3rd Radio trains with corpsmen for combat casualties

[thedrifter]

3rd Radio trains with corpsmen for combat casualties
Submitted by: Marine Forces Pacific
Story Identification #: 2004824201448
Story by Lance Cpl. Bernadette L. Ainsworth



U.S. MARINE CORPS FORCES PACIFIC, CAMP H.M. SMITH, Hawaii (Aug. 24, 2004) -- Ten Marines from 3rd Radio Battalion, Radio Reconnaissance Platoon learned to efficiently stabilize casualties during Trauma Combat Casualty Care training taught by corpsmen August 16-20.

Radio reconnaissance teams deploy with Marine Expeditionary Units. Prior to deploying on a MEU, they go through a four-month training cycle called the radio reconnaissance instructional program.

This was the first time teams incorporated the casualty care in “medical week”.

During “medical week,” the Marines learn to properly wrap wounds using a life-size dummy as well as other Marines on the team. The dummy, which was dressed in a flak jacket and green shorts, had numerous wounds that were identified during the training. He was also used for evacuation purposes and the Marines practiced giving him shots in the chest.

Each Marine also got practice giving and receiving intravenous lines.

“Due to the sensitive nature of their job, radio reconnaissance teams require a security clearance. That is a huge factor as to why corpsmen are not directly attached to the teams,” said Sgt. Harold L. Wing, Radio Reconnaissance Platoon training chief. “Because of this, these Marines need to be able to apply proper medical techniques.”

Before TCCC training was implemented, only basic first aid and the life saving steps were taught to the reconnaissance teams.

In the past, much of the medical instruction wasn't geared around combat, where as TCCC is designed around combat. Overall the training is much more applicable to real world deployments where these Marines have the potential to encounter combat situations, said Wing.

Although practical application is usually part of Marine Corps training, there are some challenges in making training realistic.

“The most challenging aspect of this evolution is making the training as realistic as possible,” said Navy Lt. David L. Callaway, the battalion surgeon.

“Recreating the chaos of actual combat and still being able to effectively teach and have the material stick to memory is very challenging,” said Wing.

The incorporation of mission scenarios into the training is also new to the medical training.
“We included mission scenarios such as short patrols to get the Marines thinking about their mission, then we would have them react to a medical scenario. Using physical activities (foot patrols), conducting the training at 3 a.m., to get the Marines a little tired and then conducting the medical scenarios was very effective,” said Wing.

With any training, instructors often wonder if their lesson is being learned. With the use of classroom lectures and practical application, these Marines were able to demonstrate the lessons taught in an efficient manner.

“The Marines operate in six man teams – but at any time, anyone of them could be called on to apply life saving steps. During the training, one way to see if they are learning the material is to simply pick a random Marine, give him a medical situation and see if he reacts correctly,” said Wing.

“Even though this was the first time conducting TCCC with Marines, the training evolution was very successful. All the Marines passed the written exam and did very well on the practical application,” said Callaway.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image...ies2lowres.jpg

Cpl. Israel P. Garduno from 3rd Radio Battalion Radio Reconnaissance Platoon provides medical assistance for a casualty during a convoy ambush during Trauma Combat Casualty Care training. The training is part of a four-month pre-deployment training cycle to prepare Marines for deployment on an upcoming MEU. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Bernadette L. Ainsworth

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Lance Cpl. Anthony B. Flamme and Cpl. Israel P. Garduno, 3rd Radio Battalion Radio Reconnaissance Platoon carry a casualty out of harms way after a convoy ambush during Trauma Combat Casualty Care training. The training is part of a four-month pre-deployment training cycle to prepare Marines for deployment on an upcoming MEU. Photo by: Lance Cpl. Bernadette L. Ainsworth

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...0?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

1st FSSG sailors fight to save lives in deadly Sunni Triangle
Submitted by: 1st Force Service Support Group
Story Identification #: 20048257383
Story by Lance Cpl. Samuel Bard Valliere



CAMP TAQADDUM, Iraq (Aug. 25, 2004) -- Picture grabbing hold of a young man’s hand as he fights to stay alive, while you reassure him that he will live to see his family again after shrapnel just tore into his body. Now imagine fighting just as hard as he is to keep that promise.

