CAMP COURTNEY, OKINAWA, JAPAN- U.S. Navy corpsmen with 3rd Marine Division and III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed in Hawaii and Okinawa attended combat medicine training at Camp Courtney. Guest speakers shared their knowledge and experience with the evolution of the medical practice, the realities of combat medicine, and the threats to medical personnel in modern large-scale combat operations. Discussions emphasized the need for innovation and deliberate preparation, as well as the mental health effects experienced by corpsmen during military service.
The Navy and Marine Corps team in the Pacific is taking a proactive approach in expanding its medicine practices and providing advanced training to all medical staff members. This enables better equipped and prepared U.S. Navy corpsmen for future responses in complex scenarios. The training focused on how to better assess and provide care in unpredictable environments.
“In a future fight, the need to sustain more lives for longer becomes crucial, which is why we must modernize our combat casualty care training,” said Maj. Gen. Kyle B. Ellison, commanding general, 3rd Marine Division.
The training included lessons learned from special operations medical logisticians, trauma surgeons, and combat physicians who operated in combat zones. Their first-hand experiences provided the audience with techniques, decision-making tactics, and resilience tools to prepare them for battlefield trauma care.
“This training forced us to confront the realities of a modern battlefield where evacuation may be delayed, sustainment will be contested, and corpsmen will be required to make complex decisions under prolonged stress,” said Capt. Del Clark, command surgeon, 3rd Marine Division. “Preparation today means envisioning those conditions honestly—how we move patients, how we sustain care forward, and how we mentally prepare our medical personnel for combat environments unlike anything the force has experienced since World War II.”
Mental health was a major focus during the training. Specifically, they discussed how corpsmen handle their own mental health when responding to medical situations. The speakers emphasized the importance of investing in available resources to assess not only a patient’s mental health, but their own as well.
“We have a responsibility to ensure that we take care of the mental well-being of our people, and that means preparing them for the intangible aspects of combat…the nature of war,” said Ellison. “Being prepped for combat isn’t just about tactics; it’s about preparing our Marines and Sailors for the uncertainty, the chaos, the sounds, the smells, and the vibrations of the battlefield. It’s learning about impacts of interpersonal violence.”
Dr. Samer Attar, an orthopedic oncology surgeon at Northwestern Center for Comprehensive Orthopedic and Spine Care in Illinois, Chicago, shared his own experiences with mental health problems to educate the corpsmen and promote resources, citing that approximately 540,000 service members struggle with mental health issues.
“When you know what people have gone through, what you’ve also gone through, then you know you’re not alone,” said Attar.
As the character of combat evolves, so too must the corpsmen who support the warfighter. This training’s focus on the future of combat medicine and mental resilience ensures that our corpsmen are ready and equipped for a future fight.