CAMP LEMONNIER, Djibouti – The Navy’s Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit’s (FDPMU) play a vital role in sustaining mission readiness across the globe.

Last year, Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit (FDPMU) Industrial Hygiene (IH) component team conducted a survey at an indoor shooting range located at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, which identified elevated health and safety risks and prompting a temporary closure.

This range, known as The Milo Shooting Range, supports weapons qualifications for approximately 4,000 military, joint, allied, and civilian personnel. This makes it a critical asset to force protection and also plays a vital role in enhancing the security posture within the broader United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) region.

In response, a newly deployed FDPMU IH team, led by Lt. j.g. Samuel Martindale, and supported by Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Ryan King, and Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Alexsandria Guerrero, Preventive Medicine Technicians, conducted a comprehensive evaluation of air quality, ventilation, and lead exposure levels. The team’s rapid and effective mitigation efforts enabled the range to be recertified and fully operational within a short time-frame—restoring a key component of Camp Lemonnier’s readiness and security infrastructure.

The FDPMU’s role demonstrates the indispensable connection between preventive medicine and operational success. Their ability to assess, diagnose, and resolve environmental health risks on short notice ensures that forward-deployed forces remain protected, capable, and mission-ready.

FDPMU’s provides rapidly deployable, portable, flexible, and sustainable force health protection (FHP) services to forward-deployed elements of the Navy and Marine Corps through the advent of state-of-the-art detection and diagnostic equipment and real-time analytical capabilities, which includes environmental health hazard (including chemical, biological, radiological, and physical agents) assessment, evaluating the risk of adverse health outcomes, monitoring the health of deployed forces, advising the operational commander of significant health risks, and recommending interventions.