This week FORCE and I returned from a whirlwind journey across Japan. As geopolitical tensions continue to grow in the Pacific, the strategic importance of these locations remain ever vital to our national security.
Over the course of our ten days in theater we met with senior Navy and Marine Corps leadership as well as our Japanese counterparts, we held town halls with our One Navy Medicine shipmates, and we saw first-hand the INCREDIBLE work our Sailors are doing in Okinawa, Yokosuka, Atsugi, and Iwakuni like their counterparts throughout the AOR. Our trip underscored the critical capabilities Navy Medicine provides to our joint warfighters wherever we are stationed– Today and in the Future Fight.
Tomorrow, our Nation takes pause to honor and pay tribute to the service of our women and men in uniform – past and present. On Veterans Day, we thank and remember generations of patriots who sacrificed and defended the very idea of America – an idea founded on the promise of freedom, equality, and hope.
On Friday (11/11), there will be many ceremonies and parades throughout our nation honoring our heroes. One of the events happening that day will be the Armed Forces Classic basketball game, scheduled to air on ESPN at 6:30 PM (Eastern). This year’s matchup between NCAA powerhouses Gonzaga and Michigan State will take place on the flight deck of USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) in San Diego harbor. With all due respect to Spartan fans, I’m pulling for Gonzaga-my daughter’s alma mater…Go Zags!
This year’s game has a special Navy Medicine connection. As part of the Veterans Day theme, ESPN documented Navy Corpsmen (both students and instructors) assigned to 1st Marine Division (1MARDIV) who led and participated in a Combat Trauma Management (CTM) course in San Diego. ESPN filmed the students as they went through hyper-realistic scenarios treating simulated injuries they would encounter while forward deployed.
It is anticipated the Corpsmen vignette will likely air during a pre-game segment and be viewed by more than a million people who will have the opportunity to see what we do every day – Provide Medical Power for Naval Superiority. For more information about the game, see the link below.
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