French lieutenant enhances leadership skills with the 557th Medical Company

Photo By Capt. Robert Gallimore | French army 2nd Lt. Fabrice Guy, right, provided detailed instruction on how to avoid spreading contamination of an infected patient during 557th Medical Company's patient decontamination training Jan. 29 on Smith Barracks. He led this training event as a capstone in his international cadet troop leadership training program, an internship to develop international relationships with the French and provide French officers with direct leadership experiences. (U.S. Army Photo by 2nd Lt. Alexis Velez, 557th Medical Company)  

BAUMHOLDER, RP, GERMANY

02.04.2015

Story by Capt. Robert Gallimore 

21st Theater Sustainment Command

BAUMHOLDER, Germany - For the past two weeks, Sous-Lieutenant Fabrice Guy, a French army cadet from Saint-Cyr Combined Arms School in Guer, France, has been interning with the 557th Medical Company (Area Support). Upon his arrival, he was immediately accepted by the Soldiers in the 557th ASMC and quickly began to adapt to the company’s battle rhythm.

Like many units in the U.S. Army, the battalion dedicates every Thursday to sergeant’s time training, and this week, Guy took charge of the entire planning, preparation and execution process for the company’s patient decontamination training.

Guy described his leadership training experience by saying, “The planning process for training was extremely extensive. I was introduced to U.S. Army troop leading procedures and spent much of [my] time developing a well-written order I could communicate to Soldiers. The challenge which was the biggest was being able to articulate my concept using common English terminology and phrases.”

Patient decontamination is not an easy subject to train especially when decontaminating patients with life-threatening injures. Many subject matter experts attend at least one week of instruction to familiarize themselves with all the equipment and procedures necessary to execute the training. Guy was able to pair up with the unit’s decontamination expert, Sgt. Frederick Keys, to execute a well-designed training event for the Soldiers.

“Working with Lt. Guy was a great experience,” said Keys. “I could tell he was eager to learn, and I felt like this collaboration depicted a great picture to Soldiers on how we can enhance our interoperability between our NATO partners.”

Although Guy may have been nervous, his thoughts and military presence reflected otherwise. He was able to portray a shared understanding of the training and articulate how the U.S. Army uses its operational approach to completing any mission.

“I am extremely grateful and appreciative for the training experiences,” said Guy. “Always finding the correct English military words to express my ideas is not an easy task, but this experience definitely enhanced my English communication and boosted my confidence in working with U.S. Soldiers.”

• Date Taken: 02.04.2015
• Date Posted: 02.05.2015 06:50
• Story ID: 153603
• Location: BAUMHOLDER, RP, DE
• Hometown: GUER, 56, FR