BJACH Soldiers validate readiness during Forge Training Exercise

FORT JOHNSON, La. — Bayne-Jones Army Community Hospital conducted their bi-annual field training exercise, the Forge, Nov. 1 – 3 at the Joint Readiness Training Center and Fort Johnson, Louisiana.

Col. Takako Barrell, acting hospital commander, said the purpose of the Forge is to confirm BJACH Soldiers can conserve the fighting strength and are a responsive and trained medical force.

“The Forge focuses on fundamental tasks that we must perform and be proficient in at all times,” she said. “The warrior tasks and battle drills were integrated into the training to improve realism and ensure our Soldiers can fight and survive on the battlefield while performing a full spectrum of operations.”

Barrell said individual critical task list items were also integrated to validate Soldier proficiency in their military occupational specialty or area of concentration.

Capt. Steve Candeto, chief of rehabilitation services at BJACH, was the officer in charge of this event. He created the squad level competition training to encompass all required Army Warrior Tasks.

“I was selected as the OIC of the Forge after my participation in the Medical Readiness Command-West Best Leader Competition in April 2023,” he said. “I used that experience as a framework for the Forge by incorporating multiple events that required continuous navigation through a simulated squad lane.”

Candeto said this iteration of the Forge was split into phases. On days one and two, participants focused on warrior tasks and communication, with the culminating event held on Nov. 3 at Honor Field.

“Each squad received a specific mission to successfully navigate a simulated training lane. While on the lane, the squad was required to conduct land navigation, react to indirect fire, treat a casualty, conduct radio communications, react to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and a high yield explosive attack, and transport an injured squad member 500 meters to a casualty collection point,” he said. “We threw a lot of challenges at the squads to test their physical and mental resiliency. For example, all squads were briefed of possible enemy in the area requiring the use of hand and arm signals during land navigation. We also required them to conduct a litter carry with protective masks donned, limiting their verbal communication. Every member of the squad had to work together to complete the challenge. The lane was intentionally very tough. My goal was to improve each Soldier’s survivability on the battlefield by the end of their time on day three.”

Candeto said he intentionally set up the training as a competition.

“We are briefed from the highest level of the Army that ‘winning matters’ and I believe competition brings our best effort, especially during hard training,” he said. “Each squad was scored on their accuracy in completing each sub-component of the final lane on day three.”

Candeto said the winners were announced during the end-of-day formation Nov. 8 ahead of the long Veterans’ Day weekend.

“Squad five won the competition,” he said. “Their team consisted of Sgt. Nic Greening, combat medic, Sgt. Preston Tucker, a biomedical maintenance specialist, Sgt. Nicole Domengeaux and Staff Sgt. Luis Hernandezvelazquez from our preventive medicine department, Staff Sgt. Wheeler, a medical laboratory specialist, Maj. Ashleigh Hartman and Maj. Sandra Rodich, two of our registered nurses, along with Maj. Nicholas Kramer, a radiologist at BJACH.”

Command Sgt. Maj. Larry White II, senior enlisted advisor at BJACH, said the Forge was a great opportunity to assess the unit’s proficiency.

“The Forge was a success, we implemented rigor and allowed Soldiers to test skills they recently learned which solidified the crawl, walk, run process,” he said. “Soldiers at BJACH can move from a fixed facility to a field environment quickly and efficiently,” he said. “These Soldiers are warriors, they are trained, proficient, ready and willing to answer the call to support our warfighters.”

White said the next Forge training exercise is scheduled for the spring of 2024.