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By Brian Lamar, 21st Theater Sustainment Command Public Affairs
BAUMHOLDER, Germany -- On March 25, U.S. Army Soldiers piloting an M88A2 heavy vehicle sank into a swampy area six miles outside of Pabradė, Lithuania, which has been a training hub for allied forces for many years.
For more than seven days, hundreds of Soldiers from multiple NATO allied nations converged on the area to help with recovery efforts.
In the midst of the menagerie of moving machinery operated by Soldiers determined to physically recover their brothers in arms, another team mobilized to help with a different specialized type of recovery.
A three-person traumatic event management (TEM) team assigned to the 254th Combat Operational Stress Control Medical Detachment, a subordinate unit of the 30th Medical Brigade, arrived and immediately began assisting Soldiers who were affected psychologically due to the vehicle incident with team and individual grief counseling.
The 254th COSC is one of four active duty units of its type in the U.S. Army that deploys to augment behavioral health support as needed. Their mission is to sustain the warfighter and to sustain lethality through medical readiness.
“Primarily, the force health protection mission is to sustain the warfighter and helps everyone remain fit for duty and medically ready to serve,” said Capt. Matthew Camporese, a psychologist and the behavioral health officer in charge of the COSC Det.
“Almost immediately, once we arrived, we were providing two different types of services to the affected Soldiers, to include individual grief counseling and also traumatic event management,” said Camporese.
Traumatic event management is a service that is provided at a unit level and targets all affected unit members. We run a series of groups divided into different ranks. During those events, a forum is provided for Soldiers to discuss the event’s impact on them. They also talk about how they grieve, and they tell us and each other what their needs are. The philosophy behind all of these events is that these group sessions help build unit cohesion and help them help themselves through the event and the grieving process, according to Camporese.
The mission of the COSC is to provide unit resilience when times are tough. Through a self-referral campaign, events can also be viewed as a practice in individual and collective strength as well.
“When an event like the March 25 vehicle incident occurs, the affected unit’s medical providers identify and track who is asking for mental health assistance, and then they will connect those service members with our team,” said Camporese.
A COSC team operates in a team of three: an officer in charge/behavioral health officer, a non-commissioned officer in charge, and a junior Soldier, who are all behavioral health specialists. Each member of the team has unique individual assigned duties to accomplish.
The NCO and the junior Soldier can operate independently as long as the COSC OIC certifies them to do the specific functions needed.
“Behavioral health specialists function under the provider’s license. So, with us heading out there under Captain Camporese, we are effectively an extension of him. As long as we have been trained on whatever tasks he is going to conduct, then he swears off on us conducting the tasks. That is how our three-man team can cover more ground,” said Sgt. Tristan Jarriel, the COSC team chief and NCOIC.
According to the COSC members, the mission gives them a direct and immediate sense of impact and meaning.
“This job is meaningful on the professional level because we are completing the mission and doing the jobs we are trained to do. On a more personal level, there is a direct impact to providing this mission; it is fulfilling to help Soldiers in such a direct way,” said Camporese.
“I think it is a really tough mission set. When you see something on the news, you see it and think that it is sad because it hasn’t personally affected you. When you show up on a scene and you work with the unit and can see the look on everyone’s face when you speak directly to them, it makes everything feel more real because you are living in it,” added Jarriel.
According to Jarriel, the affected Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery Regiment, and the 5th Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment were impressive for their insightfulness and were exceptionally hard working.
The three-man COSC team learned from the experience and their takeaway lessons are to be prepared for any reaction and the diversity of reactions that Soldiers can have through an event like this.
“This particular mission is unique. It is a tragedy that impacted a lot of people and no one saw coming. What was most challenging for me was hearing and learning that what had befallen the Soldiers was a result of their own dedication to their job,” said Camporese.
According to Camporese, doctrinally when TEM is taught in the Army, this is a textbook example of what it looks like and it’s rare to be presented with this mission. It was an occasion to use those skills in the way they were meant to be used. A typical mission set for a COSC to conduct a TEM mission is a readiness and prevention-based mission set.
“We have a specific program called Holistic Resiliency Training, and the mission set that falls under that is preparing the Soldiers with psychoeducation to take care of themselves under stress, like living in austere environments or combat or operational mission environments,” said Camporese.
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2025 07:33 |
| Story ID: | 498034 |
| Location: | DE |
| Web Views: | 32 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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