How the Army provides medical support at a multinational exercise

Photo By Sgt. Jennifer Joyce | Soldiers with C Troop, Regimental Support Squadron, 2nd Cavalry prepare a notionally injured Soldier with a shoulder injury for an X-ray April 12 at the combat support hospital near Amberg, Germany, for Saber Junction 15, a multinational training exercise hosted by U.S. Army Europe’s Joint Multinational Readiness Center. (Photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Jennifer Joyce/Released)  

HOHENFELS, GERMANY

04.14.2015

Story by Sgt. Jennifer Joyce 

North Dakota National Guard Public Affairs

HOHENFELS, Germany -- Multinational training exercises provide opportunities for NATO Allies and partner nation forces to train side-by-side and to build and maintain partnerships and interoperability. The Joint Multinational Readiness Center here is home to more than 20 multinational training exercises each year, the biggest one this year being Saber Junction 15.

Saber Junction 15, now in progress, is a U.S. Army Europe-led decisive action training exercise involving 17 NATO allies and partner nation forces.

The U.S. Army's 2nd Cavalry Regiment serves as the primary support element for the training. Medical support, specifically, is provided by C Troop, Regimental Support Squadron. Their support serves both notional and realistic purposes -- though the C Troop Soldiers are participating in the training exercise, they are fully equipped and prepared to provide real medical care to U.S. and NATO Soldiers as needed.

"We definitely get to exercise the interoperability that's been stressed by our regimental commander," said Capt. Karin Pivaral, C Troop commander. "We get to work with NATO Soldiers that we wouldn't have the opportunity (to work with) at NTC (National Training Center) or JRTC (Joint Readiness Training Center), at least in my experiences."

According to Capt. Brian Baggett, the medical observer controller trainer for JMRC, C Troop's combat support hospital, which provides "Role 2" medical care, serves as a "conduit between maneuver forces and their next level of care." He stated that each participating nation brings some of their own support elements so that each platoon in the exercise has some resources to provide "Role 1" medical care, or basic first aid and individual care.

"'Role 1' is down on the frontlines," said 2nd Lt. Christopher Brown, who serves as the C Troop treatment platoon leader for Saber Junction 15. "They have typically one, maybe two, tables for basic trauma management. Anybody (injured) at 'Role 1' will be evacuated to 'Role 2' for further assessment. 'Role 2' is a little bit bigger. We have three to four trauma beds (where) we can work trauma, sick call and we can do minor procedures here -- nothing surgical. At the same time, we also have X-ray capabilities, lab capabilities, we have a patient hold, we have dental and we have physical therapy here as well."

C Troop's combat support hospital is located near Amberg, Germany, which is approximately 14 miles (or 23 kilometers) from Hohenfels.

The location of the hospital to the exercise staging area at Hohenfels is intended to replicate doctrinal training distance. To offer doctrinally precise care for training as well as care for real emergencies, the facility also is equipped to provide traditional services like preventive medicine and pharmacy care and more advanced services like behavioral health and physical therapy, said Capt. Kinard Egleton, the JMRC operations observer controller.

"The role of physical therapy in a field environment is to provide muscular skeletal care for Soldiers that are injured and to maintain the fitness and the fighting strength for those that are here," said Maj. Crystal Sims, a physical therapist with C Troop. "Whether in a field environment or in garrison, there are always going to be injuries. Ankle sprains and back pain are common occurrences in the regular population but you also see them in the military population as well."

A "Role 3" medical care facility, which provides more advanced services like surgery, is not staged for the purposes of the Saber Junction 15 training, but the support element has the capabilities to evacuate Soldiers if they require a higher level of care than is provided for the exercise, according to Baggett.

Baggett said many factors were considered during the planning and preparation phases of Saber Junction 15. "Their (C Troop's) job is to support the entire regiment," he said. Language barriers and communication between maneuver elements were matters that were addressed to ensure the operational effectiveness of the medical support element during the exercise.

"Working with other languages, other Soldiers, other ways of doing things while treating Soldiers with our medical care," Pivaral said on the benefits of working in a multinational training environment. "This (exercise) really pushes us out of our comfort zone."

• Date Taken: 04.14.2015
• Date Posted: 04.26.2015 06:53
• Story ID: 161299
• Location: HOHENFELS, DE