CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa, Japan –
When Sailors and Marines come together they can take a large empty field and, in a day of hard work, transform it into a medical field hospital complete with camouflage netting, medical and utilities equipment that can provide necessary life-saving functions within field environments.
The medical field hospital, known as Role II, was on display Nov. 26-30, 2018 at Camp Foster, Okinawa, Japan so that 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group Marines and Sailors could demonstrate their knowledge and proficiency of successfully deploying and employing a Role II facility.
Service members with 3rd Medical Bn. wanted to show the leaders of III Marine Expeditionary Force the broad capabilities of their Role II facilities, said Lt. Brain May, the officer in charge of the Role II Capabilities Display with 3rd Medical Bn., 3rd MLG.
“This is a large set up. We have nine tents not including our utilities tents, and we have lots of camouflage netting that all adds up to 23,000 pounds of equipment not including the utilities equipment,” said May. “We started set up yesterday at 7:30 a.m. and despite some bumps in the road we completed it at about 6:00 p.m. yesterday, and I couldn’t be happier.”
The Role II medical field hospital is designed to provide emergency care including, shock trauma care, emergency surgeries and laboratory work. The 3rd Medical Bn. is the only unit inside III MEF with this Role II capability.
Each day, different displays demonstrated the abilities of the surgeons, shock trauma care and Preventive Medicine.
The preventive medicine technicians, participants in the Role II capabilities display, were offering courses on water purification, food sanitation testing, entomology surveillance, vehicle inspections and snake relocation to medical personnel from other service branches, Japanese service members and civilians.
“This week, Preventive Medicine has brought together multi-service, public health practitioners across Okinawa to share training and experiences specifically as they relate to operational Navy Preventative Medicine in the INDOPACOM [area of responsibility],” said Lt. Sarah Jones, the environmental health officer with 3rd Medical Bn., 3rd MLG.
May said, he is ecstatic with how the Sailors and Marines performed in the set-up and execution of the Role II display.
Editor's note: The original story can be viewed on the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command website.