ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, Ill. -- In his initial, written message to the United States Army last August, newly sworn Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Mark Milley, strongly stressed one of his top three priorities, "We must ensure the Army remains ready as the world's premier combat force. Readiness for ground combat is -- and will remain -- the U.S. Army's #1 priority."
Readiness is also a top priority in First Army's mission to build and sustain readiness to ensure reserve component forces can fight and win in a complex world.
First Army hosted its first medical and clinical operations summit at the First Army headquarters here, May 24-25.
A group of medical operations officers and senior medical noncommissioned officers from First Army's nine brigades and the U.S. Army Reserve's 85th Support Command gathered to discuss the expectations of the First Army's Command Surgeon Team.
First Army's Command Surgeon team and representatives from the Logistics Health Incorporated (Army Reserve contractor), USAR's Office of the Surgeon, and the 85th Support Command's Surgeon's Office led the summit.
"The intent of the summit was to reinforce business practices as the result of Operation Bold Shift and discuss some challenges and concerns," said Lt. Col. Jennifer Cradier, First Army Command Surgeon Chief, Medical Operations, Plans and Training Officer.
Since 2015, the concept of OBS integrates active-duty, Army National Guard and Army Reserve commanders in premobilization training events, helping to maintain Army readiness standards and prepares all Army units for deployment as multicomponent, expeditionary forces. OBS enables First Army to improve its ability to provide premobilization training support to the RC and thereby reduce post-mobilization training time while increasing overall readiness. OBS additionally restructures the First Army formation with nine total brigades that include six Combined Arms Training Brigades and three Multi-Functional Training Brigades to support RC readiness training across the Continental United States and U.S territories.
This summit is one of the many newly created summits or conferences First Army has held since OBS went into effect.
Col. Vincent Barnhart, First Army Command Surgeon, provided the opening remarks by stressing the importance of medical readiness within the brigades and strengthening its partnerships with reserve components that fall under them.
"We want to have a relationship that allows us to get into the reserve components' training plans and help them develop a 5-year unit training plan to meet their premobilization requirements" he said. "Our goal is to build a stronger partnership with our reserve-components so they can get their medical readiness and training done in time and be ready for their available year to mobilize."
Throughout the event, attendees received information on medical readiness and medical support requirements for upcoming exercises, brigade-level events and general health care requirements within the brigade.
Army Reserve Col. Susan Mantell, Command Surgeon to the 85th Army Reserve Support Command, took the opportunity to clarify the role of the 85th. She hopes the attendees will be able to see the role of the 85th and its contribution to First Army's mission to advise, assist, and train reserve components to achieve the Department of the Army directed readiness requirements during both pre- and post-mobilization training.
The attendees also got the chance to learn how to use information processes including SharePoint and assess each other's best work practices.
As the summit approached its completion, Sgt. 1st Class Erik McConnell, a medical operations noncommissioned officer assigned to the 181st Infantry Brigade out of Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, felt the summit was not only a good start to strengthen the First Army's overall medical operations, but gave a chance for First Army to see how the brigades function and listen in to the brigades' concerns and issues.
"These past two days have been a remarkable opportunity for the flow of information sharing and collaboration aimed at enhancing the First Army mission," said Cradier. "We look forward to establishing this as an annual event."
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