JOINT SECURITY STATION INDIA, Iraq - Outfitted with a first aid bag filled with combat application tourniquets, combat gauze and dressings, the combat medic, an instructor for the Tactical Field Care class stepped to the front of the room, preparing to teach Iraqi Security Forces how to save a life.
Staff Sgt. Willie Gray, a senior combat medic assigned to Company C, 27th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, led a combat lifesaver class for ISF at a patrol base in northern Iraq Feb. 8.
"It makes me feel good to teach the ISF CLS," said Gray, a native of Greenville, S.C. "I joined the U.S. Army to be able to teach and help others; and it feels great knowing that I've provided them with skills that could possibly save a life one day."
Gray, currently on his third tour to Iraq, and fourth deployment, is the senior medic on for the patrol base in northern Iraq and provides Level-One Patient Care for the Soldiers assigned to Company B, 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, operating from the patrol base.
"We are out in a remote base, and we don't have some of the luxuries a large forward operating base or joint security station would have, such as a large medical facility; but we do have the ability to teach each and every Soldier here how to care for one another until more professional medical help arrives," said Gray.
During the first aid class, the 2nd Bn., 7th Cav. Regt., Soldiers assisted their Iraqi counterparts by demonstrating how to use the tactical field care items like the combat application tourniquet.
"I believe the Iraqis learned a lot from the medical class Staff Sgt. Gray was instructing," said Pfc. William Garthwaite, a native of Clinton, Conn., and tanker assigned to Company B. "This class was good for me too, because I got to assist the ISF and refresh my own combat medical skills by teaching them."
Garthwaite and the other U.S. troops demonstrated how to correctly apply the tourniquets and bandages, and let the ISF practice their freshly learned techniques on the Americans.
After the medical class ended, Cpl. Aead Uanehs, a native of Dohk, Iraq, and an Iraqi Army driver assigned to 5th Brigade, 2nd Iraqi Army Division, thanked Gray and the other U.S. troops for providing the combat lifesaver training.
"Unlike my friends and ISF soldiers here I have received a military medical class (before), but this is the best CLS class I've ever had," said Uanehs, an eight year combat veteran who works with the U.S. Soldiers stationed at the patrol base. "I'm looking forward to using these skills to teach my soldiers and neighbors at home."
With a smile on his face and medical kit in hand, Gray walked away from the class he instructed knowing the training and knowledge the U.S. Soldiers passed on to the ISF made a difference, as his unit continues its efforts to advise, train and assist the ISF in Ninewa Province.
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