“This Feels Like Coming Home” – US Medical Officer Praises Ghana Partnership at MEDREX 2026 in Accra
For Master Sergeant Tatiana Mason, returning to Ghana for this year’s Medical Readiness Exercise (MEDREX) feels less like a deployment and more like a homecoming.
“This has been an absolute, powerful experience for not just myself, but for our Ghanaian counterparts,” said Mason, the Non-Commissioned Officer in Charge for MEDREX 2026. “For me personally, it’s been the relationships. The integration this time around has been a lot smoother. We were welcomed with open arms.”
Mason, who also participated in last year’s iteration, is leading a team of 25 US military medical personnel from Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Dental Health Activity–Rheinland Pfalz, and the North Dakota National Guard. They are working alongside Ghanaian Armed Forces (GAF) medical professionals at the 37th Military Hospital in Accra.
This year’s exercise includes a wider range of specialists, with the addition of biomedical technicians and an orthopedic surgeon. Together, Ghanaian and US teams are providing patient care while sharing expertise in trauma and general surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, critical and intensive care, anesthesia, emergency care, biomedical technology, and dental services.
Building Readiness Through Real-World Experience
For many of the US participants, MEDREX offers training opportunities they cannot easily get at their home bases.
“The intent for us is to get after some of the medical readiness competencies that we’re unable to perform at our home organization,” Mason explained. “Across the board, we see a lot of trauma here at the 37th Military Hospital that we are not often exposed to back at our hometowns.”
The exercise, planned and executed by the US Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), is designed to prepare American medical professionals for delivering care in non-traditional and resource-limited settings. Working alongside African partners helps them refine skills in rapid, adaptable, and efficient medical care — capabilities that are critical for large-scale operations.
Knowledge Sharing in a Limited Timeframe
While the exercise is short, Mason said the team is making the most of every moment.
“We understand we’re limited to the amount of time we have here in Ghana, so we make the best of it,” she said. “This time, we came in a little more structured so we could enhance and take full advantage of the time we have for knowledge sharing on both ends.”
Mason added that several participants, including herself, have maintained contact with their Ghanaian colleagues year-round since last year’s rotation.
“I’m a pharmacist by trade, so I continue to talk to my pharmacy family as well as department leads throughout the hospital just year-round,” she said. “That made the integration a lot smoother this time.”
Looking Ahead
Mason said discussions are already underway about holding another MEDREX exercise in the future, though no dates have been confirmed.
For now, she described the experience as deeply rewarding.
“For a lot of the participants, this was a great opportunity. For me, this was a welcome home.”
MEDREX 2026 is part of the larger African Lion 26 military exercise, which also sees 50 Ghanaian troops training with US forces in Morocco. US officials say the initiative underscores the growing military and medical partnership between Ghana and the United States.
