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Brigade focuses on tactical combat medical skills in April

By Troy Darr, U.S. Army NATO BrigadeMay 5, 2022

Brigade focuses on tactical combat medical skills in April
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Jacob Davis (left) and Staff Sgt. Yaozhuo Xu show U.S. Army NATO Brigade Soldiers how to apply a tourniquet during tactical combat casualty care training in Sembach, Germany. (Photo Credit: Troy Darr) VIEW ORIGINAL
Brigade focuses on tactical combat medical skills in April
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Sgt. Hector Villegas (front) and Sgt. Kyle Harrison pull a patient, represented by a medical manikin, to a safe area during combat lifesaver training in Casteau, Belgium. Villegas is assigned to Allied Forces North Battalion with duty at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, and Harrison is assigned to Bravo Company, AFNorth Battalion. (Photo Credit: Troy Darr) VIEW ORIGINAL

SEMBACH, Germany – Allied Forces North Battalion medics conducted a combat lifesaver course at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Casteau, Belgium in the first week of April.

The course instructors were Staff Sgt. Joshua Kielman and Staff Sgt. Matthew Wright.

“The AFNorth Battalion S3 and medic, Staff Sgt. Kielman, planned and provided a week-long Combat Lifesaver certification training at the beginning of the month to Soldiers throughout the battalion,” said Lt. Col. Bonnie Kovatch, AFNorth Battalion commander. “This class certified the

NCOs at brigade to provide tactical combat casualty care training in Sembach and expand our capabilities to support our dispersed population.”

The purpose of the Combat Lifesaver course is to provide additional skills as an intermediate step between the techniques all enlisted personnel are taught and the advanced medical skills taught to combat medics.  The concept of having combat lifesavers in the formation is to ensure that Soldiers will be able to provide some, but not all, of the techniques for their squad in the absence of a combat medic until a casualty can be evacuated or a medic arrives to take over care of the casualty.

Two NCOs assigned to U.S. Army NATO Brigade in Sembach, Staff Sgt. Yaozhuo Xu and Sgt. Jacob Davis, took advantage of the training to provide combat lifesaver support to the brigade’s land navigation the second week of April and to provide tactical combat casualty care training in the third week.

“We went to AFNorth Battalion to get certified as combat lifesavers,” said Davis. “There we learned the three levels of tactical combat casualty care and how to treat certain injuries like how to open up airways, how to prevent bleeding and hypothermia.”

Davis said combat lifesaver certification qualifies him and Xu to provide tactical combat casualty care training to other Soldiers.

“This course improves the overall readiness of our Soldiers and spreads knowledge across the AFNorth Battalion footprint increasing the battalion's capability to conduct firing ranges and other training that requires combat lifesaver support,” said Kovatch. “This training was so successful we plan to offer it two more times before the end of the year.”

U.S. Army NATO Brigade provides support to Soldiers and their families to provide ready and resilient Soldiers to the NATO alliance, maintain joint and multinational partnerships and enhance the alliance. The brigade is the U.S. Army support element for units at 81 locations in 22 countries.

Sgt. Jacob Davis talks about his experiences during the combat lifesaver training he received from AFNorth Battalion in Belgium and the subsequent tactical combat casualty training he gave to U.S. Army NATO Brigade Soldiers in Sembach, Germany.

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