While on Okinawa, the SG and the USNMRTC leadership Triad, CAPT Kathleen Cooperman Commanding Officer, Acting Executive Officer CDR Pete Nyilas, and CMC Tommy Perkins met with Marine Corps Leadership and visited key medical assets. Meetings with leadership from Marine Corps Installations Pacific (MCIPAC), III Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), and a tour of the Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) solidified the point of why these forces are here and Navy Medicines role to provide the best most critical and expedited medical services available to our nations Warfighters. While here, The Surgeon General discussed his FY-2024 BUMED Campaign, prepositioning of EXMEDs, future of Navy Medicine, and listened to concerns at a town hall.

Another crucial service line visited was the Armed Services Blood Bank Center (ASBBC) that is the “life blood” literally of medical operations. While at the facility, the SG explained how in combat the ability to have life saving blood products increased the survivability of our injured service members. LCDR Fae Ramirez Director for the ASBBC and Deputy Director Lt. Yessenia Greene toured the facility and explained their capabilities to the SG.

While addressing the Sailors of USNMRTC Okinawa at an All Hands, the Surgeon General stressed the importance of each and every person out there. Enlisted Sailors, Officers, Civilian staff, and our Japanese coworkers. “No job could be done without the help of all you and the coordination that takes place along the way” the SG said. RDML Via explained the importance of a medically ready force that must be ready to bring the fight at short notice. Via said “we are the tip of the spear; head of the snake and we have multiple real-world threats that we must be prepared to engage.” The Admiral spoke about his vision for where Navy Medicine is headed and how we will be guided by our “North Star.” To navigate towards success, we will need to align people and platforms to enhance warfighter health, wellness, and performance. With this guidance, Navy Medicine will deliver agile, trained, and certified medical units to provide enduring support to the Fleet, Fleet Marine Force, and Joint Forces in high-end competition, crisis, and combat. Navy Medicine will be organized to facilitate all phases of Force Development, Force Generation, Force Preservation, and the full restoration of the warfighter.

RDML Via explained his expectations for USNMRTC Okinawa, the Indo Pacific Region, and the role they play. He said, “it was great to see this forward medical capability designed to be here for the fight now” about the EMF. Navy Expeditionary Medical Support Command's EXMEDS provide standardized, modular, scalable combat service support and medical/dental capabilities to an advanced base environment across the entire range of joint military operations. These EXMEDS consist of the Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) hospitals and Forward Deployed Preventive Medicine Units (FDPMU). Naval Medical Readiness Logistics Command. Force expressed his gratitude to all the people they met with during the visit and said he was “so proud to see brothers and sisters in the Navy, Marine Corps, Seabees, and others all working together for a common goal.”
The U.S. Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Okinawa (USNMRTCO) supports the Defense Health Agency’s U.S. Naval Hospital, Okinawa (USNHO) as the largest OCONUS Navy Medicine medical treatment facility and the most ready to respond to contingency operations in the INDOPACOM region. It is a critical regional asset for direct care delivery, regional referrals, and medical contingency operations. The staff of USNHO understand their vital role as pre-positioned, forward-deployed naval forces within the first island chain, aligned and in support of the joint military commands and operations.