Marines and sailors train, deploy side-by-side

Photo By Cpl. Meghan Canlas | Corpsmen from 2nd Medical Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, respond to Afghan role players pretending to be injured by improvised explosive devices during a field exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 12-18. The exercise focused on improvised explosive device training, basic urban skills training and Afghan cultural training using Afghan role players as well as medical training for Marines and sailors in order to prepare the battalion for upcoming deployments to Afghanistan.  

CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, UNITED STATES

04.23.2010

Story by Cpl. Meghan Canlas 

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - When a corpsman goes down, Marines need to be as prepared to treat their medical needs as the sailors. When corpsmen are attached to Marine units running convoys, going on patrol or called to simply "go outside the wire," they need to be as prepared as the Marines when it comes to interacting with the local populace and reacting to enemy contact.

To ensure the Marines and sailors of 2nd Medical Battalion, Combat Logistics Regiment 25, 2nd Marine Logistics Group are prepared for upcoming deployments to Afghanistan, Navy Capt. Efren S. Saenz, commanding officer, 2nd Medical Battalion, directed the unit to conduct a field exercise aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C., April 12-18. The exercise focused on improvised explosive device training, basic urban skills training and Afghan cultural training where they implemented Afghan role players.

"For me, taking the Marine Corps Common Skills Test once a year doesn't make you a better Marine," Saenz said. "Using that knowledge in the field does."

Saenz explained that about 20 percent of the battalion is deployed at any given time and likely to experience similar situations as the scenarios carried out during the field exercise. Due to the high likelihood of reliving these situations in combat, the training is extremely important for sailors who have never served with Marines or had the opportunity to deploy before.

"Exposing new corpsmen or corpsmen who have never deployed before to this training is important because the several hundred corpsmen who have deployed before can share the training and experiences with those who have not," he said.

Planning the exercise with those same ideas in mind, Navy Lt. Tina M. Plaggemeyer, the assistant operations officer, 2nd Medical Battalion, used her experiences from previous deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan to guide her in developing the training modules.

"I used experiences from my deployments where I saw areas lacking training and tried to create scenarios that would address those subjects," said Plaggemeyer, who is stationed with her first Marine unit as a nurse. "I knew the more training and knowledge [the Marines and sailors] had, the better the chance of them coming home safe."

While most of Medical Battalion works with either the Shock Trauma Platoon, the Forward Resuscitative Surgery System, or other medical duties on a forward operating base, as of November 2009, the duties for 2nd Medical Battalion grew. The battalion recently employed the up-armored Mobile Trauma Bay, a fully operational emergency room, which was first developed by a forward-deployed medical officer in Afghanistan during 2008.

"It's an ambulance on steroids," said Petty Officer 3rd Class Chris E. Viers, a field corpsman who deployed with the MTB to Now Zad, Afghanistan. "It literally cuts the time [for medical personnel to provide care] in half. If an ambulance would have to drive 20 minutes to reach a victim and then drive 20 minutes to the STP, that's 40 minutes they aren't receiving care."

With the MTB, the corpsmen can do basic steps like stop the bleeding, start IVs and get the victim ready for the next level of care, he said.

After training with the MTB, working on BUST and improving convoy operations, the Marines and sailors of 2nd Medical Battalion are equally prepared for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan as their Marine counterparts, whether they will be working on base or going outside the wire.

• Date Taken: 04.23.2010
• Date Posted: 04.23.2010 15:35
• Story ID: 48598
• Location: CAMP LEJEUNE, NC, US