Real world training

Photo By Sgt. Lindsey Schulte | U.S. Army Capt. Heather M. Hauser from Anaheim, Calif., with the 349th Combat Support Hospital out of Bell, Calif., hands prescription glasses to a local citizen having trouble seeing at the Medical Readiness Training Exercise here on April 19. The constant reading in low lit areas causes strain on their eyes, said Col. Bryan D. Brown from Midland City, Ala., commander of the 1835 Medical Detachment (Combat Stress) out of Aurora, Co.. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Lindsey Schulte)  

EL COCO, EL SALVADOR

04.19.2015

Story by Sgt. Lindsey Schulte 

364th Theater Public Affairs Support Element

EL COCO, El Salvador - Soldiers gained real world experience giving medical care at the Medical Readiness Training Exercise on April 19.

The MEDRETE is part of this year’s Beyond the Horizon mission to provide civic and medical assistance to the people of El Salvador, through June.

The austere environment here provides plenty of opportunity for training, so if we're overseas, we will have already gained this knowledge, said U.S. Army Spc. Jennifer Donovan a health care specialist, with the 114th Minimal Care Detachment out of San Diego.

Austere environments where the need for medical care is high provide a great opportunity to train as well as contribute to the local populace's medical care.

“There is only so much that can be taught in a classroom. This allows for a lot of experience and allows us to take a load off the doctors,” said Donovan.

Here soldiers have to use their skills to overcome obstacles they have not experienced in the United States.

“We see conditions we don't encounter in the U.S. and don't have meds for here. It teaches our soldiers to think on their feet,” said Sgt. Caroline Fuel from Temecula, California, with the 185th Dental Company from Garden Grove, California.

The medical need and austere nature of the local community can broaden a soldier's perspective and improve their work ethic.

“They see what other people have been through and they want to do better. They work harder, train harder and don't complain about what they've been through,” U.S. Army Col. Bryan D. Brown from Midland City, Alabama, commander of the 1835 Medical Detachment (Combat Support) from Aurora, Colorado.

Training in austere environments during BTH gives soldiers the experience to be more technically proficient when their country calls on them to deploy.

• Date Taken: 04.19.2015
• Date Posted: 04.24.2015 22:37
• Story ID: 161237
• Location: EL COCO, SV
• Hometown: MIDLAND CITY, AL, US
• Hometown: TEMECULA, CA, US