ACCRA, Ghana – Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) EURAFCENT active-duty and civilian staff members facilitated training for Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) engineers and other civilian biomedical technicians in the operation, basic maintenance and troubleshooting of a liquid nitrogen production facility on the GAF 37 Military Hospital campus from October 28 to November 1.

The facility, originally located in Sierra Leone and used during the West African Ebola outbreak of 2014-2015, aided the collection, storage and testing of suspected Ebola-positive samples. Following the outbreak, NAMRU EURAFCENT acquired the facility as part of the Joint West Africa Research Group and transferred ownership to the GAF in Accra in 2017.

Due to resources and training limitations during the COVID-19 pandemic, the facility had not been previously utilized fully to support clinical and laboratory operations.


Marian Mikhail, a biomedical engineer with NAMRU EURAFCENT’s Cairo detachment and Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Kirk Young, a biomedical equipment technician, with the command’s Sicily-based headquarters, worked alongside Sterling Cryogenics’ technical expert to provide hands-on and lecture style training on the operation, basic maintenance and troubleshooting for the nitrogen plant. Five members of the GAF engineering corps, both uniformed and civilian, along with the head of biomedical maintenance at the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research (Noguchi), participated in the week’s activities.

“A functioning liquid nitrogen plant will give the Ghana Armed Forces and Noguchi unique capabilities locally and regionally,” explained Lt. Cmdr. Robert Hontz, NAMRU EURAFCENT Ghana Detachment director. “Availability of liquid nitrogen in this part of the world is rare, and thus, very expensive when procured from corporations. With this staff training and continued successful operation of this plant, NAMRU EURAFCENT has facilitated a new and unique capability, and potential cost-cutting measure, for our African partners.”

In the upcoming months, NAMRU EURAFCENT staff and GAF engineers plan to develop procedures for the operation and maintenance of the plant, and to create a joint agreement on how the plant will be regularly run and maintained.

NAMRU EURAFCENT’s mission is to study, monitor and detect infectious disease threats of military and public health importance in Central, European and Africa Commands. Originally established in 1946 in Cairo under the name NAMRU-3, the command moved its headquarters to Sigonella in 2019.