Photo By Kenneth Abbate | U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Jay Johnson, right, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander,...... read more read more
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TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Military and civilian personnel at Travis AFB put their medical readiness to the test during Exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2025 (UC25) July 21 - Aug 2, 2025.
The U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM)-led annual patient movement field training exercise (FTX) simulated the reception, treatment and distribution of injured patients from overseas locations to pre-designated local care facilities.
USTRANSCOM designed UC25 to assess its ability and capacity to conduct global patient movement at scale and examine patient movement functionality across the Department of Defense (DOD) with industry and interagency partners. USTRANSCOM is the DOD’s single manager for global patient movement, charged with moving ill and injured patients to appropriate levels of medical care.
“Ultimate Caduceus underscores our commitment to delivering world-class care and rapid evacuation for our military,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Christopher Backus, USTRANSCOM command surgeon. “With our government and civilian partners, we stand ready to bring our warfighters home, no matter where they are.”
The exercise started with a realistic crisis scenario that prompted a large-scale military patient movement response from within the Indo-Pacific region. In turn, Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and Travis initiated reception and transfer of patients to Federal Coordinating Centers (FCC) and medical facilities in and around Honolulu, Hawaii, Sacramento, California, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, integrating with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
“Travis’s new responsibility as a CCRF (Combat Casualty Readiness Facility) is extremely important due to their strategic location,” said U.S. Army Maj LaToya Toler, USTRANSCOM Surgeon’s Office & Joint Exercise Planner. “The role and diversity of participants reflect the complexity and realism required to effectively rehearse patient movement.”
More than 1,000 military and civilian personnel, including teams from 21 civilian hospitals and representatives from the VA, HHS and the Defense Health Agency (DHA), cooperated in a collective effort to provide rapid response care. Several interdependent functions comprised the patient movement system, including aeromedical evacuation and critical care air transport teams capable of providing intensive care while airborne.
A portion of UC25 focused on engaging a National Disaster Medical System (NDMS) pilot program, which leveraged the exercise's simulated scenario as a critical triggering event. This program used UC25 to study and develop interventions and best practices for large-scale operations and other potential national crisis.
As USTRANSCOM transported patients, the NDMS provided the “connective tissue” between military and civilian agencies, facilitating interoperability and interface within the robust network.
“This cooperation strengthens our NDMS alignment and validates our ability to integrate civilian capabilities during a large-scale patient movement,” said U.S. Army Maj LaToya Toler, USTRANSCOM Surgeon’s Office & Joint Exercise Planner.
Building on UC24, this year's exercise expanded to include nearly twice as many hospitals, multiple counties beyond Sacramento and rotary-wing assets from the National Guard, the private sector and other state agencies.
“We’re going further than we have in the past to stress test the system and to demonstrate these systems in mass,” said Anthony Trimble, NDMS planner.
UC25 emphasized interoperability to bring together all elements of the global patient movement enterprise in peacetime to better prepare for any crisis. The exercise allowed stakeholders to align with shared objectives and provide agile, safe, reliable and scalable global patient movement for the DOD.
| Date Taken: | 08.01.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 08.01.2025 17:03 |
| Story ID: | 544573 |
| Location: | TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 33 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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