NAVAL AIR STATION PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – In today’s Navy Medicine, providing exceptional healthcare and ensuring combat readiness are not separate objectives, but two sides of the same essential mission.

A single command houses two distinct but interconnected entities: Naval Health Clinic (NHC) Patuxent River, a Defense Health Agency (DHA) entity responsible for providing direct patient care, and Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Patuxent River, a U.S. Navy command charged with generating a ready medical force.

The most effective way to understand this relationship is to view the health clinic as the essential platform for the readiness mission. By running a busy clinic and providing daily, high-quality healthcare, the command gives its doctors, nurses, and corpsmen the critical hands-on experience needed to keep clinical skills sharp to provide a trained, proficient, and deployable medical force ready to support the fleet and joint forces at a moment's notice.

Putting this readiness mission into practice, NHC Patuxent River's Medical Home Port, in collaboration with the NMRTC Patuxent River Medical Readiness Clinic, launched "Warrior Wednesdays," a comprehensive Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) training series that kicked off in January 2026. While corpsmen receive TCCC instruction at corps school, sustained, repetitive training is critical to maintaining proficiency. The initiative is spearheaded by Cmdr. MaryPat Tobola, Director of Health Services, and Lt. Natalie Grose, Medical Home Port Department Head.

As Director of Health Services, Tobola's leadership embodies the dual-mission structure. Her responsibilities include oversight of key departments on both the clinical side—such as Medical Home Port and Immunizations—and the readiness side – which includes the Medical Readiness Clinic and active-duty Mental Health Clinic.

PATUXENT RIVER, Md - (January 7, 2026) - U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Andrew Conklin (right), from the Medical Readiness Clinic at Navy Medicine and Training Command Patuxent River, instructs Hospitalman Tresherod Mason, from the Medical Home Port at Naval Branch Health Clinic Patuxent River, on the proper application of a pelvic binder. Conklin, who is also a certified member of the Naval Air Station's Search and Rescue "SAR Dogs" team, shares his expertise during the Massive Hemorrhage Control module of a "Warrior Wednesday" Lunch and Learn, a program designed to build and maintain proficiency in critical, life-saving skills.

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PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – (January 28, 2026) – U.S. Navy Hospitalman Lakadyia Roberts, from Medical Home Port at Naval Branch Health Clinic Patuxent River, practices a needle chest decompression on a training mannequin during the Respiration Module of a Warrior Wednesday Lunch and Learn training. This recurring training ensures medical personnel are prepared to provide critical care in operational environments, reinforcing the skills necessary to save lives.

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PATUXENT RIVER, Md – (January 28, 2026) – U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Miguel Rodriguez, assigned to the Medical Readiness Clinic at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Patuxent River practices performing a needle chest decompression on a training mannequin during the Respiration Module of a Warrior Wednesday Lunch and Learn training. This hands-on training allows Sailors to build and maintain proficiency in critical, life-saving medical interventions for battlefield emergencies.

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PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – (January 28, 2026) – U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Ja'Laia Lackey, from Naval Air Station Patuxent River's Search and Rescue (SAR) team, instructs Hospitalman Apprentice Kaitlyn Lewis, from the Military Readiness Clinic at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Patuxent River, on locating the intercostal space on a training mannequin. The hands-on instruction was part of the Respiration Module of a Warrior Wednesday Lunch and Learn training, designed to enhance the life-saving skills of medical personnel.

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PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – (January 28, 2026) – U.S. Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman Mackenzie Gordon, from Naval Air Station Patuxent River's Search and Rescue team, explains the physiological effects of massive chest hemorrhaging to Hospitalman Andrew Flores, from the Patuxent River Medical Home Port Clinic. The training, observed by Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Ja'Lia Lackey (left), was part of a "Warrior Wednesday" Lunch and Learn session focused on advanced life-saving interventions for medical personnel.

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PATUXENT RIVER, Md. – (January 7, 2026) – U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Arsides Garay, from the Medical Readiness Clinic at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Patuxent River, and a member of the Naval Air Station Search and Rescue "SAR Dogs" team, applies an upper extremity tourniquet to the arm of Hospitalman Shan Li. Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Jaden Sprague and Hospitalman Michael Morales observe as part of the Massive Hemorrhage Control module of a "Warrior Wednesday" Lunch and Learn, designed to ensure medical personnel are proficient in life-saving interventions.

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For Tobola, the Secretary of War's call to restore the Warrior Ethos was a deeply personal mandate. "Inspired by that call to action, I felt the command should immediately assume a more vibrant training posture," said Tobola. "At the end of the day, the purpose of our readiness is to save lives. Warrior Wednesdays is designed to ensure our personnel are proficient in the latest techniques to do just that, directly contributing to our core mission of maintaining a ready medical force."

Lt. Grose, who has been instrumental in organizing the series, added, "It's one thing to learn these skills in a classroom, but it's another to apply them under pressure. This hands-on training builds the muscle memory and confidence our sailors need to perform effectively in a real-world casualty situation, ensuring they are ready to save lives when it matters most."

The program features weekly "Lunch and Learn" sessions which cover the TCCC algorithm for Massive Hemorrhage, Airway, Respirations, Circulation, Head Injury/Hypothermia, Pain Management, Antibiotics, Wounds, and Splinting (MARCH PAWS). To date, the series has covered interventions for Massive Hemorrhage Control, Airway Management, and Respirations.

The training is led by instructors from the NAS Patuxent River Search and Rescue (SAR) shop, known as the "SAR Dogs," led by Chief Hospital Corpsman Mackenzie Gordon. They are joined by Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Alexander Hostetler from Medical Home Port and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Ethan Johnson from the Medical Readiness Clinic who are trained TCCC instructors. The SAR Dogs' primary mission is to provide rescue coverage for high-risk events. They also support the National SAR plan by responding to civilian and U.S. Coast Guard requests on a not-to-interfere basis with military operations.

The Warrior Wednesday sessions run through March and culminate in a larger-scale practical exercise where participants will work in teams to manage realistic casualty scenarios, requiring them to apply their skills in patient assessment, treatment, and medical evacuation reporting before transferring patients to a helicopter.

The commitment to readiness does not end with the Warrior Wednesday Lunch and Learn series. Beginning in April of this year, the Warrior Wednesday concept will expand, continuing its focus on a broad range of medical readiness topics to ensure the sustained skill and preparedness of all Navy personnel at the command.