‘Warrior Medics,’ ‘Desert Medics’ join active, Guard peers for ANC ONE 2026
FORT MCCOY, Wis. — Approximately 20 U.S. Army Reserve nurses throughout the Pinellas Park, Florida-based Army Reserve Medical Command, the Salt Lake City-based 807th Theater Medical Command and the Gillem Enclave, Georgia-based 3d Theater Medical Command took part in the annual U.S. Army Nurse Corps Operational Nursing Event alongside 60 other active Army and Army National Guard nurses at the 88th Readiness Division auditorium and Regional Training Site — Medical here, Sept. 15-17, 2026.
This year’s ANC ONE marked the third iteration of the event — intended to provide a didactic, pragmatic and dialogue-driven platform and provide professional growth and development for Army nurses.
U.S. Army Col. Maria Pescatore, the deputy chief of the U.S. Army Nurse Corps, said ANC ONE imparts a multitude of lessons-learned insights and clinical applications useful for field and austere environments.
“My interpretation of the vision of the Operational Nursing Event would be to establish a framework course that many of our (multi-component) nurses can come to and get a shared vision and learn from each other on up-to-date lessons learned of a large-scale combat operation,” said Pescatore.
The Falls Church, Virginia denizen said the first two days of ANC ONE encompassed strategic level oversight, such as medical experiences in Operation Epic Fury and the mission and capabilities of forward resuscitative surgical detachments, or FRSDs.
For the third and final day of ANC ONE, the Army nurses engaged in rotational hands-on scenarios to refresh on rudimentary nursing and clinical skills and knowledge.
“On day three, we came out here to RTS-MED and we had rotations through the skills lab, we talked about the Hamilton ventilator, we had the Belmont rapid infuser, we had a wound care station as well as an overall patient assessment station and packaging a patient for evacuation,” Pescatore said. “So, a lot of getting back to the basics of nursing that we all need to be proficient in.”
Moreover, Pescatore said validation for credentialing purposes is handled through the RTS-MED here.
“Continuing education credit is earned during this course, which is also another great benefit for maintaining our licenses,” said Pescatore.
Illinois Army National Guard 1st Lt. Tiffany Truesdell, a medical-surgical nurse assigned to the Springfield, Illinois-based Joint Forces Medical Detachment who attended ANC ONE this year, said she is grateful for the opportunity in interacting with active Army, Army National Guard and Army Reserve nurses — respectively known as COMPO 1, 2 and 3 in U.S. Army vernacular.
“It’s nice to hear how different compos interact, and how you can get bits and piece from every other compo other than your own. It’s a dysfunctional functional family that I never knew existed,” Truesdell said.
Truesdell, who previously was a wheeled vehicle mechanic with an additional skill identifier in wheeled vehicle recovery operations prior to her officer commission, said ANC ONE gave her an awakening in expectations and to nurture a proactive mindset.
“It makes you expect the unexpected, and it makes you prepared,” said Truesdell. “It’s better to be overprepared than underprepared, and this gives me the opportunity to think, plan and execute prior to any executions that are being taken care of.”
RTS-MED here, along with satellite locations at Parks Reserve Forces Training Area, California and Fort Gordon, Georgia, are subordinate organizations of the San Antonio-based Medical Readiness and Training Command. RTS-MEDs enhance both individual and collective unit readiness in the U.S. Army Reserve with training documentation and implementation, along with medical simulations and logistics.
Pescatore said it is greatly beneficial for Army nurses through all components to enroll in ANC ONE whenever the opportunity arises in their career glide paths.
“This is a phenomenal course and highly recommended,” said Pescatore. “Each one of our nurses should try to attend this at some point within their careers.”
ANC ONE augments medical force generation and readiness with its multifaceted approach in education and training platforms to ensure synchronicity in operations across all Army components — in support of large-scale combat operations and large-scale mobilization operations.
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