Inside the Guardian - Matchbin

Fort Polk officially welcomes 115th Combat Support Hospital home
By ANGIE THORNE
After hours editor
The 115th Combat Support Hospital redeployment
ceremony took place Dec. 9 at 1st Maneuver
Enhancement Brigade Field. As the doctors,
nurses and medics of the CSH stood in formation
on the cold, blustery day, they were officially
welcomed home by Fort Polk and their commanding
officers.
After the uncasing of the colors, Commander
of the 1st Medical Brigade, Col. Bruce McVeigh,
spoke to those in attendance. “We gather to honor
these brave warriors as they return home safe
and sound from their year-long deployment in
the Afghanistan theater of operation in support
of Operation Enduring Freedom,” said McVeigh.
“Their medical efforts on the battlefield sustained
United States and coalition forces as they took
the fight to an enduring enemy, pushed to maintain
stability and enabled the Afghanistan Army
to stand on their own and allow other civilian
leadership to form a new government that will
attain success long after U.S. operations in that
part of the world end,” said McVeigh.
He said the CSH’s health care successes
helped save thousands of lives and was a true
force multiplier on a complex battlefield and liaisons
with civic operations and did an outstanding
job in their cooperative working engagement.
“Though never easy to work with coalition
forces, this unit did it with pride, professionalism
and dedication saving lives,” said McVeigh.
“This CSH took on a mission and had the
daunting task of setting up health care in an area
that a year ago had nothing. They endured tough
conditions at every turn, experienced uncertainty
and other challenges, but they did so with an
Army Strong spirit and, in the end, made sure
everyone came back home. For that, we are all
truly thankful,” he said.
Col. Patricia Darnauer, the CSH commander,
took her place at the podium. She said it was less
than two weeks ago that 115th CSH relinquished
the mission of providing level one, two and three
health service preventive medicine support,
while also leading a medical task force more than
400 strong that spanned the southwestern and
western regions of Afghanistan. “The warrior
medics before you accomplished their medical
mission. They treated more than 1,500 in-patients
and 15,500 outpatients since the beginning of this
year. This year, we created a synchronized medical
delivery system supported by a functional
task force headquarters that facilitated communication,
ensured adherence to standards of clinical
practice and provided administrative support to
direct reporting units,” said Darnauer.
She said she couldn’t help but be incredibly
proud of the “magnificent members” of the
115th. “What an inspiring group they are. Our
clinicians invested themselves in research and
publication, ensuring best practices, case studies
and research protocols were documented for our
successors. Junior officers and the vast majority
of our enlisted members pursued lofty personal
and educational goals. In the course of this year,
we earned multiple degrees, completed hundreds
of hours of college coursework, earned
three battlefield promotions to sergeant, reenlisted
scores of Soldiers and completed enough education
hours to validate every 68 Whiskey for his
or her 2012 Emergency Medical Technician certification.
The members of this team rose above
any personal strife and recommitted themselves
to mission accomplishment. To all members of
the 115th CSH, thank you again for your steadfastness
and professionalism,” said Darnauer.
Darnauer then spoke directly to the 115th
Families. “You were the foundation upon which
our hospital and task force was built. You were
our motivation during our separation.”
Wendy Branconier, a 115th CSH spouse attending
the ceremony, said it was awesome to
have her husband home, especially for the holidays.
“I feel complete again and the kids are super
excited. Spending time with us is his No. 1
priority,” said Branconier.
Lelia Payne, another spouse at the event, said
this was her husband’s third deployment. “It’s
absolutely wonderful to have him home again,”
said Payne.
Capt. Elvis Gonzalez, a returning 115th CSH
Soldier, said that the best thing about his mission
was the gratification of seeing the treatment given
to Soldiers and nationals, especially the children.
“People were treated equally. I’ve seen
everyone from surgeons to nurses show their patients
how much they cared in the course of performing
their duties,” said Gonzalez. “Now that
I’m home, I’m enjoying spending time with my
Family and relaxing.”
Guardian
Dec. 16, 2011/11A