Marines praise Georgian soldiers lifesaver skills during mass casualty operation

News: Marines praise Georgian soldiers lifesaver skills during mass casualty operation

Marine Corps Security Cooperation Group

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Gunnery Sgt. Alexis Mulero

A local villager was medically evacuated during a mass casualty exercise during the 23rd Georgian Light Infantry Battalion’s mission rehearsal exercise at Joint Multinational Readiness Center in Hohenfels, Germany, Feb. 22. The 23rd LIB is preparing to support counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan as part of Georgia Deployment Program - International Security Assistance Force.

HOHENFELS, Germany - Georgian soldiers from Charlie Company, 23rd Light Infantry Battalion honed their combat life-saving skills at a mass casualty operation during the battalion’s mission rehearsal exercise at Joint Multinational Readiness Center , Hohenfels, Germany, Feb. 21.

During the training scenario, the Georgians gave medical assistance and evacuation support to local villagers, who had just been involved in a head-on vehicle collision.

“This operation allowed the Georgian medics to practice life-saving intervention for trauma patients,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Thomas Rathbun, an observer controller at the exercise, who is a native of Tucson, Ariz. “It also tested the company’s ability to handle mass casualties. The practice of mass casualty evacuations in not something that is done every day. The more they practice the better they will get at it. It’s like muscle memory.”

According to Marine Sgt. Michael Waters, an observer controller at the exercise, the Georgians arrived on the scene within 13 minutes of the accident happening and once they got there the Georgian medics jumped right in to assess the casualties.

“I feel that the medical-side of the operation went smoothly and that their medics displayed confidence in their ability to treat the patients,” said Marine Sgt. Brent Horton, an observer controller at the exercise. “The Georgian medics did a great job in prioritizing patients, conducting head-to-toe assessments and they constantly assessed and reassessed the patient’s vitals while waiting for the patients to get medically evacuated.”

There were a total of eight civilians wounded in the accident and five of those had to be medically evacuated due to the degree of the injuries sustained. Some of the lifesaver-saver skills performed by the Georgian medics during the operation included; tourniquet application, pressure dressings, and treating victims for shock.

“The Georgian medics reviewed basic combat lifesaver saver training at the beginning of the MRE,” said Waters, who is a native of Lake City, Fla. “This type of training is vital. If they do take casualties in combat, they need to know; how to treat a patient, how to send the casualty evacuation report and how to load victims into an aircraft?”

The MRE is the culminating event for the Republic of Georgia’s 23rd Light Infantry Battalion prior to deploying to Afghanistan to conduct counterinsurgency operations in support of the Georgia Deployment Program – International Security Assistance Force (GDP-ISAF). The total training exercise runs Feb. 1-24.

“The MRE is put together very well and gives them good kinetic and non-kinetic situations that they will encounter in Afghanistan,” said Marine Capt. Matt Warterben, who is part of the Georgia Liaison Team and a native of Fort Collins, Col. “They are getting an opportunity to employ their combat forces, while also employing information operations and cultural training in simulated Afghan villages.”

Warterben added, “They are getting a first-hand opportunity to experience all the little issues that may cause friction during this upcoming deployment to include; operating in three languages between two interpreters and conducting distributed operations across a large area of operation.”

U.S. Marine Corps Forces, Europe (MARFOREUR) is the lead component for planning, coordination and execution of the GDP-ISAF program and Marine Corps Security Cooperation Group (MCSCG) is the lead command with direct responsibility for training the Georgian battalions with support from Training and Education Command (TECOM) and multiple Operating Force units. The Marine Corps Security Cooperation Group coordinates, manages, executes, and evaluates Marine Corps Security Cooperation programs and activities in order to facilitate service and regional component support to combatant commanders’ objectives.

“Our intention is to give the Georgians soldiers the essential training and preparation to operate with Marines and the Afghan National Army in stabilizing the security environment in Afghanistan," said Marine Lt. Col. Christopher Brown, officer-in-charge of the rehearsal exercise.” “This MRE has been designed to replicate the RC(SW) area of operations and provide a scenario that evaluates the 23rd Georgian Light Infantry Battalion’s ability to operate within a counter-insurgency (COIN) environment."
Over the coming days, the Georgian soldiers will continue to patrol the JMRC training area seeking insurgents, weapons caches, and improvised explosive device (IED) factories in partnership with a simulated Afghan partner force as well as engaging and working to influence Afghan civilian role players. The Georgian soldiers will be tested with a full-spectrum of challenges from kinetic attacks to meetings with local civilians to gain information and negotiate differences.

The original GDP-ISAF program was a two-year train and equip mission designed to prepare four Georgian infantry battalions in sequence for operations in Afghanistan with Regional Command Southwest - RC(SW). As of May 2011 the program is now GDP-ISAF II, a subsequent extension of the original program for training and deploying nine additional Georgian infantry battalions over three-years.

“GDP-ISAF is a very unique mission – it shows how adaptive the Marine Corps can be when we applied to building the capacity of partner nations,” said Brown, who is a native of the Silicon Valley in California. “The mission also demonstrates how building partner capacity can have a significant impact on assisting the U.S. with confronting challenges around the globe – Afghanistan in this case.”