Training to build connections

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jaeda Tookes
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  Anytime military personnel can work with their off bass counterparts and be involved in the community is always a good thing. On June 24, members from the 341st Medical Operations Squadron were able to train with second year registered nurses from the Great Falls College--Montana State University.

"This was the first of many trainings between the registered nurses and the medical personnel at Malmstrom Air Force Base," said Russell Motschenbacher, a 21-year psychiatric nurse practitioner and college professor.

Lt. Col. Courtney Finkbeiner, 341st MDOS commander, approached Motschenbacher to develop a training program to keep the hands-on skills for the Airmen newly out of technical school fresh.

"We built a curriculum and presented it to the college," said Master Sgt. Eric Greene, 341st MDOS NCO in charge of education and training. "We told them what we would like to be taught, what we could do, what we could offer and the training supplies we had."

According to Motschenbacher, the college was supplied with the competency the military personnel needed to be trained on. The college had all the supplies, and provided the instructors who had the particular skills.

The training will be held once a month for each of the five different modules, and each member must go through each one once.  About 50 Airmen will go through the joint training program, with 12 of them per rotation.

"We trained on head-to-toe assessments, different code situations and intravenous starts," said Sarah Ford, second year registered nursing student at Great Falls College--MSU. "The training taught us to be eager to learn, and to not be afraid to get hands-on with different scenarios we may come across."

The joint training established a connection between the Great Falls community and the members of the military base.

"The training was very helpful," said Denise Faulkner, 341st MDOS civilian licensed practical nurse. "It gave us the opportunity to see what supplies other medical professionals are using to train."