Navy doctors’, nurses’ and corpsmen’s lives have revolved around situations like this since they set up the 1st Force Service Support Group’s Surgical/Shock Trauma Platoon here in March 2004, to act as a bridge between combat and follow-on care for many wounded troops in the Al Anbar Province.

When a service member is injured, one the first priorities is to get him or her to life-saving care. Oftentimes, the wounds sustained require immediate attention just to ensure he or she will survive a medevac to one of the Army’s large combat support hospitals located away from the embattled Sunni Triangle.

That is where the healing touch of the S/STP’s personnel comes in. The 60-person platoon, comprised of 38 corpsmen, eight doctors, eight nurses and six Marines, works to save lives by performing emergency operations ranging from stabilizing gunshot wounds and replacing spilt blood to massaging a stopped heart back to life.

The S/STP is comprised of doctors with various specialties, allowing the team to deal with almost any situation.

Basically, said Cmdr. Darin Garner, 37, a surgeon in the unit, if the wound is below the neck, one of the unit’s eight doctors probably specializes in it.

“If the injury is neurological or in the eye, we send them directly to the (combat support hospital),” he said.

No more than five minutes after the unit opened for business on March 23, 2004, the first patient was carried in, said Seaman Ramon Salinas, 23, a corpsman with the unit. Like all floods begin with a single drop, so too did the mission here.

The platoon has since treated more than 300 people with injuries sustained during firefights, explosions and non-combat related accidents.

When the sailors are done stabilizing a patient, they send him or her to one of two Army hospitals in Iraq, which provide more advanced care and are equipped to hold patients for a longer period of time. The ward tents at the S/STP are only able to hold up to 20 patients at a time for about 72-hours.

The platoon’s painstaking efficiency and care have helped it to earn a reputation among the front-line troops over the course of the deployment, said Petty Officer 2nd Class Jeremy Franco, 31, a surgical technician with the unit.

Even the 1st FSSG’s commanding general, Brig. Gen. Richard S. Kramlich, stopped by to pass word from the Marines of 2nd Battalion, 4th Marine Regiment, whose E Company has suffered more casualties than any other Marine unit in Iraq.

“Gen. Kramlich told us that 2/4 said if they could get over here alive, they know they’re going to make it,” said Franco, a native of El Paso, Texas.

An E Company Marine, recovering at the S/STP after an enemy mortar blasted shrapnel into his leg, echoed those sentiments.

“A lot of guys back home are still alive because these guys did a lot for them,” said Cpl. Robert J. Hernandez, 21, an infantryman from Dallas.

The desert duty here has been a learning experience for the unit’s sailors, many of whom have worked in military hospitals but have never seen so many traumatic cases.

“You see a lot of things a lot of the medical community doesn’t,” said Salinas, a Houston native.

That is precisely why many of these sailors made the decision to be a part of Navy medicine.

“The reason a lot of us go into this field is because you can see such a significant impact on an individual casualty’s life,” said Capt. H.R. Bohman, 54, a general surgeon with the unit from Gailsburg, Ill. “The sailors will feel the seven months out here added meaning to their lives.”

Last year, during the I Marine Expeditionary Force’s push through the country, the Navy medical system in Iraq was set up much differently. The sailors were forced to adjust to the mobile nature of the battlefield by having to constantly pack up and move toward the fighting.

This time, the 1st FSSG placed its surgical units in key, static locations, making it easier for mass amounts of injured troops to receive treatment.

Five similar units are spread throughout the Al Anbar Province. They vary in size and slightly in capabilities, but ensure life-saving care is available anywhere I MEF troops are located.

“We’ve centralized so patients are brought to us, as opposed to moving to where we think patients are going to be,” said Garner, a native of Cardiff-by-the-Sea, Calif.

Though well settled in here, the unit is mobile in nature and able to move at an hour’s notice to a different area of the country to support heavy, sustained combat operations for as long as is necessary, making it easier to get troops to immediate medical aid.

While the vast majority of the injuries are combat related, the sailors treat some walk-in patients also, said Garner. The platoon has dealt with appendectomies, heat strokes and heart attacks.

