ANSBACH, Germany – The Ansbach Army Veterinary Treatment Facility hosted the third iteration of a two week oversees duty training with the 7th Army Training Command, U.S. Army Reserve Veterinary Unit last month.
Nearly 190,000 Army Reserve Soldiers and 11,000 civilian employees are present in all 50 states, five U.S. territories, and are deployed to 23 countries around the world.
January 24 to February 3, Capt. William Fugina, officer in charge of the Ansbach Army Veterinary Treatment Facility, and his team, hosted a veterinarian, veterinary technician and veterinary food inspector, in March, at their clinic to conduct unit-based collective mission essential task lists training outside the Continental United States.
More than 85 percent of reservists balance military service with their civilian careers, and most often, their military occupation is different than their civilian occupation.
“This time, their civilian and military jobs were much alike,” said Fugina. “Having a fulltime emergency room veterinarian and a veterinary technician come out together was great, but that’s not always the case.”
Fugina indicated that one of the reservists is a veterinary food inspector in the U.S. Army but is a radiology technician in the civilian world.
“This training directly enhances reserve component unit readiness, while fulfilling a U.S. Army service component command capability requirement,” added Fugina. “We [active duty] profit from the training opportunity just as much, since the reservists help us out quite a bit and we are able to learn from our reserve counterparts.”
According to Fugina, the reservists assisted with day-to-day duties such as wellness checks, kennel inspections, procedures and surgeries for military working dogs and pets of service members.
“It enabled the reserve unit to incorporate mobilization, deployment, reception and redeployment activities like they would working fulltime at a veterinary treatment facility,” said Fugina. “This continued partnership strengthens the bond and readiness between our active duty and reserve counterparts and provides an opportunity for sharing knowledge and expertise acting as a force multiplier.”
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