261st Medical Battalion (Multifunctional)
261st Medical Battalion (Area Support) (Airborne)
The 261st Medical Battalion is a multifunctional medical battalion assigned to the 44th Medical Command, XVIII Corps. It is based at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
The 261st Medical Battalion was first constituted on 12 June 1942 in the Army of the United States as the 261st Medical Battalion and activated on 15 June 1942 at Camp Edwards, Massachusetts. An amphibious medical battalion, it was was designated specifically to provide corps level medical support to assault forces as they stormed the beaches of Europe. The Allied invasion on the Gela Beaches of Sicily in 1943 gave the battalion its debut under fire. The heavy fighting on the shore for the first 8 hours of the battle meant that the 261st Medical Battalion was the only medical unit to reach the shores to provide health services to the struggling Allied invasion. The Battalion went on to participate in the Allied amphibious invasion of France in 1944. The Battalion participated in 5 camapaigns in total during the Second World War: Sicily (streamer with arrowhead indicating participation in the initial assault), Naples-Foggia, Rome-Arno, Normandy (streamer with arrowhead), and Northern France. The Battalion was disbanded before the end of the Second World War on 28 January 1945 in France.
The Battalion was reconstituted on 1 October 1991 in the Regular Army and activated on 16 September 1992 at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. After its reactivation, the Battalion and its subordinate elements participated in many operations and training exercises. In 1992, elements of the Battalion deployed to support the relief effort following Hurricane Andrew. In 1992-1993, the unit deployed to Somalia and then in 1994-1995 deployed in support of Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti. Elements of the Battalion returned to Haiti in support of Operation Fairwinds in 1996. Elements of the Battalion also particiapted in Operation Provide Comfort, which lasted from the end of the Gulf War in 1991 through 1994. Elements of the Battalion deployed in support of Operation Joint Guard in Bosnia-Herzegovina between 1997 and 1998. Elements of the Battalion participated in the refugee relief at Guantamano Bay, Cuba during the 1990s. Elements of the Battalion also participated in humanitarian operations in Honduras (as part of Joint Task Force Bravo), Nicaragua (between 1998 and 1999), Peru, and in various countries in Africa. Following the conflict in Kosovo, elements of the Battalion assisted with the refugee relief efforts at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey. The Battalion and its subordinate elements also particiapted annual summer deployments to the United States Military Academy, West Point; annual deployments to the Boy Scout Jamboree; Joint Readiness Training Center exercises at Fort Polk, Louisiana; and National Training Center exercises at Fort Irwin, California.
By 2000, the 261st Medical Battalion (Area Support) (Airborne) was located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and fell under the 55th Medical Group. At that point it was the Army's only airborne medical battalion and one of only 2 area support medical battalions in the continental United States.
The 261st Medical Battalion (Area Support) (Airborne) was organized to provide Echelon II Combat Health Support (CHS) within its assigned area of operation (AO). The 261st Medical Battalion also provided unit-level (Echelon I) CHS on an area support basis for assigned and attached units operating within its assigned AO. The 261st Medical Battalion was modular in design and consisted of a Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment (which included the Battalion Headquarters), and 4 area support medical companies. It was normally assigned to a medical brigade in the communications zone and to a medical group in the corps.
The area support medical battalion provided Echelon I and Echelon II CHS to units located in the battalion's AO. It also provided command and control for assigned and attached units and medical staff advice and assistance as required. Its functions were centered around 3 basic principles: treat and return to duty; treat and hold (up to 72 hours); and treat and evacuate.
In a mature theater, area support medical companies would be employed primarily in the combat support area and support areas of the communications zone. They would be deployed to a geographical area to provide area CHS or could be deployed to provide CHS for designated non-divisional units/troops. The area support medical comapnies would also establish clearing stations and provide Echelon I and Echelon II CHS in a wide area. This would normally be an area or sector of the size established and supported by a corps support group or a corps support battalion. Medical treatment squads/teams of the companies could be deployed to establish treatment stations and provide Echelon I support to given concentrations of non-divisional units that did not have organic CHS. The modular design of the area medical battalion and its area medical companies permited its employment across the operational continuum.
In 2001, the 44th Medical Brigade (Airborne) was reorganized and redesignated as the 44th Medical Command. As part of the transformation, the 55th Medical Group was inactivated and its units reassigned directly to the new command.
