All military medical training roads now start at METC Published July 6, 2010 By Steve Elliott Fort Sam Houston Public Affairs FORT SAM HOUSTON, Texas (AFNS) -- The future of military medical training arrived here June 30 with the opening of the Medical Education and Training Campus. The METC is an integrated campus under a single university-style administration, with more than 100 courses available to students. "Today marks a significant milestone in the ongoing story of military medicine," said Rear Adm. William R. Kiser, the METC commandant. "Everywhere our nation sends our finest to serve, our graduates will be there with them serving as a force for good because of the work done here." METC entered into its initial operating capability June 30. Its initial training course, Radiography Specialist, began in April. Other courses will be phased in throughout the rest of the year and into 2011. "METC will serve as the birthplace for joint interoperability for corpsmen, medics and technicians," said Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Lambing, the METC senior enlisted advisor. "In five years, every medic and corpsman under the grade of E-5 will have been educated here at METC." The campus will have more than 24,500 students going through its doors each year, with an average daily student load of approximately 8,000. METC officials will also employ an operating staff and faculty of more than 1,400. By service, the student breakdown includes approximately 45 percent Army, 31 percent Navy and 24 percent Air Force. The longest program offered is cytology, which is the study of cells, at 52 weeks; and the shortest, at four weeks, is patient administration. "Today is truly about new beginnings. METC's mission is to produce the world's best military healthcare personnel to support the nation and the vision is to be the nation's leader in military medical education and training," said Rear Adm. Eleanor Valentin, the Navy Medicine Support Command commander and METC Flag Officers Steering Committee chair. "This mission and vision guided us to ensure METC provides curriculum and education that preserves each service's identity while creating an environment where our enlisted professionals can learn from their counterparts in their sister services." Consolidated basic and specialty enlisted training from five separate service medical learning centers have already moved or are in the process of moving to San Antonio. "METC is more than an institution of higher learning," said Chief Lambing, the former Air Education and Training Command chief of the enlisted medical force. "This will become a platform of medical diplomacy on the world stage. Nations across the globe will send their men and women to this campus because METC stands for the best platform the world has even known for producing medics and corpsmen." METC's footprint covers more than 2 million square feet on Fort Sam Houston and cost more than $1.2 billion to build and equip. Each of its three current dormitories will house 1,200 Airmen and Sailors. Two other nearby dorms will be built nearby for Army students, with one housing 3,000 technical school students. "I want you to see not just the bricks and stones and mortar and glass, I want you to see the people whose lives will be made better by what transpires in these buildings," Admiral Kiser said. "These buildings are an investment in the health and safety of the men and women who go into harm's way. They are an investment for what we in military medicine stand for. "We will show it is possible to value our heritage and distinctions and still work together toward a common vision," the admiral said. "Our vision and commitment at METC can be summed up in a single sentence: We will provide America's uniformed services the finest medics, the finest techs, the finest hospital corpsmen who are well-trained, capable and ready to support the missions of our country anywhere around the globe."