CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Sailors with 2nd Medical Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, participated in a three-day field exercise from Jan. 12 to Jan. 14 at Landing Zone Robin aboard Camp Lejeune, N.C.
The purpose of the exercise was to familiarize corpsman with their job in the field and other things they would encounter while on a patrol, which could include providing security, searching the area for improvised explosive devices in addition to tending to victims in a field environment.
The sailors with the battalion rotated in and out of the scenarios while being guided by senior enlisted sailors and commissioned officers.
“They need to be familiarized with their job on the front line,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Jeffrey Ramirez, a hospitalman with 2nd Med Bn. “How they handle it here is a big part of their overall training.”
With 90 percent of the sailors in the battalion being doctors and nurses, this training also served as their chance to work in the shock trauma platoon.
“These training exercises are crucial; you don’t want one of the corpsmen having a reality shock while they’re in Afghanistan,” said Ramirez. “Working in a hospital is different from working in the field.”
Another crucial part of the training was the Forward Resuscitative Surgical System.
The FRSS is a mobile unit capable of any surgical process needed on the battle field.
“The FRSS takes us to a whole other level,” said Ramirez. “It can go where nothing else can. We’re able to do so much more with the FRSS, and we have no restrictions to our capabilities.”
As the exercise drew to a close, the battalion showed improvement, explained Ramirez.
“This is where you need to ask question and learn the things you’re not good at quite yet, and these guys are doing all that,” said Ramirez.
As Marines train hard to stay in the fight, sailors with 2nd Med Bn. are training to make sure they are at their side, ready to provide assistance in the field, whether it is medically or standing tall with their comrades in battle.