Insurgents and civilians injured during combat also get sent to the platoon for emergency care. Everything is done to stabilize them before they are transported to local hospitals, said Garner.

“We had this one Iraqi family that got caught in the crossfire of a firefight. It was literally two or three generations of this family,” said Franco, who said the team was able to save almost all of them.

Bringing somebody from the brink of death to give them another chance at life is the thread that holds the tight-knit platoon together, said Franco.

“You know that you helped save somebody’s life and helped them get home to their families,” said Seaman Ron Brizuela, 23, a corpsman from Austin, Texas.


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Navy doctors and nurses with the 1st Force Service Support Group’s Surgical/Shock Trauma Platoon operate on a severely wounded Marine April 3, 2004, at Camp Taqaddum, Iraq. The 60-person medical platoon, like five similar Navy medical units serving with Marines throughout Iraq’s Al Anbar Province, acts as a bridge between combat and follow-on care for many wounded troops. The sailors are capable of stopping deadly bleeding and performing emergency operations to ensure wounded troops will live through a medevac flight to one of the Army’s combat support hospitals in Iraq. Photo by: Staff Sgt. Bill Lisbon

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...9?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Local soldier's bravery honored

By KATHY THOMPSON
Staff Writer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NEW CONCORD -- He was considered fearless and tough during his high school football games at John Glenn High School.

As a medic in Iraq, he is considered a hero.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Jason "Doc" Duty, 20, of New Concord, was awarded the Bronze Star and a Purple Heart for his heroic efforts during a heavy assault on Fallujah, Iraq, earlier this year.

According to a letter Duty wrote to his wife, Andrea, he was with more than 50 Marines from Echo Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment from Camp Pendleton entering Fallujah on the morning of April 26. Heavy fighting broke out, and Marines started falling with wounds.

Without a second thought, Duty put himself in the line of fire, saving four Marines.

Duty wrote to his wife that he could not and would not leave any Marine behind.

"We eat the same food, walk the same miles, listen to the same stories and cry the same tears .... and I'll be damned if I'm going to let one of my Marine's go without a fight," Duty wrote his wife.

During the fight, Duty was pressed against a wall and said he kept hearing "crack, crack, crack," over his head. His fellow soldiers showed him where a "perfect hemisphere" of bullets had impacted into the wall behind his head.

"They were sure I had bought the farm," Duty wrote.

While using the wall as cover, the enemy forces shattered parts of the wall, which fell on Duty, filling his vision with concrete dust and cutting his hands and arms. It earned Duty his Purple Heart.

"Oh, Jason won't mind a little wall falling on him," said Mark Rider, assistant football coach at John Glenn High School. "He loved practice when he was here, and they really gave it to him."

Duty, who graduated in 2001 and was one of the youngest lineman on the team, never quit, Rider said.

"He'd get knocked down by the biggest guy during practice or in a game and just pop right back up," Rider said. "He would always go hard. We couldn't have asked for a better guy."

Those who know Duty aren't surprised he would put his life on the line for fellow soldiers.

"Jason is as tough and fearless as they come," said John Kelley, Duty's high school football coach. "He's a hard-nosed kid with a lot of courage."

His wife is proud of him, but would like nothing better than to have him home.

"This is his second tour over there," Andrea said. "He was there once before at the very beginning, came back for a few months and now has gone over again. We're expecting him back sometime in October."

October will be a month of celebration for the Duty family: Andrea will graduate from firefighting school, and their baby, Ethan, will be almost 2 years old.

"Ethan, who is 19 months, sits and listens so closely when Jason calls," Andrea said. "He was so excited when Jason came home the first time. He just smiles and looks around for Daddy when we talk to Jason."

While he is only 20 years old, his former coaches think he makes a "fine man."

"Jason did so much growing up in the three years he's been in the armed forces," Doug Joy, an assistant coach at John Glenn High School, said. "We're very proud of him. He should be very proud of himself."

Duty does not dwell on the heroic actions he has accomplished in war.