On 27 February 2005, the commanding general of the Army Medical Department Center and School (AMEDDC&S), Major General George Weightman, along with the Commanding General, 44th Medical Command, Brigadier General Elder Granger, charged Task Force 261 Area Support Medical Battalion, 32nd Medical Battalion (Logistics), and 36th Medical Battalion (Evacuation) with forming a mutlifunctional medical battalion headquarters during Operation Iraqi Freedom 04-06 and testing the "proof of principle" theory. The intent of the concept was to provide solid feedback and recommendations to the AMEDDC&S and the Directorate of Combat and Doctrine Development (DCDD) on the design of the MMB Headquarters.
On 12 April 2005, Brigadier General Granger directed the conversion of the TF261 Area Support Medical Battalion into Task Force 261 Multifunctional Medical Battalion. On 1 May 2005, the Task Force Headquarters became the multifunctional medical battalion Headquarters and assumed command and control and tactical control of the 16 subordinate units and 6 medical functional areas deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 04-06. Those units were positioned from the border of Kuwait to the Turkish border.
Under the tactical control command relationship, the gaining command assumed operational control of the unit, but the parent unit retained the responsibility for administrative and logistical support of the unit in question. The following units were either attached to, or were under tactical control (TACON) of the 261st Medical Battalion: 5 area support medical companies (Attached), 5 preventive medicine detachments (Attached), one dental services company (TACON), one veterinary services company (TACON), one logistics support company (TACON), one ground ambulance company (TACON), and one combat stress control detachment (TACON).
The multifunctional medical battalion headquarters was very similar in organization to the area support medical battalion and the medical logistics battalion headquarters. It had a detachment headquarters, S1, S2/3, S4, S6, and a maintenance section. However, there were 2 key differences. A force health protection section and the unit ministry team were added to the multifunctional medical battalion.
The force health protection section was responsible for the planning, coordination, and execution of the force health protection mission within the battalion's area of responsibility to include medical logistics, level I and II health service support, preventive medicine, and mental health services. The section was broken down into 5 sub-sections: the operation section, the medical logistics section, the medical operations section, the preventive medicine section, and the mental health section. The unit ministry team was responsible for the overall religious support and counseling to all battalion members.
The Task Force 261 Multifunctional Medical Battalion and the 32nd Medical Battalion Headquarters evaluated the proposed Table of Organization and Equipment (TOE) and mission of the multifunctional medical battalion Headquarters utilizing the Doctrine, Organization, Training, Materiel, Leadership and Education, Personnel and Facilities (DOTMILPF) process. Weekly In-Progress Reviews were conducted, which allowed each staff section to evaluate its respective staffing, duties, and responsibilities. These reviews also focused on the development of a draft field manual for the multifunctional medical battalion headquarters to be provided to DCDD at the AMEDDC&S.
On 1 August 2005, Colonel Keith Parker, DCDD Director, deployed to Iraq to evaluate the proposed changes to the TOE for the multifunctional medical battalion headquarters by the TF261 Multifuntional Medical Battalion and the 32nd Medical Battalion. Parker also met with each staff section to validate the suggested changes and discuss operational issues in reference to the newly formed headquarters.
After lengthy discussions and identifying essential organizational mission shortages, Parker recommended the following key staffing changes to the multifunctional medical battalion headquarters. Firstly, a lack of clinical staffing in the force health protection section limited the Battalion's ability to provide clinical guidance and oversight to the subordinate area support medical companies and dental services units. As a result, the Task Force recommended the addition of a field surgeon (62B), medical surgical nurse (66H), and preventive medicine doctor (60C) to the force health protection section.
Second, the Task Force's view was that the battalion maintenance section should not include the headquarters and headquarters detachment mechanics. The battalion maintenance section was responsible for the battalion's overall maintenance status and should not control the headquarters and headquarters detachment mechanics. The headquarters and headquarters detachment mechanics should fall under the headquarters and headquarters detachment maintenence section.
Third, the force health protection section was heavy on plans and operations NCOs, even more so than the S2/3 section. The Task Force recommended that the plans and operations NCOs be moved into the S2/3 section rather than work in the force health protection section to ensure that one section, rather than 2, had overall responsibility for all matters concerning force health protection plans and operations.
Overall, the Task Force successfully tested the multifunctional medical battalion headquarters concept. There was no doubt that the Army Medical Department had developed an organization capable of providing scalable, flexible, and modular health service support in support of the Unit of Action and Unit of Employment forces. The 261st Medical Battalion subsequently transformed into a multifunctional medical battalion.
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