AQABA, JORDAN (Sept. 5, 2024) - U.S. military forces and 32 partner nations participated in the 11th bi-annual multinational exercise Eager Lion 2024 in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, May 12-22, 2024.
The bi-annual, three-phase exercise featured a global health engagement component, which took place at the Royal Jordanian Naval Base and the Prince Hashem bin Abdullah II Military Hospital (PHMH), in Aqaba, Jordan.
The medical team in charge of executing the exercise consisted of Lt. Freddie Mawannay, officer-in-charge, U.S. Central Command; Lt. Fremmy Cuadra, emergency department trauma nurse, U.S. Naval Medical Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Sigonella; Chief Hospital Corpsman (FMF/EXW) Steven Taylor, senior enlisted leader, NMRTC Sigonella; Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Sean Sarmiento, Tactical Casualty Combat Care (TCCC) instructor, U.S. Navy Medical Readiness and Training Unit (NMRTU) Bahrain; U.S. Navy Reserve (USNR) Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Terri Archuleta; USNR Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Zo Alonzo; USNR Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Vivianna Mann; and USNR Trauma Surgeons Capt. John Wei and Lt. Cmdr. Arthur Kim.
During Phase I, service members taught TCCC to the operating forces onboard Royal Jordanian Naval Base. The instruction cadre consisted of a U.S. officer, corpsmen and Jordanian medics. The participating students consisted of Jordanian and U.S. Sailors, Marines, soldiers, and Coast Guardsmen. The skills they obtained during TCCC were showcased during the final exercise, where the combined joint-forces demonstrated their readiness to sustain life after an injury, while maintaining tactical awareness.
Phase II consisted of a Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE) with PHMH medical professionals. The instructional cadre consisted of U.S. and Jordanian trauma surgeons, Jordanian general surgeons, a U.S. Navy nurse, and Jordanian Nurses. The attendees were medical professionals in a multitude of disciplines (including paramedics, emergency room (ER) nurses, intensive care unit (ICU) nurses, ER physicians, surgeons and administrators). The SMEE was based on the topic of emergency war surgery. During the final presentation a Q&A panel was held, and participants toured PHMH, in preparation for the simulated mass casualty drill.
In Phase III, U.S. and Jordanian Marines demonstrated operational forces capabilities and produced a mass casualty event, which included testing en route care capabilities during a 27-minute ambulance ride to PHMH. Combined joint-forces from the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy also performed Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations and demonstrated Close Quarter Combat skills.
Eager Lion 2024 required a tremendous level of coordination at every stage and participants learned coordination and flexibility must occur simultaneously, not sequentially, and in order to maximize collaboration, it is essential for medical professionals operating within a different health system to integrate into existing protocols, rather than impose their own.
Eager Lion is designed to exchange military expertise, improve interoperability among partner nations, and considered the capstone of a broader U.S. military relationship with the Jordanian Armed Forces. Jordan is one of U.S. Central Command’s strongest and most reliable partners in the Levant sub-region.
U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella ensures maximum readiness by providing high-quality, safe patient and family-centered care to maximize force health protection for all beneficiaries, to included NATO and transient DoD forces in the U.S. Fifth Fleet and U.S. Sixth Fleet areas of operation.
For more information about U.S. Naval Hospital Sigonella, visit https://sigonella.tricare.mil/About-Us, https://www.facebook.com/p/US-Naval-Hospital-Sigonella-100064338385315/ or https://www.instagram.com/U.S.navalhospitalsigonella.
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Eager Lion 2024 Tests Operational Forces Capabilities