Soldiers converge on rural Alaska to practice military medicine

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The U.S. military is coming to the Last Frontier this weekend to pay some very long-distance house calls.

Military members from 30 states will travel to Kotzebue and 11 other Alaska villages to train medical specialists, by providing free health care to local residents in on-the-spot clinics.

The annual Operation Arctic Care allows doctors, dentists, veterinarians, pharmacists, and other military medical personnel to get valuable training by treating patients in remote areas. The exercise will last two weeks and includes members from the Army, Navy, Air Force, National Guard and Reserves.

Contact Sean Doogan at sdoogan@ktuu.com