Month: June 2024

Source: United States Navy

When Navy corpsmen and Marine Corps engineers combine their efforts, they can swiftly convert an empty field into a fully equipped medical field hospital.

“Once we touch the ground, the Role II is operational in four hours and can support a regiment for up to 60 days,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Jenniffer Katekintha, the officer in charge of the Role II medical field hospital and an emergency room nurse with CLB-13.

The mobile hospital was shipped to Palau in quadcon dry shipping containers. It is expedient and tactical — outfitted with camouflage netting — but has a comprehensive array of medical supplies and essential utility equipment. This setup enables the CLB-13 medical staff to deliver crucial life-saving care in challenging field conditions.

The Role II medical field hospital consists of both a Shock Trauma Platoon and a Forward Resuscitative Surgical System. This mobile medical facility can provide laboratory services, X-rays, dental support, damage control surgery, resuscitative surgical support, holding, and en route care capability, explained Katekintha, a native of Anaheim, California. The medical staff works around-the-clock, ready to respond to medical emergencies at a moment’s notice, ensuring the highest level of readiness and critical care for service members operating in isolated areas.

The operating room and the supply of tested and type-verified blood grant the facility its Role II classification. Verified blood is essential for stabilizing patients and reducing the risk of adverse reactions from transfusions. Petty Officer 2nd Class Seth Robinson and Petty Officer 2nd Class Wyatt Koenig, both laboratory technicians with CLB-13, meticulously verified the accuracy of the blood using Eldon Cards. These cards are made of special plastic with dried antibody formulations, widely used by hospitals, blood banks, blood centers, and forward field medical facilities.

After verifying the blood, the medical facility was officially designated as a Role II, marking a historic first for Marines and Sailors operating in Palau.

“We are setting the precedence for Navy medicine by combining different units together to make a Role II,” Katekintha said.

On June 8, the CLB-13 medical team initiated a walking blood bank to increase their supply of verified blood without relying on the transported blood. Following a major injury, blood transfusions can save a service members life, but transporting and storing prepared blood is logistically difficult even in the best of circumstances. Low titer type O blood is also critical to the balanced resuscitation of a patient. Low titer means that the likelihood of an adverse reaction to an O blood transfusion is low.

The walking blood bank establishes a plan for pre-screened volunteers with type O blood to donate during emergent needs prior to a patient being transported for extended medical care. The Role II medical team screened each volunteer donor and entered their name in a database.

Using the walking blood bank, blood can be obtained and given to critically ill patients in an emergency setting with simplified logistics and minimal risk to the patient. The ability to identify low titer type O Marines and Sailors provides an agile and flexible approach to accessing the lifesaving measures that whole blood provides, said Katekintha.

The Role II medical field hospital team put their skills to the test during a mass casualty exercise on June 16. During the event, simulated casualties were transferred from the USS Ronald Reagan (CVN 76) to the Role II medical field hospital where they were swiftly triaged and treated. The joint training evolution demonstrated the joint force’s ability to cohesively respond to incidents exceeding any unit’s normal emergency response resources available, and quickly transfer and track patients across the western Pacific.

This CLB-13 medical team’s achievements during Valiant Shield 24 underscores the collaboration of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, demonstrating their capability to provide advanced medical care in austere environments and respond to crisis when called upon.

Story originallly posted on DVIDS: Valiant Shield 24: CLB-13 Establishes the First Role II Medical Field Hospital in Palau 

Source: United States Navy

BALTIC SEA – Service members assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 28, in coordination with British and Lithuanian allies, participated in a personnel recovery exercise June 10, 2024, in the Baltic Sea.

The exercise consisted of a two-part training plan, with the Royal Navy and their Lithuanian counterparts working hand in hand with HSC-28, as well as enacting practices that would help develop valuable skills while validating response capabilities and interoperability during personnel recovery operations.

The scenario involved a recovery of isolated personnel from the Baltic Sea, and simulated the ejection of two Swedish pilots into the sea. Royal Navy small craft placed two individuals in the water, a dummy and one live person, a SERE Specialist, to simulate the lost pilots.

While the Lithuanian Navy Ship LNS Skalvis (P14) recovered the dummy, a MH-60S Sea Hawk helicopter attached to HSC-28 deployed a rescue swimmer into the water and recovered the live survivor, who then was dropped off onto one of the Royal Navy vessels, HMS Example, and completing the evolution.

“The exercise went very well overall. We were able to flex our communication lines between NATO partners to meet the challenges of a joint personnel recovery in a semi-contested environment,” said Lt. Alec Ferley, one of the participating pilots assigned to HSC-28. “On a unit level, it allowed HSC-28 an opportunity to hoist personnel to small unfamiliar vessels in rough seas. This provided an invaluable training opportunity in a highly dynamic environment.”

One of the main goals of this personnel recovery exercise is precisely to test this joint operation between NATO allies, integrating with U.S. helicopters and conduct similar training with other partner nations during a variety of weather and sea state conditions.

