CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Master Chief Sherman Boss, the Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery’s force master chief, visited the Field Medical Training Battalion at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Dec. 13.

The force master chief visited the school to witness training junior corpsmen undergo including combat simulations.

“The purpose of the visit was to come here and talk to the command element, to see how we’re doing in the combat service support arena, and to ensure that the Navy-Marine Corps team is strong and see if there are areas to improve on,” Boss said. “We want to ensure the Marines and sailors who push into combat have every tool possible for success.”

He also visited a simulation-training lab and spoke with Navy-Marine Corps instructors, student-corpsmen and the FMTB command.

“I’m absolutely impressed with everything,” Boss said. “The instructors are some of the brightest the Navy and Marine Corps have.”

He was also impressed with the quality of training equipment the school uses to prepare corpsmen for combat situations.

“I was just down in the simulation lab and saw the simulators you all practice on,” Boss told the students. “It has come such a long way from when I went to school. I know you are all going to do amazing things.”

During Boss’ visit to the simulation lab he watched instructors put a tourniquet on a life-like training dummy. The dummy is used to give the corpsmen a more realistic type of training that helps them mentally prepare for issues they may face in combat.

“The various training simulators they have now are about as realistic as they can get,” Boss said. “I think the sailors who will soon be deployed with the Marines are better prepared because of the technology we have here, and I think many lives will be saved because of the training they get.”

Boss’s last assignment was as the command master chief of Bethesda, which is now Walter Reed. He saw many wounded service members that he believes were only alive because of the training corpsmen received at FMTB.

“The wounded we are getting now, 30 years ago would not be coming to us,” Boss told the instructors. “The students are prepared and trained because of what you do everyday and I can’t put a price on that. This school house is invaluable.”

The instructors at FMTB stood in the hallway at the schoolhouse to meet the force master chief.

“He came to see what we do as instructors, to meet and greet and get a face to face with some of us,” said Staff Sgt. Kevin A. Buegel, the company gunnery sergeant for FMTB. “It was the first time I got to meet the force master chief and I think the visit went well.”

The force master chief, after giving much advice, assured the students they were getting the best training possible to support a great cause.

“You have all the answers,” Boss said. “You just don’t know what all the questions are. The training you’ll receive will save the lives on the battlefield everyday. You are the future of Navy medicine and are making a difference in lives and families you’ll never meet.”

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