GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany -- Military medical professionals from various nations gathered for the annual European-African Military Nursing Exchange conference, May 20-23, 2025, to discuss a range of topics revolving around improving the medical profession within the military across different forces.
In addition to U.S. military service members stationed throughout the U.S. European Command, the conference included nursing personnel from Albania, Algeria, Angola, Benin, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Bulgaria, Georgia, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Kosovo, Madagascar, Moldova, Montenegro, Senegal, Serbia, Sierra Leone, Slovenia, Tanzania, Uganda and the United Kingdom.
“The purpose of this exchange is to bring all of our partners in one room to really learn from each other, to see what best practices are out there, but more importantly to take everything we’re doing in this exchange back out there to the field,” said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Gwendolyn Foster, 59th Medical Wing commander and San Antonio Military Health System at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, director.
Originating in 2014, the EAMNE conference was designed for military members of different nations to share medical knowledge and strengthen the bonds with partner nations. This year's conference theme was “Forging Future Frontiers: Enhancing Joint Military Healthcare Innovation with Global Partners.”
“When you look at our current landscape and what that future fight may be, it’s going to be all hands on deck,” Foster said. “It’s not going to matter what our badge is. It’s not going to matter what our flag is. Our war fighters are going to be counting on us to be able to keep them alive.”
By connecting with partner nations, the members were able to share their personal experiences with each other.
“It’s heartening to see that we’re not alone in the challenges that we face," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Erin Regan, International Health Specialist Program Office executive officer. “We all have the same mentality. We all have the same questions. We all see barriers we’re trying to overcome.”
Throughout the event, members exchanged medical knowledge and learned about different practices and ideas to bring back to their home bases.
“The best part of the conference was being able to interact and exchange experiences with people from other countries and communities,” said 1st Lt. Julieta Marieta Antonio, Angola African delegate.
Attendees had the opportunity to work with members from partner nations through simulated and virtual reality exercises promoting interoperability while strengthening critical hands-on skills.
“We have several hours over the course of days where we are all practicing our field care exercises,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Keshia Brown, Landstuhl Regional Medical Center primary care flight commander. “We want to ask how other countries do procedures so we can all collaborate and do it the best way.”
During the simulations, members encountered various challenges forcing them to change their approach to get the mission done.
“It challenges us to be open minded to receive what it is [other countries] are teaching us,” Brown said. “We have to be open minded enough to receive that information and carry it forward.”
By creating teams during the exercises, personnel built collaborative relationships and learned to effectively communicate with one another.
“We’re going to need to know their resources and they need to know our resources,” Foster said. “We’re going to need to know how we connect together.”
One certainty of this exchange was its ability to equip our forces for the ever-evolving future.
“Our fight is changing,” Brown said. “We have to change with those times and build partnerships with as many nations as we can in order to stay ahead.”
At the end of the day, this exchange allowed members to collaborate with those whom they do not work with on a regular basis.
“I love connecting with people of all cultures and nationalities, " Brown said. “I’ve learned we’re all pretty much the same. We all want to live in a world that’s safe.”
Although members were able to work with nursing personnel from other nations during the exchange, this was just the first step to creating an interoperable environment within the medical field with our partner nations.
“We need all our partners in the room,” Foster said. “We need everybody at the table… so we’re not losing lives on the battlefield.”
Ultimately, the conference was about more than gaining medical practice. It was about forging relationships crucial for the success of military medical professionals across our partner nations.
“I want people to go back with a sense of knowing that relationships are the most important,” Brown said. “The better we build those relationships, the more peaceful our world will be.”