Photo By Douglas Stutz | Sign of the times…The worn signpost was a stark reminder that it’s 6,933 miles...... read more read more
The weathered block of wood, little more a worn signpost, was a stark reminder that home was more than 6,900 miles away.
It withstood battering from the elements, survived Taliban rocket attacks, and endured turbulent winds of change.
It became hardened and toughened.
As the men and women from Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) also did during their time deployed those thousands of miles away in southern Afghanistan.
The faded marker has finally returned home, along with all NHB staff members from down range.
For over a decade, a steady stream of Navy Medicine personnel have manned the NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit (MMU) at Kandahar Airfield (KAF), Afghanistan.
They provided sustained trauma and casualty care during Operation Enduring Freedom, the U.S.-led response for the global war on terrorism targeting Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan. They did the same supporting Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and Resolute Support Mission, both NATO-led missions to train, advise and assist the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces and institutions, as well as conduct counterterrorism operations in the country.
The initial Navy rotation – dubbed Bravo - took command in 2009. The 22nd and last rotation – designated Whiskey – turned over MMU responsibility September, 2020. Thus concluded more than ten years deployed in the war-ravaged country at what was the Navy’s longest serving combat casualty hospital.
Over the years under Navy leadership, NHB sent approximately 135 staff members to support the mission, with everyone returning.
For Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman Cameron Wink, the last Navy command senior enlisted (CSEA) leader at the MMU, his time there provided a symbolic career contrast, from being amongst the first in one combat zone to then one of the last out in another theater of war.
Wink was at the forefront in 2003 with the Marines 1st Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion on the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), which took him on the initial push north from Kuwait up to Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit.
His time down range had him metaphorically helping to close the door and hand over the key after a job well done.
“Being the CSEA, it was a phenomenal experience. Working with NATO and joint services to provide the absolute ‘best care, anywhere’ was definitely a highlight of my career! We had an amazing team,” said Wink, candidly adding that there really was no resemblance to his time during the early days of OIF.
“No comparison. The Role 3 was such an amazing facility the Navy has owned! The best part was the team work. We took Sailors from 16 active duty commands and 32 Navy operational support centers and they all came together, even during COVID-19, to perform the way they did. It was amazing,” exclaimed Wink.
Prior to the Navy, the KAF medical facility served as a central casualty receiving location for NATO forces beginning in 2002. The U.S. Army ran a combat support hospital until 2006, when Canada took responsibility as lead nation for the facility that was updated to Role 3 capability.
The term ‘Role’ describes the tiers in which medical support is organized, with Role 3 describing the capabilities of a theater-level hospital. During the Navy’s deployment, the Role 3 MMU included capabilities such as specialist diagnostic resources, specialist surgical and medical capabilities, preventive medicine, food inspection, dentistry, and operational stress management teams.
Added Note: Role 1 refers to emergency medical care in the field, historically handled by independent duty corpsmen. Role 2 has been traditionally defined as a battalion aid station, where the wounded are linked up with a nurse and physician in the chain of evacuation. Landstuhl is the largest American hospital outside the United States and an example of a Role 4 facility. Role 5 sites are rehabilitation facilities stateside such as Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Navy Hospital Corpsman Chief Julie Sanchez had the unique experience of receiving her chief petty officer (CPO) anchors when deployed in 2009 to the Canadian-led Role 3 MMU. She became part of a truly joint medical command environment with personnel from Australia, Britain, Denmark, The Netherlands, New Zealand, and U.S. Army and Air Force assets.
The CPO Induction process was added to Sanchez's already long-day duties as shift supervisor for the Primary Care clinic and as a member of the first trauma team established for urgent surgical needs. The hospital and clinic were both in tents located next to the deafening, non-stop flight line for quick receiving of inbound critically wounded and also to transport patients out of theater via medical evacuation.
KAF, located approximately 10 miles from Kandahar, the second largest city in the country, had become a vitally important NATO air base for conducting operations in the south and east of the country against the Taliban.
