Vice Chief Visits San Antonio Wounded Warrior Support and Joint Force Training Facilities

By Lt. Cmdr. Chris Servello, VCNO Public Affairs

SAN ANTONIO (NNS) -- The vice chief of naval operations (VCNO) toured the San Antonio Military Medical Center (SAMMC) and visited Navy and joint training sites during a May 24 trip to the greater San Antonio area.

Adm. Mark Ferguson interacted with patients, staff and family members at the Center for the Intrepid (CFI) and Warrior and Family Supprt Center (WFSC), and then met with Sailors at the Medical Education and Training Campus (METC) and Naval Technical Training Center (NTTC) Lackland.

VCNO began his day with visits to CFI and WFSC to better familiarize himself with the wounded warrior care and family support offered at SAMMC.

The mission of the CFI is to provide rehabilitation to personnel who have sustained amputation, burns, or functional limb loss; to provide education to military and Department of Veteran's Affairs professionals on rehabilitation; and to promote research in orthopaedics, prosthetics and physical/occupational rehabilitation.

WFSC provides coordinated services to patients, next-of-kin and extended wounded warrior family members. Injured service members and their family visit the WFSC to receive emotional support, answers to their questions, and to extend their rehabilitation away from the hospital.

During his visit to METC and NTTC Lackland, Ferguson had the opportunity to address students, school officials and family members as he toured living quarters, recreational facilities, and various training classrooms at the two sites.

At all-hands calls at both locations, Ferguson discussed the Sailing Directions from the Chief of Naval Operations. He provided the audiences real-world examples of how today's Navy was putting the tenets of Warfighting First, Operate Forward and Be Ready into practice worldwide.

VCNO also thanked both groups of Sailors for their service and sacrifice. "You have all chosen to serve--to give up comforts and embark on a life of high standards--to be ready when the country is least ready."

In his METC remarks, Ferguson thanked Sailors training to be hospital corpsmen for their hard work, telling them that today's men and women were, "the best we have ever had. You are the most educated, intelligent and physically fit group of Sailors in the history of our Navy."

METC is the primary Department of Defense healthcare education campus and trains enlisted medical personnel in over 60 medical programs, graduating 24,000 joint service personnel annually.

At NTTC Lackland, Ferguson told an audience of Sailors training in the Master-at-arms (MA) rating, "you are making a difference because you make us safer--you protect us against terrorist and criminal threats."

Sailors attending the MA school are trained and tested in the areas of antiterrorism, security force fundamentals, and basic law enforcement.