German doctors learn and teach at Warrior Exercise

Photo By Capt. Fernando Ochoa | Lt. Col. Jan E. Savarino and Capt. Johannes Botlze of the Medical Service of the German Armed Forces are members of the Reserve Officer Foreign Exchange Program and participated in this year’s Warrior Exercise 91-12-01.  

JOLON, CA, UNITED STATES

06.20.2012

Story by 1st Lt. Fernando Ochoa 

91st Training Division (Operations)

FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. - During this year’s Warrior Exercise 91-12-01, two doctors from Germany joined the 452nd Combat Support Hospital, from Milwaukee, Wis., at Camp Milpitas to train and exchange skill sets.

Lt. Col. Jan E. Savarino, 40, and Capt. Johannes Boltze, 33, of the Medical Service of the German Armed Forces, who are members of the Reserve Officer Foreign Exchange Program, participated in the multiservice exercise from June 9-20.

The primary purpose of the international and bilateral Department of Defense ROFEP is to provide National Guard and Reserve officers training associated with mobilization duties while enhancing their ability to work and communicate with the military individuals of the respective host nation. “Our mission is to integrate into the combat support hospital team,” said Dr. Savarino. “We want to learn and teach at the same time.”

In the German Armed Forces, hundreds of officers applied to be part of the ROFED program. Only 22 officers from 11 military branches were chosen and doctors Savarino and Boltze were selected from the Medical Service. Before coming to Fort Hunter Liggett, the doctors visit Washington for seminars and a culture program, and also went to the Pentagon. They were happy to be at this exercise. “We were impressed with the hospitality we received when we got here,” said Dr. Boltze. “Although everybody is so busy, they find the time to take care of us.”

Savarino is an orthopedic doctor who has served in the military for 20 years. He also holds a masters degree in Economic Health Management and has deployed to Afghanistan. Botlze is an experimental neurosurgeon who has served in the military for 10 years. He has been a medical doctor for six years, also holding a Ph.D. in Neurobiology and is currently conducting numerous clinical and preclinical studies in the fields of stroke and traumatic brain injury.

The ROFEP is made up of officers from the U.S., Germany and Britain. Reserve officers who participate in the exchange program receive valuable training, which they are able to share with their home units. They gain an appreciation of coalition Reserve forces, which facilitates an effective working relationship with those forces upon mobilization. “I think that is why a program like this is so important,” said Savarino. “So that the coalition forces can work together in a better way and learn their standards. That is one of the main reasons we are here.”

The intent of Warrior Exercise 91-12-01 is not only to provide a venue for more than 100 units from across the U.S. to train and learn together, it also provides the perfect training ground for the ROFEP and doctors like Savarino and Boltze to integrate and prepare for future deployments.

• Date Taken: 06.20.2012
• Date Posted: 06.27.2012 18:19
• Story ID: 90716
• Location: JOLON, CA, US