DECEMBER 5, 2025 – The Utah Army National Guard is rapidly evolving in the field of combat medicine with the introduction of one of the most advanced medical training facilities in the country, the Medical Simulation Training Center, or MSTC, commonly called the “Mystic.”
Centrally located at Camp Williams, the new center already is being praised as the finest MSTC in the nation by the contractors and subject-matter experts who helped stand it up.
Maj. Aaron Roberts, deputy commander of the 97th Troop Command, spearheaded the multi-year project to bring a Medical Simulation Training Center to the Beehive State.
“This is a game-changer for medical readiness in Utah,” Roberts said. “We’ve never had the ability to conduct this level of tough, realistic trauma training in-state before. Soldiers used to travel to places like Fort Carson, Joint Base Lewis-McChord or the National Training Center in California. Now the Mountain West has its own world-class facility right here.”
From Concept to Reality
The Utah MSTC began to take root five years ago in Florida. The Army Medical Department and the Medical Simulation Command identified a need for greater simulation capability in the Mountain West region. Camp Williams was selected because of its existing training areas, proximity to the Wasatch Front and ability to support helicopter and large-scale field exercises. Construction began in 2022 when the former range control building on Camp Williams was gutted to the studs. New concrete floors with central drains were poured, commercial-grade heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems and fire systems were installed, and the entire building configuration was altered to accommodate the MSTC.
By late 2024, the Utah MSTC became the fifth National Guard MSTC nationwide and one of only 26 total across the Active Army, Guard and Reserve.
What Sets Utah’s MSTC Apart
While every MSTC uses high-fidelity mannequins that breathe, bleed and respond to treatment, Utah’s facility incorporated several unique features because of the building’s original footprint and deliberate design choices:
– 20% larger training rooms than standard MSTCs;
– Linear layout with two independent control rooms instead of the usual single control room/four-room “box” design, allowing greater scenario diversity and simultaneous but different training lanes;
– Expandable trauma bay with a roll-up door that can combine two rooms into one large four-bed medical treatment facility;
– Direct exterior double doors for rapid patient loading from helicopters or ground ambulances. This decision was made deliberately because of the building’s close proximity to the physical training, or PT, field on Camp Williams. This capability allows medevac helicopters to land on the field, and litter teams to carry ambulatory patients directly into the MSTC facility;
– Extra-robust construction: ¾-inch plywood backing; 5/8-inch drywall; fiberglass-reinforced plastic, or FRP, paneling; and commercial epoxy floors built to withstand years of intense, realistic training; and
– Full sensory immersion: programmable smoke, strobe lights, combat sounds and scent machines that can release odors associated with biohazard material, sewage and other unpleasant smells
Hyper-Realistic Training
While the upgraded facility brings added capabilities that Utah has never had before, the real star of the show is the medium and high-fidelity mannequins that can bleed, move, lose pulses, dilate pupils, accept real IVs and medications and even “die” if interventions fail. They respond in real time to treatment and react accordingly. Instructors in control rooms monitor every action both on screen via multiple high-definition and infrared cameras and through signals from each mannequin. Training sessions are recorded for immediate after-action reviews.
The new facility takes Utah’s medical training to a completely new level, said Sgt. 1st Class Joey Whaley, the MSTC’s non-commissioned officer in charge.
“Before, we trained on our battle buddies acting hurt. You can’t actually pack a bleeding wound with real pressure or stick needles into a live person,” he explained. “Here, the mannequin bleeds real simulated blood. If you don’t stop the hemorrhage, the patient dies in your hands—and the system records exactly how much blood was lost and how long it took.”
Training can range from one-hour tactical combat casualty care refreshers to 72-hour delayed-evacuation casualty management, or DECM, scenarios, formerly called prolonged field care.
A Community Asset
Although primarily an Army asset, the Utah MSTC is joint and community-oriented. Air Force medics from Hill Air Force Base; local fire/emergency medical services agencies; Special Weapons and Tactics, or SWAT, teams; and law enforcement K9 units already have participated in testing and are welcome to schedule training.
“Strengthening interoperability with our civilian partners is part of the National Guard’s domestic mission,” Roberts said.
Looking Ahead
The current iteration of the MSTC is built to accommodate growth. Future plans include pursuing additional accreditations for National Registry Emergency Medical Technician refreshers, lifesaver courses and even more advanced special operations medicine lanes tailored for the 19th Special Forces Group (Airborne), based in Utah.
“This is only the beginning,” Whaley said. “Every unit that’s come through has immediately re-booked for more time. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive—and honestly, this has re-energized me as a combat medic.”
By Sgt. 1st Class Tim Beery
Utah National Guard