“We are looking forward to building on this exercise to form more cohesive partnerships, and integrated lines of communications with NATO partners to effectively execute exercises like the joint personnel exercise,” said Ferley.

Exercises such as this one showcase one of many partnership efforts between countries in the NATO Alliance, giving the nations in the region chances to learn and hone skills that have an impact on potential future operations.
 

Mount Whitney, forward deployed to Gaeta, Italy operates with a combined crew of U.S. Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners in the U.S. 6th Fleet area of operations in support of U.S. national security interests in Europe and Africa.

U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) is the U.S. 6th Fleet flagship, homeported in Gaeta, and operates with a combined crew of U.S. Sailors and Military Sealift Command civil service mariners.

For over 80 years, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-U.S. Naval Forces Africa (NAVEUR-NAVAF) has forged strategic relationships with our Allies and Partners, leveraging a foundation of shared values to preserve security and stability.

Headquartered in Naples, Italy, NAVEUR-NAVAF operates U.S. naval forces in the U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Command (USAFRICOM) areas of responsibility. U.S. Sixth Fleet is permanently assigned to NAVEUR-NAVAF, and employs maritime forces through the full spectrum of joint and naval operations.

BALTOPS24 is the premier maritime-focused exercise in the Baltic Region. The exercise, led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa and executed by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, provides a unique training opportunity to strengthen combined response capabilities critical to preserving freedom of navigation and security in the Baltic Sea.

Source: United States Navy

U.S. and Allied forces are conducting mine hunting and mine detonation exercises in the Baltic Sea as part of Baltic Operations (BALTOPS) 2024, the premier maritime-focused annual military exercise in the Baltic Region. Mine countermeasure (MCM) exercises, conducted by personnel at Truppenübungsplatz Putlos and Hohn Air Base in Germany, commenced June 7 and culminated in an MCM combat rehearsal, June 18.

The Naval Surface and Mine Warfighting Development Center (SMWDC) directs all MCM exercises within BALTOPS, including surface MCM vessels, MCM capable aircraft, and explosive ordnance disposal. About 700 personnel, more than 20 surface ships and units, and 20 unmanned systems, including unmanned surface and underwater vessels, and two MH-60S Seahawk helicopters are involved in BALTOPS mine countermeasure efforts.

“This is our chance to flex our MCM muscles and show what we have been practicing and working towards,” says Capt. Scott Hattaway, director of SMWDC. “During BALTOPS24, we put all the chips on the table and lay our cards down, and show that we know what we’re doing and that we’re good at it.”

Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron TWO ONE (HSC-21) Detachment THREE, based in San Diego, California, under U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM), provided two MH-60S Seahawk helicopters configured with Airborne Mine Neutralization Systems.

“HSC-21 is executing multiple BALTOPS24 events to advance helicopter tactics in offensive mine countermeasures,” said Lt. Cmdr. Rob “OG” Swain, HSC-21.3 Officer-in-Charge. “These include employing the Airborne Mine Neutralization System (AMNS), working with U.S. Navy and NATO nation special forces, and closely integrating with our German host nation allies. The participation of HSC-21 in BALTOPS24 demonstrates cross-combatant command operational readiness and the joint forces’ ability to rapidly move strategic mine countermeasures assets from the Indo-Pacific to anywhere in the world ready to execute with agility, reliability, and aggression.”

The culminating MCM event is a combat rehearsal for NATO’s ability to combat adversary floating mines. The mines were first located by NATO surface MCM ships. Once detected, a combined NATO Special Forces team of Norwegian and French casted into the water by two MH-60S helicopters from HSC-21 dove below the surface, rigged charges, and detonated the inert training mines after being recovered by the MH-60S helicopters.

“The underwater detonation captures the full combined strength of NATO MCM,” Swain says. “French, Norwegian, and Dutch special forces coordinated closely with U.S. Navy Helicopter Offensive Mine Countermeasures aircrew to plan a live underwater detonation of a floating mine laid by Norwegian Oksøy-class minehunter Hinnøy (M343).  The French Navy Vulcain-class mine clearance diver vessel FS Styx (M614) will provide diving and medical response.”

BALTOPS 2024 brings the largest assembled coalition of amphibious and mine countermeasure forces in exercise’s history. Participating nations include Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

“This is a chance to enhance multinational interoperability,” says Estonian Defense Forces Cmdr. Meelis Kants. “It brings us together, builds mutual trust and understanding, and it strengthens our collective defense capabilities. Working together allows us to promote shared security objectives and foster long term allied partnerships.”

There are areas of the Baltic Sea that still contain mines, ammunition and chemical weapons originating from the two world wars.

“This is an opportunity for us to practice our mine countermeasures in historically mined waters…BALTOPS allows us to sharpen the sword of our MCM capabilities, but also brings together all of the NATO partners that may go in and remove that mine threat. No one country goes into a MCM operation by themselves,” Capt. Hattaway says. “We practice now as an international cohort in order to prepare for when we do it for real.”

BALTOPS, led by U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, and executed by Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO, provides a unique training opportunity to strengthen combined response capabilities critical to preserving freedom of navigation and security in the Baltic Sea.