JANUARY 22, 2025 — Augustine Akagri had never felt anything like the biting cold of the Italian Alps. As a Warrant Officer Class II in the Ghana Armed Forces with 15 years of combat medical experience and a Ghana Jungle Badge, he believed he was ready for any challenge—until he faced the Army Combat Fitness Test (ACFT) in subzero temperatures.
“When I was going through it [ACFT] I felt the cold in my ribs and my tongue was numb,” said Akagri.
What carried him through wasn’t his medical training, but the resilience skills he had learned during a session with U.S. Army Chaplain Capt. Allen Hoskyn the day before.
“The resilience training helped a lot, I told myself ‘forget this cold and this numbness, I need to finish this,” said Akagri.
The ACFT was just the beginning of Akagri’s experience. Alongside two other medics from the Ghana Armed Forces, he participated in the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force-Africa (SETAF-AF) Partner Medical Training exercise, designed to strengthen medical readiness and interoperability between partners.
The three-day event brought together U.S. Army medics and medical professionals from SETAF-AF, the 173rd Airborne Brigade, and Dental Health Activity-Italy to train with the Ghana Armed Forces team.
Participants underwent intensive medical training over the first two days, followed by a final day dedicated to testing. During the testing phase, participants were divided into three mixed teams, with each team comprising members from all participating units. The teams tackled 12 challenging lanes which included tactical combat casualty care, stress shooting, and K9 tactical combat casualty care.
Not only did the training provide valuable experience for both Ghanaian and American medics, but it also created an opportunity to exchange medical knowledge.
“They [Ghanaian medics] have much more clinical medical knowledge, whereas we focus more on trauma,” said Sgt. Brayden Chapman, a combat medic from the 1-503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade. “I saw different ways of treating wounds because they use a different set of medications than we do, based on what’s available to them versus what’s available to us.”
Chapman added, “Overall, the training was of deep value.”
Like Chapman, Akagri gained a wealth of medical knowledge during the three-day training, which he hopes to share with his unit back in Ghana.
“It’s been an amazing experience. We’ve learned a lot of things, and we were also able to share our ideas with the other participants,” Akagri said.
Most of all, Akagri will remember the cold weather—and that he’ll think twice before turning off the AC at home.
“When I turned off the AC in my house, my wife told me, ‘How are you going to cope when you’re out there [in Italy]?’ So when I got here and felt the cold, I kept remembering her words.”
Story by 1st Lt. Katherine Sibilla
U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa