Photo By Sgt. Alison Strout | The trauma bay is assembled at the upgraded Role 3 Hospital within the U.S. Central...... read more read more
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USCENTCOM - For the first time in over 20 years, the role of a hospital within the U.S. Central Command area of operations changed from a Role 2 to a Role 3, allocating for the change in the population at risk within the lethal environment. The16th Hospital Center (HC), 44th Medical Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps, completed the transition far ahead of schedule due to a dedicated team and the need for updated warfighting capabilities.
The different roles of the hospitals are dependent on the capabilities provided. A Role 3 brings a computed tomography scanner, a head and neck surgical team, medicated specialty care and an extended holding capacity. The upgrade was considered necessary according to Operation Inherent Resolve (OIR) as the population at risk had shifted within the area of operations, calling for more direct access to care in the new location.
“The new center of gravity is where we currently are,” said Master Sgt. Connor Loehr, senior enlisted advisor of the Role 3 hospital. “The population at risk, whether it’s a combat casualty, combat injury or a non-battle related injury, the service we provide is now available.”
When the 16th HC first entered theater there had been minor talk about moving hospital locations, however, very little information had been gathered up to that point. A small, four-man team came together, each with a specified capability tied to expeditionary field hospital operations. The concept of making a sustainable change would allow future medical teams to benefit spurred the team to start developing an execution plan.
Loehr, who had a background in architecture and design, and two other officers from the team surveyed the new location. The mission included a terrain modeling session with the outgoing Role 2 U.S. Navy medical team to figure out where the tents and containers were going to fit within the designated area.
Once the design was developed, Loehr’s team needed to figure out how to gather tents for the main body of the hospital, acquire more electrical power and build a sustainable water source for the hospital personnel to use.
The size of a Role 3 is significantly larger than a Role 2 due to its increased capabilities. A new order of tents needed to be placed as the previous hospital location was still operating just within a decreased role of care. Eventually, the team was able to negotiate a deal that filled the necessary need for housing the hospital.
Due to concerns about flooding in the area, platforms needed to be installed with those tents. Conversations began to identify several concepts for what to use for platforms and how quickly those items could be brought into theater.
“In facing challenge after challenge, it was the constant, supportive communication between mission command and subordinate units that made the mission successful,” said Loehr “Through the cross talks that happened between CENTCOM, the Central Command Theater Engineer Brigade and OIR we were able to find a container of wood. The commands agreed to divert the container to the Role 3 to be used for the platforms.”
With an increase in housing, this also called for an increase in power. Other commands within the CENTCOM area of responsibility were contacted for any extra power supplies. The 16th HC team was able to obtain a transfer of generators and power plants to the Role 3, thereby increasing their sustainable capability.
“What usually happens with field hospital expeditionary operations is you’re able to pack up what power supply you have and then unpack it in the new area,” said Loehr. “The challenge we had, was to duplicate that power. We could not break Role 3 capability at the previous hospital. We worked with Prime Power who did an analysis of our loads and what we pulled at the former hospital to figure out the operational requirement.”
The last element was figuring out how to bring a sustainable water source to the hospital. The team worked with the base operations support team and civilian contractors to refurbish an old lavatory unit and build a fresh potable water system. After several months of negotiations between the CENTCOM joint force partners, the hospital now had tents, power and water.
“Rather than purchasing new equipment, and taking time to bring it into theater, my team coordinated with the surrounding joint force partners to repurpose underutilized equipment from their areas of operations,” said Loehr. “The decision significantly transformed the speed of the operations and allowed us to achieve our strategic objective.”
Once all the negotiations had been made, the final process was to gain approval from the 16th HC command team, Col. Joseph Matthews and Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Ceballos. In the end, Matthews said ‘let’s do this, it’s all or nothing’.
“Everything started falling into place and it looked like we were going to beat our end of year required completion date,” said Loehr. “It spurred something inside of us, we owed it to follow on task force medical teams.”
Starting at the end of last year, the tents were assembled, the power and water systems were installed, t-walls and bunkers were put into place. The medical staff began using the CT scanner within two days upon its arrival at the upgraded field hospital. The head and neck surgical team arrived on ground within the first few weeks. The hospital became initially operationally capable within hours of the equipment containers arriving from the previous Role 3 hospital theater location.
“The Head Neck Medical Detachment were the first ones to jump,” said Lt. Col. Richard Wein, the otolaryngologist of the 1888th Head and Neck Medical Detachment. “This made the official turn from a Role 2 to a Role 3.”
The capabilities of the operational rooms have also been increased. One of the operational rooms have been set up to have two operations happen simultaneously. This capability is possible by having a fully staffed allied surgical team on ground, who work with the U.S. surgical team during high level events such as mass casualties. By working with our joint coalition forces, the hospital staff increases their warfighting functions and ensures they are providing the best possible care for service members within theater.
“We’ve had to collaborate not only within our discipline, but also within our whole unit, and now across the entire base,” said Wein. “We’re already seeing patients, and we’ve already gone to the operating room multiple times in this facility, that defines success. Its inspiring, I like seeing the collaboration.”
The 16th HC used their strategic partnerships across the CENTCOM area of operations and provided an opportunity for collaborative innovation. Their use of cross-domain integrated deterrence and commitment to their mission allows for future medical teams to maintain the strategic advantage within the lethal environment.
| Date Taken: | 02.18.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 11.25.2025 17:46 |
| Story ID: | 552391 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 14 |
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This work, 16th Hospital Center maintains strategic advantage through hospital upgrades, by SGT Alison Strout, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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