“A normal day was to expect any number of traumas (cases) flown in from all over southern Afghanistan,” said Sanchez. “As a trauma team member, I helped to handle and treat a lot of critically wounded combat casualties that are mostly from blast injuries and gunshot wounds.”
When recently asked on her experiences during that bygone deployment, Sanchez replied, “What was most gratifying was saving as many lives as we possibly could. Navy Medicine was huge in supporting the Global War on Terrorism.”
The early years of the Role 3 MMU under Navy leadership continued the crucial responsibility of handling devastating injuries at what became one of the busiest trauma centers in the world.
Compiled data from those early years show the Canadian era from 2006 to 2009 – 44 months – cared for 4,134 patients and did 6,735 procedures. From the middle of October, 2009 to the end of April, 2012, the Navy – active duty and reserve components - treated approximately 2,100 patients per year.
In 2011, a trio of Sailors from NHB were recognized, back-to-back-to-back, as junior service member(s) of the month for their efforts.
Chief Hospital Corpsman selectee Bryce Moheit was a young third class petty officer when he was acknowledged for his performance as a surgical technician in the Operating Room (OR) following Hospitalman Andrew Brown for his work in the Intermediate Care Ward, and HM3 Levi Arcaira for his contributions in the Urgent Care Unit.
“Just being part of our international team that delivered the kind of care we did, and had a 98 percent casualty survival rate even when dealing with injuries from improvised explosive devices (IED) and gunshot wounds, made me proud,” said Moheit, a Tennessee native, surgical technician.
Moheit’s role as a surgical tech had him readying all instruments and equipment for any OR case, many times with little or no notice beforehand. Fighting persisted against the Taliban not just in the Kandahar region. Casualties’ arrived from near and far battlefields. Local Afghans also sought treatment for a host of ailments.
“Most of the time we had six to nine cases on the board for the morning shift. We took care of a lot of local nationals as well as coalition forces,” said Moheit.
Reminiscences linger of his time spend in the midst of that protracted conflict.
“Most gratifying was when a service member got the chance to evacuate home. It meant that we did all we could. Most challenging was losing someone no matter how much of your soul you poured into the case. The most memorable was the people. The friendships and memories changed me as a Sailor, medical professional and person,” Moheit said.
When the weather warmed from May to September in 2012, the war also heated up. As the fighting season commenced in southern Afghanistan, HM3 (Fleet Marine Force) Anthony M. Juarez, from Branch Health Clinic Everett, was right in the midst helping to care for wounded personnel.
The 22-year old Bakersfield, Calif. native primary responsibility was providing emergency care transportation to incoming casualties from the flight line to the Trauma Bay. He also assisted with emergent, urgent, and specialty care with the Referral Care Center/Emergency Vehicle Operation Casualty Care section.
“I am part of a great team doing great things in a bad place,” said Juarez. “We helped whenever and wherever. We (also) provided services to the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police and local casualties. We provide the same unbiased care to all who entered our doors.”
The escalation of fighting brought the most difficult aspect of deployment directly into focus for Juarez.
According to hospital records, there were approximately 800 battlefield casualties treated at Kandahar Air Field’s Role 3 from May through September that year— long considered to be the traditional fighting season in Afghanistan —and more than half of the cases were U.S. or other NATO troops. The rest were Afghan soldiers and civilians too badly hurt to be cared for at nearby Afghan military or civilian hospitals. Compiled statistics also show that almost half of all battlefield injuries treated at Role 3 were caused by IEDs.
“I experienced the loss of Marines, Sailors, and Soldiers. The hardest part professionally is accepting the ultimate outcome no matter what, and rationalizing in my head that I did everything I could for my patients, even though I may not feel that way personally,” Juarez explained.
A year later, when HM3 Kayla Blum, from Prescott, Arizona, arrived down range in July 2013, she knew it was where she was needed to care for the wounded.
