An army reservist swapped his day job as a specialist in emergency medicine to train alongside the US Navy in California.
Major Matt Lynch, who works at Macclesfield District General Hospital, also serves with 208 Field Hospital.
He was part of a group of 100 soldiers from the regiment that travelled to Camp Pendleton in San Diego, where – for the first time ever – British medics were put through their paces by their US counterparts.
Speaking after the training Matt, 47, who served in Afghanistan twice during his seven years with the Army reserve, said his time in California had been invaluable.
He said: “Unlike civilian medics, Army medics must know how to build their own hospital from scratch.
“So we were building a temporary tented hospital which we would use as our first medical facility in any deployment.
“It was good. The weather was better than home, and it’s also good to use another nation’s kit because it’s likely that on any future deployment we may end up using it for real.
“My friends and family were a little bit jealous I was in California, they thought it was all beaches and sunshine – not realising we were wearing hard hats, building a hospital in the blazing sun.”
After the demands of Camp Pendleton Matt took part in kayaking, climbing and horse-riding in Nevada’s Spring Mountains and a camping and trekking expedition into the Grand Canyon.
