By Jeremy O'Bryan
Western Regional Medical Command
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, Wash. -- The 673rd Dental Company (Area Support) recently conducted 60 hours of continuous operations here, training more than 20 dentists and technicians and supporting the Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility.
Dentists and dental technicians from the 455th DCAS, a reserve unit from Boston, Massachusetts, and local dentists with the JBLM Dental Activity came together with the 673rd DCAS to ensure interoperability through the field training exercise.
Called Operation Sabre Wire II, the exercise tested the field operating capability of the active and Reserve units, along with the 7229th Medical Support Unit. The 508th Military Police Battalion hosted a portion of the exercise. The units provided dental care to more than 90 staff and inmates of the NWJCRF.
"It was a success," said Col. Christensen Hsu, the commander of the 673rd. "It met my intent to integrate the Reservists with our active-duty Soldiers and trained them how to establish a field dental clinic from ground up while exercising interoperability."
The teamwork not only improved access to dental care for the inmates at the NWJRCF, but also improved the readiness of those involved, which impressed visitors.
"I was very pleased to see the teamwork between the 508th MP BN and the 673rd DCAS," said Maj. Gen. Thomas R. Tempel, Jr., the commanding general of Western Regional Medical Command at JBLM and Chief of the U.S. Army's Dental Corps. "The training ... fully supported the Total Force concept. This cooperation should serve as a model for others to emulate."
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