On Friday, September 16, 2021, the 47th Combat Support Hospital conducted a ceremony on Watkins Field at Joint Base Lewis-McChord to activate the 29th Hospital Center and redesignate the unit to the 147th Field Hospital. The ceremony marked the culmination of efforts that began prior to 2010 to update the design for the Combat Support Hospitals based on lessons learned from combat operations in Ir
aq and Afghanistan. In July 2014, the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army approved the Force Design Update for all Active Duty and Reserve Combat Support Hospitals. The new design modernizes the Combat Support Hospital into a more scalable unit structure to meet the hospitalization demands of large-scale combat operations in a multi-domain environment. It provides combatant commanders with maximum flexibility and responsiveness while increasing selective surgical and emergency medicine capabilities and specialties. COL YR Summons, the 62nd Medical Brigade Commander and the host for the ceremony, remarked “This ceremony marks the closure of one chapter and the initiation of another for the storied 47th CSH as it becomes the 147th Field Hospital. The activation of the 29th Hospital Center and the conversion to the 147th Field Hospital are important milestones for the Army and the Pacific. They give the USARPAC Commander scalable capability to support forces in the most consequential theater during the most consequential time as we deter the most consequential threat to the US.”
The 47th CSH has a distinguished history. Originally constituted as the 47th Surgical Hospital on December 21, 1928; it was subsequently redesignated as the 47th Portable Surgical Hospital and deployed to support American and British Forces in the China-Burmese theater of operations during World War II. It was reactivated as the 47th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital and deployed to support the United Nations Forces in Defense of the Republic of Korea and continued supporting peace keeping operations until 1957. Following a period of inactivation, it was reactivated at Fort Lewis on January 10, 1968 and reorganized as a Combat Support Hospital in May 1973. The 47th CSH deployed to support the XVIII Airborne Corps during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, with the noted distinction of the most forward deployed hospital in theater. The 47th CSH executed two deployments in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2005 and 2009. In 2011, the 47th CSH supported Operation New Dawn as the last CSH in theater providing support to the reduction of forces and conclusion of American military operations in Iraq. The 47th CSH most recently deployed in 2017 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, where it supported coalition forces combating ISIS. The 147th Field Hospital will assume the heritage and lineage from the 47th Combat Support Hospital. During his remarks, COL Nelson So, the 29th Hospital Center Commander reflected, “Throughout its history, the 47th CSH has an incredible legacy of service and excellence providing world class healthcare on the battlefield supporting our warfighters. I have no doubt the next evolution of this great unit will continue this tradition.”
LTC Melissa Gue and MSG David Rodriguez, unfurled the colors for the redesignated 147th Field Hospital and assumed their positions as the unit’s first command team. After the ceremony, LTC Gue expressed, “The opportunity to command the 147th Field Hospital is an absolute honor and a privilege. I am excited to train with our Soldiers to ensure our unit is ready to support our forces in the Pacific and wherever else we are called upon.”
In addition to the conversion of the 47th CSH to the 147th Field Hospital, the 29th Hospital Center was activated. Hospital Centers were initially used during World War I and were designed to command and control up to ten hospitals and subordinate units. In this era, Hospital Centers are designed to provide Command and Control for up to two geographically dispersed Field Hospitals, with up to 248 beds, and other subordinate units. In the following weeks, the 29th Hospital Center and the 147th Field Hospital will field new medical equipment and soon thereafter execute filed training to exercise the new unit and equipment. The units will prepare for a validation exercise next spring, in addition to supporting exercises and contingencies in the USINDOPACOM AOR.
