FORT HOOD, Texas – Rear Adm. Cynthia Kuehner, commander of Naval Medical Forces Support Command (NMFSC), and NMFSC Command Master Chief Jason Reynolds attended a distinguished visitor day held for a Joint Emergency Medical Exercise (JEMX) on June 8.

The exercise ran from June 6-10 and included 2,000 tri-service members, 70 units, and over 60 medical specialties. This was also the first year it included international attendees with two allied partners directly engaging in the exercise.

“During this time, we worked as a Tri-Service team to share best practices of casualty care. The training will occur through two phases – didactic and practicum activities which set the stage for tactical care scenarios,” said Army Lt. Col. Robert Shipley, Troop Battalion Commander, Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center. “The scenarios allowed the trainees to experience and negotiate the expected stressors within Large Scale Combat Operations and near-peer conflict.

Throughout the tactical scenarios, the trainees, on order, responded to multiple different scenarios such as triage, treatment, and evacuation by ground and air MEDEVAC and CASEVAC platforms while some scenarios evolved into Prolonged Casualty Care.

Additionally, trainees experienced every echelon of care during the week. This intentional exposure allowed the trainees to experience first-hand the resources, the scope of care, and limitations within multiple echelons that are often not experienced within the traditional fixed facility of a medical center, according to Shipley.

Kuehner was impressed with the scale of the exercise and the level of detail involved to ensure proper training in a joint medical environment.

“The scale of this exercise was truly impressive, encompassing live, moulaged participants, simulations, high-fidelity models, and even care for military working dogs. The tri-service participants impressed me the most because of their commitment to top-quality care, regardless of service or the potential battle space,” said Kuehner. “Critical thinking during appropriately high-stress training was evident, and the cross-talk and collaboration between specialties and services will yield dividends, as military medicine professionals demonstrate enhanced mission readiness and joint, interoperability concepts and practice.”

The field training exercise involving a wide variety of medical specialties aids in preparing joint medical forces to improve a providers' abilities to prepare for future conflicts.

“This training has real-world relevance because it imposed realistic challenges encountered in operational settings, across all services,” said Reynolds. “Partnered training across multi-disciplinary specialists and teams is a force multiplier. All participants and facilitators showed their commitment to mission success and the ability to adapt and overcome intense and emergent situations with limited resources. Every participant will leave with new and improved skills and competencies – and some great new Shipmates from our sister services.”