Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Roy Lowes of Wolfeboro, N.H., a member of the New Hampshire...... read more read more
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HOKKAIDO, JAPAN - Purple is a word many use to describe a joint venture between the Army and Air Force. Orient Shield 11 was an exercise based at Kami-Furano Training Area in Hokkaido, Japan, which brought the term purple to a new level.
Not only did a select number of Air National Guard personnel team up with approximately 400 Army National Guard personnel, but the integration of approximately 200 Japanese soldiers added a different twist to typical training.
Air Force Lt. Col. Stephanie Riley of Concord, N.H., was one of only two Air National Guard personnel that are supporting the two-week training exercise in northern Japan. Riley, an Air Force nurse, has a unique full-time job working as the case manager for the New Hampshire Army National Guard, but does her weekend drills with the New Hampshire Air National Guard.
“I like the camaraderie,” Riley said. “We have been so accepted by everyone that we really don’t feel like we are strangers.”
Air Force Tech Sgt. Jeremy Hutchinson of Boston, Mass., a member of the New Hampshire Air National Guard, is a medic supporting the exercise. Participating in the operation gave him a better understanding of how the Japanese and U.S. militaries differ in medical expertise.
“Their medics and nurses cannot start IV’s,” Hutchinson said. “Only their physicians can start an IV.”
Riley agreed that Japanese and U.S. medical care is very different, but was quick to point out that even Air Force and Army medical care has differences.
“Army soldiers get right into the action,” she said, referring to the training Army soldiers receive in assisting their battle buddy during combat. “Once people are stabilized in the field, they come to [the Air Force] for higher echelon care.”
The Air Force trains Airmen in self-aide buddy care, whereas the Army trains soldiers to be Combat Lifesavers who are able to give IV’s to a fellow soldier.
Riley and Hutchinson are working hand-in-hand with roughly one dozen Army National Guard medical personnel during the exercise.
Army Sgt. 1st Class Fausto Crespo of Tacoma, Wash., is part of the medical command with the Washington Army National Guard. He said exercises like Orient Shield show the full spectrum of what the U.S. military has to offer to other countries.
“It is exercises like this where we are able to shine,” Crespo said. “The collaborative effort with the Japanese shows we can strengthen their defense forces.”
Joint exercises between different military branches and foreign military counterparts are nothing new. Orient Shield has taken place in Japan for 13 years. Army Sgt. 1st Class Roy Lowes of Wolfeboro, N.H., is a member of the New Hampshire National Guard Medical Detachment. He participated in a similar mission in El Salvador several years ago. Lowes said such operations show Army and Air Force personnel can work well together.
“In El Salvador we did not have a dentist and [the Air Force] did,” Lowes said. “With the state of the world the way it is, it is important for all branches to be able to work together.”
Army Sgt. 1st Class Bradford Connolly of Dunbarton, N.H., a member of the New Hampshire Army National Guard Medical Detachment, liked the different layers of the training, but admits the best experience from the two-week exercise was working with his Japanese counterparts.
“I was so naïve to our relationship with Japan,” Connolly said. “Before this, all I really knew was what my wife’s grandfather said about Japan when he served during World War II.”
Orient Shield 11 officially kicked off Nov. 2 and concludes Nov. 11. The exercise focuses around Japanese soldiers training with approximately 200 Missouri Army National Guard soldiers. It also includes logistical support from National Guardsmen in New Hampshire, Illinois, Washington and Nevada.
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 11.03.2010 17:57 |
| Story ID: | 59375 |
| Location: | KUMI-FURANO, HOKKAIDO, JP |
| Web Views: | 463 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
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