Naval Medical Center News

Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Comfort's Medical Treatment Facility changed leadership May 25 as Navy Capt. Kevin J. Knoop assumed command from Navy Capt. David K. Weiss during a ceremony aboard Comfort at Canton Pier in Baltimore. Comfort's primary mission is to serve as an afloat, mobile, acute-surgical medical facility to the U.S. military, with a secondary mission of providing hospital services for disaster relief and humanitarian operations worldwide. Comfort's Medical Treatment Facility, or MTF, is crewed and maintained by medical personnel from the U.S.

Nearly 100 Sailors regularly assigned to the National Naval Medical Center deployed to Navy Hospital Ship USNS COMFORT (T-AH 20) Sept. 15-16 for a regular pierside practice exercise. The training is necessary to teach the new Comfort crew members shipboard safety, and ship and workplace orientation. The training focused on various topics, including mass casualty and abandon ship drills; lifeboat and litter bearer training; Chemical, Biological and Radiological defense training; repair locker training, and finally, life raft commander training for officers. According to Capt. Charles Blankenship, commanding officer of the Comfort’s Medical Treatment Facility, this year’s Comfort Exercise training is different than previous training periods.

Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates announced July 6 that President George W. Navy Rear Adm. (selectee) Adam M. Robinson Jr. has been nominated for appointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as chief of the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery and Surgeon General, Washington, D.C. Robinson is currently serving as commander, Navy Medicine Capital Area/commander, National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Md. Navy Vice Adm. John D. Stufflebeem has been nominated for reappointment to the grade of vice admiral and assignment as director, Navy Staff, N09B, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Stufflebeem is currently serving as commander, Sixth Fleet/commander, Striking and Support Forces NATO/commander, Joint Headquarters Lisbon, Portugal.

off the Calif. coast on Jan 26. order to determine the cause of the aviation mishap. the same day. families for funeral honors and internment. at sea. will prevent future aviation mishaps.

A commissioning ceremony was held May 20 for Naval Coastal Warfare Squadron (NCWRON) 4 at Hospital Point Park at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Va. The pennant of commissioning was broken by the squadron’s first commanding officer, Cmdr. NCWRON 4 is the seventh NCWRON, the first active-duty unit on the east coast, and is comprised of a Mobile Inshore Undersea Warfare Unit, Inshore Boat Units (IBU) 41, 42, 43 and staff. “The overall mission of our combined units and staff is to conduct port security, coastal surveillance and interception as necessary, as well as protect any maritime asset and infrastructure that we may be tasked,” said Campbell. Campbell continued by saying he was proud of his squadron and that he has a motivated crew.