combined doctrine, there would be a lot of developments for the plan as we go on,” said Kang. “We will work on creating it through annual combined field exercise trainings like KR/FE [Key Resolve/Fall Eagle] and UFG [Ulchi Freedom Guardian].”

• Date Taken: 12.10.2014
• Date Posted: 12.16.2014 03:11
• Story ID: 150403
• Location: CAMP CASEY, 41, KR