"That was the second worst day in my Navy career ... and I hope to never revisit those circumstances again," Duty wrote. "However, should the cry of 'Corpsman up' ever ring in my ears again, whether from a wounded Echo Company marine or anyone else, I will be there."

kthompson@nncogannett.com


http://www.zanesvilletimesrecorder.c...s/1116727.html


Ellie

[thedrifter]

Dental Corps celebrates 92nd birthday
Submitted by: MCRD Parris Island
Story Identification #: 200482693637
Story by Lance Cpl. Darhonda V. Hall



MCRD/ERR PARRIS ISLAND, S.C. (Aug. 27, 2004) -- Standing side by side with the Marine Corps and wearing the same uniform with as much pride as Marines, the Parris Island Navy personnel have played a key role in helping Parris Island train recruits to become Marines.

Established in August of 1912, the Naval Dental Corps has now completed its 92nd year in notable existence. They have supported the United States Marines during times of war and peace.

Sailors and Marines celebrated the anniversary of the establishment of the Navy Dental Corps at the Depot Naval Dental Clinic Aug. 20.

"The Navy Dental Corps anniversary represents a lineage or heritage of people who have come before you and where you will go in the future," said Capt. Steven Clarke, commanding officer of the Dental Center.

As it is tradition in the Marine Corps for the oldest Marine to pass on his knowledge and wisdom of the Marine Corps to the youngest Marine, symbolized by eating a piece of cake, it is the same with the Navy.

The 'most seasoned' Dental Corps officer, Cmdr. Charles Tremann, the department head for recruit in-processing, and the youngest Dental Corps officer, Lt. Caleb Robinson, an Advanced Education and General Dentistry resident, shared the first piece of cake.

Even before their 92nd birthday, the Navy has always taken on an essential role in the Marine Corps. Aboard the Depot, they handle more than 1,100 recruits and more than 130 Marine appointments a week.

According to Capt. Kent Knudson, executive officer of the Dental Center, the dental demands aboard Parris Island are extremely unique in that they deal with a large workload of both recruits and permanent personnel Marines.

According to Clarke, it is an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

"It is an honor and privilege for a Naval doctor to serve with the Marines," said Clarke.
Growing from an insignificant number of 35 active duty dental officers during World War I, the Navy has since then sparked an interest in people and raised the current number of dental officers to more than 1,200 active duty Navy Dental Corps officers.

Although younger than the Nurse, Medical and Hospital Corps, the Dental Corps remains just as vital to Naval and Marine Corps operations, and the completion of the Parris Island Marines' mission to train Marines is assisted by the hands of Navy corpsmen and Navy doctors.

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image.../dental(L).jpg

The oldest Dental Corps officer, Cmdr. Charles Tremann, department head for recruit in-processing, and the youngest Dental Corps officer, Lt. Caleb Robinson, an Advanced Education and General Dentistry resident, traditionally cut the first piece of cake. The Naval Dental Corps celebrated its 92nd birthday Aug. 20 at the Depot Naval Dental Clinic.
Photo by: Lance Cpl. Darhonda V. Hall

http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn20...5?opendocument


Ellie

[thedrifter]

The Corpsman’s Valor



Fifth in a series





By Matthew Dodd



Few people serving in uniform ever get to hear such inspiring words spoken to them:



“I feel privileged to be here to recognize … extraordinary valor and courage …. You make all of us proud, and let me personally thank you for going above and beyond the call of duty. On behalf of the President of the United States and all of America, I thank you.”



Those moving and powerful words were spoken by Secretary of the Navy Gordon R. England during an awards ceremony on Aug. 11 at Camp LeJeune’s Naval Hospital in Jacksonville, N.C., at which he awarded the first Navy Cross to a sailor in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.



Hospitalman Apprentice Luis E. Fonseca, Jr., USN, was awarded the Navy Cross, the nation’s second highest award for extraordinary heroism while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States. The citation read:



“For extraordinary heroism as Corpsman, Amphibious Assault Vehicle Platoon, Company C, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marines, Task Force TARAWA, I Marine Expeditionary Force in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM on 23 March 2003. During Company C’s assault and seizure of the Saddam Canal bridge, five casualties resulted when an amphibious assault vehicle was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade. Without concern for his own safety, Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca braved small arms, machine gun, and intense rocket-propelled grenade fire to evacuate the wounded Marines from the burning amphibious assault vehicle.”



