FORT MCCOY, WI – Expeditionary Medical Facility Kilo, the readiness command embedded at Naval Medical Center Camp Lejeune, completes an operational readiness exercise on Fort McCoy, Wisconsin. The five-day training exercise which began April 25, 2025, covered multiple areas of patient care in a forward-deployed field environment.

The exercise provided the auxiliary command opportunities to maintain their personnel deployment readiness requirement.

“This type of training is essential because it helps us become and maintain our status as a ready medical platform,” said Captain Martin Braud, EMF-Kilo executive officer. “The training went very well. The team came together and learned to work together in an expeditionary environment to provide care to warfighters in a Role 3 facility if we were called to go down range.”

A Role 3 facility provides advanced emergency and surgical care in a mobile setting. More than 90 EMF-Kilo Sailors from multiple clinics and different health care disciplines came together to learn, teach, and ensure the readiness of the command in preparation for any potential combat deployments.

“Not only does this type of training enhance their skills in a deployed environment, but it also gives them the experience of deploying from a medical center to a more rudimentary environment,” said Captain Darryl Arfsten, EMF-Kilo commanding officer. “They learn the basics of everything from the logistics of deploying, traveling, embedding with a new unit, constructing a medical facility, and executing their personal mission while assisting in the completion of a larger mission.”

Groundwork for the ORE began prior to EMF-Kilo’s arrival at Fort McCoy to ensure trainees received the most out of the field medical experience.

“The [training] team came here two days in advance to set up the tents before the rest of the Sailors arrived. Once they got here, they immediately started setting up their different clinics where they would be working throughout the exercise,” said Lieutenant Commander Michael Kantar, assistant training officer.

The Sailors spent three days in training classes covering various topics such as moulage, nutrition management, and canine tactical combat casualty care. They then applied their skills in practical applications and finished with end-of-day debriefings. Experienced physicians, nurses, and Corpsmen worked along Sailors with no prior experience in patient care in an active combat zone to sharpen skillsets, passing along valuable knowledge.

“Medicine never changes, but the setting and the nuances of patient movement, patient tracking, just patient care can be fluid, and it’s important these Sailors learn how to ensure quality care when they don’t have everything they would have if they were in a setting like the medical clinic,” said Lieutenant Kowalski, an intensive care nurse. “When Sailors come out here, they’re forced to sink or swim, and we don’t let anyone sink. They move out of their comfort zone and learn to think quickly to persevere and provide quality care.”

The final day of the exercise was a culmination of everything the Sailors had learned in an advanced simulation scenario that included eight casualties and a simulated canine casualty.

“Sailors were immersed in the environment, which allowed them to focus on the training they received,” said Lieutenant Nancy Broz, assistant training officer. “We did manual patient charting, lab requests were done with paper chits and hand-walked lab results, Sailors became familiar with the field equipment. Also, Fort McCoy offered a cadre of experienced trainers to teach our Sailors how to moulage for casualty simulation.”

The entire evolution provided junior Sailors and Officers a chance to learn new skills and immediately apply them in a combat setting.

“Overall, the training was awesome,” Hospitalman Dean Robidouxosejo, an ophthalmology optician. “The chemistry from the charge nurse down to basic corpsmen pushed us to strive for the most optimal care for warfighters out in the field. I wouldn’t want to be with any other team for this exercise.”

EMF-Kilo is the readiness platform attached to Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Camp Lejeune and is comprised of approximately 400 personnel ready to deploy field hospital capabilities during humanitarian or combat mission.