JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
A veterinary team from the 43rd Medical Detachment-Veterinary Service Support, Fort Hood, Texas, convoyed to Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland for a week-long field training exercise simulating a forward deployment April 15, 2023.
The exercise checked three boxes for the 43rd MDVSS: to validate a new anesthesia machine; test their forward deployment capabilities; and support the Holland Military Working Dog Hospital.
The goal of deploying a team outside of Fort Hood, Texas, began a little over a year ago starting with aiding the on-post veterinary clinic there, and was then built upon and culminated in the convoy and exercise at JBSA.
“We’ve gone step-by-step, each quarter applying lessons learned,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Christopher Bass, 43rd MDVSS operations officer. “We started with an exercise at Fort Hood. The second phase was adding a convoy movement to that installation's vet clinic.
“The final piece was moving all the way down here,” Bass added. “Getting in our organic vehicles, stretching our legs a little bit and doing that successfully, was a big part of this whole operation.”
The week-long exercise consisted of two days convoying from Fort Hood, establishing a Role II veterinary clinic and three days providing dental prophylaxis treatments on military working dogs.
The 19 dental treatments reduced a backlog of dental cleanings at the Holland MWD Hospital, providing much-needed support to the veterinarians there caring for hundreds of dogs.
“It was a big relief to our staff,” said U.S. Army Lt. Col. Desireé Broach, a Holland MWD hospital veterinarian. “Not only did they help with our dentals, but they jumped in on so many other things, including the end of watch for one of our military working dogs, which took an emotional burden off our folks. We are extremely appreciative of that.”
Hail and an electrical storm blew through San Antonio at the conclusion of the exercise, adding a further dose of realism to the event.
“We received tremendous support from the installation from the beginning,” Bass said. “We reached out initially to the 502nd and 802nd Security Forces Squadrons here and they quickly put us in touch with all the right people.”