Let me start off by saying that as a career Marine officer, Navy corpsmen hold a very dear and special place in my heart. It is with the utmost affection and deep admiration that I agree with the spirit of the timeless, traditional Marine definition of a corpsman that was first passed on to me when I joined the naval service many years ago:



“CORPSMAN - Usually a young, long-haired, bearded, Marine-hatin' sSailor with certain medical skills, who will go through the very gates of hell to get to a wounded Marine.”



Corpsmen are truly special people. From my experience, there are not that many sailors who actually want to voluntarily serve with Marines, but a corpsmen is a different breed of sailor. From my experience, there are not that many (if any at all) combat arms Marines who would do their respective “Marine combat arms things” without a weapon and with extra medical gear, but corpsmen are a different breed of Marine.



When it comes to corpsmen and combat arms Marines, one thing is certain: the Marines do not want to go in harm’s way without their corpsmen, and corpsmen do not want their Marines to go in harm’s way without them. To see a great physical depiction of the tremendous bond between combat arms Marines and corpsmen, visit and spend a few moments at the corpsmen tribute statue in the main entrance to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The silence of the scene depicted in the statue speaks volumes about the mutual love between corpsmen and their Marines.



It evokes the same emotions that the Navy Cross citation for HMA Fonseca does:



“Establishing a casualty collection point inside the unit’s medical evacuation amphibious assault vehicle, he calmly and methodically stabilized two casualties with lower limb amputations by applying tourniquets and administering morphine. Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca continued to treat and care for the wounded until his vehicle was rendered immobile by enemy fire.”



The images that came to my mind when I read the words “calmly and methodically” were of a focused, compassionate professional who was setting the example for all around him. When lives were hanging in the balance, Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca relied on his training and character to help turn chaos into some semblance of order. What a powerful example of personal and inter-personal leadership in arguably one of the worst possible situations. The citation continues:



“Under a wall of enemy machine gun fire, he directed the movement of four casualties from the damaged vehicle by organizing litter teams from available Marines. He personally carried one critically wounded Marine over open ground to another vehicle. Following a deadly artillery barrage, he again exposed himself to enemy fire to treat wounded Marines along the perimeter. His timely and effective care undoubtedly saved the lives of numerous casualties.”



A combat corpsman taking charge of, and taking care of, Marines in danger – what a beautiful thing! Fonseca seized the moment, and, in the absence of a plan, his plan became the plan. His bias for action, personal leadership, and selfless sacrifices for his fellow warriors were simply exemplary. The citation goes on:



“By his outstanding display of decisive leadership, unlimited courage in the face of heavy enemy fire, and utmost devotion to duty, Hospitalman Apprentice Fonseca reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”



Outside Navy Secretary England’s Pentagon office is a small plaque that reads, “England expects that every man will do his duty.” That quote was actually a signal sent by British Admiral Viscount Lord Nelson from his ship, HMS Victory, at the opening of the famous naval Battle of Trafalgar on Oct 21, 1805. In 2004, that strategically placed plaque tells me that the U.S. Navy secretary expects his sailors and Marines to do their duty, and that he will personally reward those who go “above and beyond the call of duty.” But, Fonseca demurred, “I was doing my job. I wish I could have done more.”



Woe to all our foes if we had more people just doing their jobs like America’s newest Navy Cross hero, now-Hospitalman Luis E. Fonseca, Jr.



Editor’s Note: To access earlier articles in this series by Matthew Dodd of heroism in Operation Iraqi Freedom, see:



“The Hero of Nasiriyah (Fourth in a Series),” *DefenseWatch*, Aug. 6, 2004;

“Upholding the Highest Traditions (Third in a Series),” DefenseWatch, June 17, 2004;

“An NCO’s Exemplary Leadership (Second in a Series),” DefenseWatch, June 9, 2004;

“A Marine’s Marine, (First in a Series),” DefenseWatch, June 3, 2004.



Lt. Col. Matthew Dodd USMC is a Senior Editor of DefenseWatch. He can be reached at mattdodd1775@hotmail.com. Please send Feedback responses to dwfeedback@yahoo.com.

http://www.sftt.org/cgi-bin/csNews/c...67111288851168


Ellie