Service members assigned to Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, conducted a mass casualty exercise to test the base's capabilities in the event of an emergency, Nov. 20, 2013.

"Our goals are to test our ability to react to multiple disasters simultaneously and the response," said U.S. Navy Capt. Rom Stevens, Surgeon for Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA).

Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and civilians joined together to provide emergency services, such as mass casualty care, mortuary services and air evacuation.

French forces contributed to the exercise by providing air evacuation and use of their hospital, while Germans provided ambulances, Stevens said.

The French Army along with U.S. Air Force pararescuemen flew simulated patients to base, to test medevac capabilities. The injured were assessed and treated by medical professionals on camp to prepare them for medevac.

"My job was to make sure the patients were validated, put into the tracing system and manifested on a flight for further medical care," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Leslie Mugg, medevac liaison nurse officer.

Medevac operations conducted alongside the French Army were successful, Mugg said.
"I was very happy with how fluid and seamless things went, and it was a great training and learning environment," she said.

This was the first exercise of its kind for CJTF-HOA and Camp, and was the result of many months of planning.

"The exercise went quite well," Stevens said. "It pointed out further areas we need to refine to improve our response and most importantly improve our ability to interact in a crisis situation with our French and German allies, Stevens said.