SAN DIEGO — U.S. Navy Sailors assigned to the hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH-19) conducted Mercy Exercise (MERCEX) 26-3 in San Diego, June 15-18. The quarterly exercise strengthened integration and readiness between reduced operating status (ROS) and full operating status (FOS) Sailors through training conducted at Naval Medical Center San Diego, Naval Base San Diego and aboard the Freedom-class littoral combat ship USS Fort Worth (LCS-3).
Sailors participated in a variety of training evolutions designed to reinforce core competencies among hospital corpsmen, medical providers and support personnel.
"This is an exercise where we ramp up our skills in all different areas," said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Michael Gamboa, triage officer for the Mercy. "Everything from lab to triage to moving patients, and putting it all together into one exercise."
Participants received familiarization training on several types of medical litters, including the Army TALON II 90C collapsible handle litter used with wheeled litter carriers, commonly known as rickshaws, and practiced moving patients through steep shipboard ladderwells using a Reeves sleeve stretcher. Although the skills may appear straightforward, proficiency with this equipment is critical during casualty scenarios where seconds can mean the difference between life and death.
For the first time, U.S. Marines assigned to 1st Marine Logistics Group and 1st Marine Division joined Navy instructors to facilitate the chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) portion of the exercise.
“The Marines involved in this exercise are MOS 5711 Marines [CBRN defense specialists],” said U.S. Marine Corps Warrant Officer Benjamin Train, CBRN response platoon commander, 1st Marine Logistics Group. “In addition to responsibilities like reconnaissance, sensitive site assessment and sensitive site exploitation, one of their specialties is decontamination, and that’s the expertise that we’re able to share in an exercise like this.”
Train said the joint training benefited both services.
“When we conduct trainings like this on our own, we often have to notionalize the roles of medical personnel,” he said. “Being able to integrate with the corpsmen and medical officers here, and to have that capability to triage, for instance, is a huge win for us. We’re able to get a better idea of how things would play out in a real-world scenario.”
Commissioned in 1986, USNS Mercy is a 1,000-bed hospital ship that, along with its sister ship USNS Comfort (T-AH-20), provides the U.S. military with afloat, mobile acute surgical medical capability. When not deployed, many of Mercy’s FOS Sailors are assigned to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command San Diego, where they maintain clinical proficiency while ensuring Sailors and Marines remain medically ready and deployable.
In addition to providing realistic deployment training, MERCEX strengthens integration between ROS and FOS personnel, enhances operational effectiveness and improves the Navy’s ability to deliver expeditionary medical support wherever and whenever it is needed.
NMRTC San Diego supports Navy and Marine Corps readiness by ensuring its medical forces are ready to deploy and provide medical support, ashore or at sea.