JACKSONVILLE, Fla. –
Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) – Mike establishes command during a ceremony today at Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Jacksonville. The ceremony formally recognizes EMF-Mike as a standalone Echelon V command.
The command establishment ceremony is a time-honored naval tradition which formally announces, to the officers and personnel of the command, the assumption of the responsibilities and authority of command.
During the ceremony, Capt. Sharon House, Commander, NMRTC Jacksonville and Director, Naval Hospital Jacksonville, introduced EMF – Mike’s first commanding officer, Capt. Randy Panke. Panke, a Medical Service Corps officer and native of Oviedo, Florida, recently served as Commanding Officer, 2nd Medical Battalion, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.
“I am honored to take the helm of Expeditionary Medical Facility – Mike,” said Panke. “The sailors of this unit are highly skilled and experienced, we will continue to train and be mission ready to deploy in support of our nation’s Warfighters.”
In the past two years, while operating under NMRTC Jacksonville, EMF – M personnel deployed 139 personnel to Vaccination Site Team-3 of Task Force Southeast, delivering 85,429 COVID-19 vaccinations over 85 days to the residents of Jacksonville, Florida as a Defense Support of Civil Authorities mission in concert with Federal Emergency Management Agency and the State of Florida. EMF – Mike also deployed two 35-member Expeditionary Medical Unit (EMU) rotations, 9 and 12, to Erbil, Iraq. Deployed 72 providers and technicians for eight campaigns covering six area of responsibilities, 18 thousand deployment hours, supporting COVID-19 pandemic response, 4,312 refugee care and relocations, and health care to 1,100 Department of Defense personnel supporting Operation Allies Welcome.
Sailors assigned to EMF – Mike, as well as staff from NH Jacksonville and NMRTC Jacksonville were in attendance for this significant event.
NMRTC Jacksonville's mission is to prepare service members to deploy in support of operational forces, deliver high quality healthcare services and shape the future of military medicine through education, training and research.
Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Jacksonville (co-located with Naval Hospital Jacksonville) supports warfighter medical readiness to deploy and clinician readiness to save lives. NMRTC Jacksonville includes five units across Florida and Georgia. To learn more, visit: https://jacksonville.tricare.mil.