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U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Jonathan Fathag, a casualty liaison team leader with 406th Human Resource Company, Kaiserslautern, is embedded with the 30th Medical Brigade, Sembach, at their clinical operations section in Powidz, Poland, to conduct casualty training exercises during Saber Strike 18, June 3-15.
Fathag, originally from Yap, Micronesia, is working alongside two Soldiers with 569th Human Resource Company from Baumholder.
The 406th’s purpose in Powidz during Saber Strike 18 is to receive training in an integrated environment where they can utilize the support of active duty medical units and also offer their own expertise on the DCIPS system to new Soldiers.
During a training scenario, the casualty liaison team will receive a notional casualty report for a U.S. service member or Department of Defense civilian who has been injured in theatre and admitted to a hospital. The CLT is responsible for tracking that individual’s status until the Soldier is released from the hospital.
Every stage in casualty tracking requires attention to detail and adherence to strict timelines, said Fathag. The CLT must utilize the Defense Casualty Information Processing System to coordinate patient tracking amongst the 30th MED BDE, the Casualty Assistance Center, the Casualty and Mortuary Operations Center, and Human Resources Command. The DCIPS is located at Panzer Kaserne during this exercise.
“I think this mission as a whole replicates real life scenarios,” said Fathag. “This training is a very great opportunity to set [our unit] up for success.”
406th HR CO falls under 361st Civil Affairs Brigade, located in Kaiserslautern, which is the U.S. Army Reserve’s only forward deployed multifunctional civil affairs unit in Europe providing civil affairs; movement control; human resource; chemical, biological, nuclear and radiological; public affairs and forward engineering support to U.S. Army Europe.
Saber Strike is a long-standing U.S. Army Europe-led cooperative training exercise that helps facilitate cooperation amongst the U.S., Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and 19 other allied and partner nations.
