Courage: A Sailor’s Journey to Emergency Trauma Nurse

Photo By Sgt. Seth Rosenberg | PACIFIC OCEAN (March 26, 2021) U.S. Navy Lt. Philomena Kahler, an emergency trauma nurse with Combat Logistics Battalion 11, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, poses for a photo aboard Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2). U.S. Navy and Marine Corps integration training provides the Essex Amphibious Ready Group/11th MEU its first opportunity to plan, brief, and execute multiple mission packages. Essex is underway conducting routine operations in U.S. Third Fleet. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Seth Rosenberg)  

USS ESSEX (LHD 2), PACIFIC OCEAN

03.24.2021

Story by Gunnery Sgt. Alisa Helin and Cpl. Seth Rosenberg

11th Marine Expeditionary Unit   

[In the medical bay of Wasp-class amphibious assault ship USS Essex (LHD 2)] Fluorescent lights buzz and flicker, arranged in columns and rows like a military formation, faintly casting a greenish light on the rows of empty beds that fill the Intensive Care Unit. The ship moves gently as it traverses the waters off the coast of California, the medical equipment hanging from the walls quietly rattling as it rocks back and forth with the ship.
Despite the commotion caused the day before by a mass casualty drill, a training scenario where every space in the medical bay was taken by a simulated casualty waiting for treatment, the facility is spotless, ready for use in case of emergency aboard the ship.
U.S. Navy Lt. Philomena Kahler, an emergency trauma nurse with Combat Logistics Battalion 11, 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit, tells the story of her journey into the armed forces, working with Marines, and her future in the Navy and with the 11th MEU.
“I’m originally from Weeki Wachee, Florida,” said Kahler. “It’s bigger than small towns nowadays, but back then, I thought it was super small. You could go to the movie theater on Fridays, swim in the river, go kayaking or canoeing, but that was it.”
The ship’s loudspeaker sounds, announcing the beginning of flight hours for the day, “Flight quarters, flight quarters, all hands man your flight quarter stations.”
Kahler pauses, waiting for the announcement to complete.
“The military wasn’t really anything we grew up around,” she said. “My dad was in the Army, but when he was younger, like during his teenage years. There’s a huge military community [in Weeki Wachee], so we grew up volunteering in the [Veterans of Foreign Wars] and the Marine Corps League.”
She continues, discussing her days volunteering. She reminisces about the people she met and how they helped her steer the course for her future goals.
“My brother and I, we volunteered at the Marine Corps League, serving the older guys, listening to their stories. I grew up around that and really wanted to join the Marine Corps just because of how prideful they were. Some of them were missing legs or had scars on their face from shrapnel wounds,” Kahler said. “But they were so proud of their time in service and still went to this place to hang out with people like them, and I wanted to be a part of that.”
The lights flicker as someone drops something on the floor above, the clang of metal hitting metal reverberating through the room. Kahler pauses to look up before she continues, explaining her decision: she originally wanted to join the Marine Corps, but a medical skills class in high school changed her mind and sparked her love of medicine.
“The Marine Corps doesn’t have medical corps so that was really my motivation. I fell in love with the medical field, I wanted to take care of Marines, and I wanted to get my Fleet Marine Force Pin,” Kahler reminisced.
The Fleet Marine Force Pin is unique to Navy medical professionals serving with Marine units. Sailors undergo a rigorous screening process, where they must meet physical requirements and test their knowledge on Marine Corps weapon systems, unit structure, and more. “After a year, I think the only thing I have left to do is to watch artillery fire,” Kahler remarked.
After high school, Kahler was awarded a Navy Nurse Corps scholarship, which is a scholarship program funding college education through the Naval Reserves Officer Training Program.
“In my freshman year of college, I read an article about a girl who had graduated from my college who was working in a Role 1/Role 2 shock trauma platoon with the Marines as an ER Nurse, and I said: ‘that’s what I want to do,’” Kahler stated.
Upon commissioning, Kahler was stationed at Fort Belvior, Va., where she hoped to begin her specialty training as an emergency trauma nurse; instead, she was sent to postpartum. After two years, she was moved to emergency trauma and received orders to Naval Medical Center San Diego.
Kahler said she really grew at “Balboa” and loved trauma nursing, but she wanted to deploy. The memories from deployment are some of the wildest things she has ever seen. “I saw some pretty gnarly stuff, but I finally got to do what I wanted to do,” Kahler said.
Kahler deployed to Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, from October 2018 to April 2019, serving at a Role 3 NATO Mixed Military Unit Hospital. She worked alongside medical professionals from around the world, including locals from Afghanistan.
“On deployment, we’d be in the hospital for 24 hours [then] off for two days, but we got called in on those days for mass casualties. It was crazy, and that was the off season; we were there in the winter from October to April. So that’s not the fighting season, but we still had a lot of injuries,” said Kahler.
She continues, saying she is very proud of one thing, “All of them survived, so it’s really nice to be able to say that.”
After reflecting on her career, she thinks of some advice for her younger self. Kahler’s words are drowned out by the sound of a jet taking off on the flight deck above.
“I think for young nurses in the Navy and the Army, the biggest thing is to train your Corpsmen. Train them so that they can do the things they need to do to save lives when you’re not there,” Kahler states after the sounds of the jet fades into the distance.
“That’s always been my biggest thing. I want to train the Corpsmen and also learn from the Corpsmen, because a lot of times they’ve seen more than you, especially as a new nurse,” said Kahler. Kahler reflects back on her first experiences in the emergency room and mentions how she looked to her Corpsmen for tips and tricks when caring for patients.
Kahler finishes with some advice: “If you’re thinking about doing this, do it. It’s awesome, it’s rewarding, it’s challenging. Go for it; get through nursing school, which is the hardest part, and then figure out what your niche is and just do it.”

• Date Taken: 03.24.2021
• Date Posted: 04.06.2021 15:02
• Story ID: 393192
• Location: USS ESSEX (LHD 2), PACIFIC OCEAN
• Hometown: WEEKI WACHEE, FL, US