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U.S. medical instructors hope to take backseat to ANA
FOB AZIZZULLAH, Afghanistan - The men look like an odd duo. One towers
over other men while dispensing advice or praise to those around him in
an accent that leaves little doubt to his South African roots, the other
is shorter and quieter but makes up the backbone of the training program
the two supervise.
The two men, a physician's assistant and a medic, both assigned to the
2nd Battalion, 321st Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, celebrated the
graduation May 24 of a class of Combat Lifesavers they had instructed in
Zharay district, Kandahar province at Forward Operating Base Azizzullah.
The classes, given to members of the Afghan National Security Forces,
are designed to give frontline troops the skills needed to keep their
injured compatriots alive and transport them to a treatment facility.
For Sgt. Joshua Ebert and 1st Lt. Trevor Dell, this was their second
class of CLS students, but it differed sharply from the first and, they
hope, from what the third will be like.
"For the first class, we identified medics from the 4th Kandak who we
had trained with before," said 1st Lt. Dell. "We picked guys to become
trainers to begin teaching before we leave."
Three medics were identified as potential trainers, explained 1st Lt.
Dell. Two of them returned to teach the second class while the third
went to a leadership school. He is expected to return and help with the
next class.
That was the primary change from the first class to the second; the U.S.
faces that dominated the original training took a backseat to the 4th
Kandak medics.
"This time we concentrated on quality control as the ANA medics taught
the class," said Sgt. Ebert, a medic in 2-321st, 4th Brigade Combat
Team. "We provided assistance during hands-on training and we helped
with some medical terminology."
1st Lt. Dell said, "What we did was have the interpreters who worked the
first class sit in on the second class and act as a quality control.
Then we knew if the ANA medics forgot something or missed something."
"We tried to keep as much distance as possible from the class so they
wouldn't see us as instructors," he explained. "When we thought we
should suggest something we'd do it offline, behind a wall during a
break or something. We'd try and get them to see the next step through,
figure it out for themselves."
Still, the 82nd Airborne Division Paratroopers aren't ready to call it
mission complete as they still provide administrative support.
"For the next class we expect our level of involvement to be reduced as
they develop, they'll help and take over planning, setting up and
organizing class dates instead of just the medical piece," said 1st Lt.
Dell.
Azizzullah provides a particularly good site to develop instructors as
it has become the training hub for Afghan servicemembers who serve under
Unified Command Team Zharay-Maiwand. The UCT, a partnership of the ANA
3rd Brigade, 205th Infantry Corps, police forces in Zharay and Maiwand
districts as well as U.S. Soldiers with the 4th Brigade Combat Team,
82nd Airborne Division, embodies all the forces working with the Zharay
and Maiwand district governments to improve stability in the area. This
partnership gave the ANA medics experience in training not only their
own, but other Afghans defending the peace.
"We had [Civil Order Police] in this class," said Sgt. Ebert. "We had
really good cohesion, the ANA and [Civil Order Police] worked together
in small groups in class and during the MASCALs."
The MASCALs, or mass casualty events, provided a real and immediate
chance for the CLS students to prove their proficiency. At two times
during the course, vehicle accidents resulted in real-world patients who
needed immediate, lifesaving assistance. The students' reactions during
the events displayed their abilities to not only follow the lessons of
CLS, but apply the principles their 4th Kandak instructors had taught
them.
"They quickly jumped in and assisted the ANA medics," said Sgt. Ebert.
"One U.S. and one Afghan medic
- TAGS:
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- Military
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