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15th MDG hosts medical training for local JROTC

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Alexander Martinez
  • 15th Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii --  Members from the 15th Medical Group Education and Training Flight take a day out of each month to train a local Army Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps detachment on useful and potentially life-saving medical topics.

The St. Louis School JROTC program's senior Army instructor, Chief Warrant Officer (ret.) Heath Phillips, is new to the program this year and said he feels very fortunate to have the Air Force medics come out and teach the cadets.

"Being new [to the program], I have as much to learn about health and medical topics as the cadets," Phillips said. "I would much rather have subject matter experts who can give quality training to them."

After reaching out to several different military medical units, Phillips said he reached the 15th MDG education and training flight by luck, but couldn't be happier with the instructors.

"The instructors do such a good job with the cadets," Phillips said. "They're very professional but still make the classes humorous and fun, which is so important with today's youth because you have to keep them interested and engaged or you will lose their attention."

Staff Sgt. Tamia Griffie, 15th MDG Self Aid and Buddy Care advisor, has been to the school four times to help train, and said she thinks the training is positive for the kids as well as the instructors.

"I like to take every opportunity I can to be a positive influence and whatever we can do to enhance their knowledge is nice," Griffie said. "The response that we get from [the cadets] is really positive as well."

Some lessons taught to the cadets include basic CPR, blood control techniques, hygiene and nutrition, to name a few.

The program has about 92 cadets total. Both the JROTC and the medical instructors plan to continue the medical training for the rest of the school year and beyond.

"The [cadets] seem to really want us here and makes us feel as though we're making a positive impression in their military training," Griffie said. "I think the medical information they learn will open up a lot of doors for them because with us here they get to interact with us and learn in a fun environment. They get to see us as military members and as normal people and I think that's beneficial to their training."