“This deployment is why I joined the military in the first place. I wanted to help the service members who were risking everything for our country. No matter where I worked before coming here, nothing could have prepared me for the things I saw and did here. Working in the Emergency Room and Pediatrics at NHB was a great experience, but nothing comes close to what I am able to do out here,” said Blum, who handled a number of crucial duties related to trauma care.
It was not uncommon during any trauma case for Blum to assist a surgeon, help as an ambulance driver to transport wounded from the flight line to the hospital, even leap into the back to act as the receiver to help monitor and stabilize patients until reaching the operating room.
“The days were busy when we first arrived. We saw anywhere from 10 to 20 patients. Typically those patients had gunshot wounds, and IED related injuries such as shrapnel and/or amputated limbs. I knew coming here we would be seeing some serious injuries and that a lot of the patients would be our troops. But that’s why I’m here, to do my part,” related Blum.
Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Isaac Kargbo was in his second tour at NHB when he deployed to Role 3 MMU from October, 2019 to June, 2020, serving as the leading petty officer for the Radiology Department.
“We dealt with intense trauma caring for combatant casualties, both U.S. military and NATO coalition forces, fighting to stay alive from gunshot wounds and blast injuries,” related Kargbo, from Freetown, Sierra Leone, who came to the U.S. in 2006. “From mass casualty and trauma activation, to our litter bearers bringing casualties into the trauma bay, portable X-rays, computed tomography, and finally getting them into the operating room, is a nightmare. However, the best memories are watching most casualties recover from these injuries under the noble and experienced hands of our professional Navy physicians.”
Kargbo's job often required him to work long hours or go with little to no sleep.
“The best part is being able to do what I do every day to help take care of the sick and injured combatants,” said Kargbo. “I personally volunteered for this deployment, knowing that I will be able to provide services to my fellow service members in combat. Every morning that I wake up and tie my boots, or had a sleepless night because of long hours at work, I know it’s not for nothing. Someone is getting help. That is Navy Medicine.”
Wink can also affirm that he will retain professional as well as personal accounts of Navy Medicine support to those need in a volatile, landlocked country about as far removed from the high seas as a Sailor can be.
“I’ll remember walking the hallways and seeing the absolute motivation and dedication to the mission on a daily basis. Everyone brought 100 percent every single day,” shared Wink, noting that it was a challenge being away from home during the ongoing global pandemic.
“Life changed for everyone. We were the lucky ones to only have to worry about work and sleep,” Wink continued. “We had a mission while so many others were trying to navigate COVID-19. We had a purpose every single day to battle this pandemic while also battling terrorism.”
When asked what was most gratifying about his time in Afghanistan as part of Navy Medicine, Wink replied, “Seeing the team perform. Seeing the response time and seeing everyone caring about the person to their left and right. To see the casualties who survived due to the team and the teamwork was astounding.”
The facility went through several naming iterations over the years, from ‘PFC Jerod Dennis Hospital,’ honoring the 82nd Airborne paratrooper namesake killed in action rescuing other soldiers during an ambush in 2003, to ‘Tarin Kowt Role 2E Vascular Center of Excellence and Everything Else,’ to ‘Best Care Anywhere Role 3 Multinational Hospital,’ to finally ‘NATO Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit, Kandahar Airfield.’
The name altered a bit over time, but not the mission.
Under Navy Medicine leadership, decisive, sustained trauma and casualty care was continually provided to those in need, many also far from home.
The 98 percent casualty survival rate meant that more battlefield casualties than ever before survived to make it home.
That old worn signpost made it back, too.
Along with every battle-tested man and woman from Naval Hospital Bremerton, although perhaps a bit more weathered than before.
| Date Taken: | 01.15.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 01.15.2021 16:25 |
| Story ID: | 387059 |
| Location: | BREMERTON, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 585 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From Kitsap to Kandahar and Back Again, by Douglas Stutz, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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