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U.S. Airmen in medical specialties from across Air Force Reserve Command along with Air National Guard, and soldiers assigned to Army Reserve Medical Command gathered across Mississippi and Louisiana for Exercise Patriot Medic 26, the AFRC’s premier annual medical readiness exercise.
This annual exercise is a cornerstone of Air Force Reserve medical readiness, designed to simulate combat trauma care, patient evacuation, and en-route critical care in an austere joint-environment.
This year, the exercise included 368 Airmen across 12 AFRC units. The training was held across the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center and Camp Shelby, Mississippi and Camp Beauregard, Louisiana.
The large-scale training event focused on combat trauma care, patient evacuation, en route critical care and expeditionary medical operations, ensuring participants are prepared to support the joint force anytime and anywhere.
The exercise directly supported the Chief of Air Force Reserve Task Order 2026-01, which directs Airmen and units to maintain deployment readiness and proficiency throughout the AFFORGEN cycle.
“The annual execution of Exercise Patriot Medic specifically targets units and Airmen currently in the certify phase of their readiness cycle,” said Chief Master Sgt. Sonderia Brown, exercise coordinator for Patriot Medic 26. “This alignment ensures medical personnel are fully qualified to go out the door.
Throughout the exercise, participants employed critical medical support assets, including Critical Care Air Transport Teams, En Route Patient Staging Systems, Expeditionary Medical Support, and patient decontamination.
“Getting to come here to these larger exercises, we really get to put our skills into practice,” said Capt. David Orr, a critical care nurse assigned to the 349th Medical Squadron. “Understanding the flow of how patients move from the emergency room to the ICU or operating room is very similar to what we would experience in a deployed environment.”
The exercise also exposed participants to the logistical realities of expeditionary medicine. Teams spent time constructing tents, organizing equipment and establishing functional treatment areas before patient scenarios began.
“I have much more appreciation for the logistics it takes to set up something like this,” Orr said. “The manpower and planning required to build a field hospital is incredible.”
For junior Airmen, Patriot Medic 26 provided hands-on experiences rarely available during traditional reserve training weekends.
“At my home station, I’m usually working administrative tasks,” said Airman 1st Class Vivianne Merrick, a mental health technician assigned to the 752nd Medical Squadron at March Air Reserve Base. “Here, it’s field training. I’ve learned skills from providers, surgeons and technicians that I wouldn’t normally get exposed to, and it’s shown me what a deployment environment could really look like.”
Merrick also said the exercise reinforced the collaborative nature of military medicine, where Airmen from different specialties and ranks work together toward a common mission.
“It really put into perspective that no matter your rank or career field, we’re all part of the same team,” she said.
Master Sgt. Alejandro Rojas, a medical technician assigned to the 752nd Medical Squadron, echoed the importance of operating in a realistic field environment.
“There’s no way I could get this kind of training in my civilian job,” Rojas said. “This allows us to learn how to establish a field hospital, work through challenges and understand how to provide the best care possible with the resources available.”
Through realistic scenarios and joint training opportunities, Patriot Medic 26 helped ensure Reserve medical personnel remain prepared to answer the nation’s call.
“When we talk about being 'Ready Now' in the medical world, we mean our medics can handle trauma, patient staging, and evacuations in a contested environment on day one,” said Brown. “We don't have time to get up to speed once we deploy.”
As the exercise concluded, participants departed with enhanced medical skills, stronger professional relationships and a deeper understanding of their role in supporting combat operations. Whether responding to contingency operations, humanitarian missions or future conflicts, the training conducted during Patriot Medic 26 reinforced the Air Force Reserve’s commitment to building medically ready forces capable of delivering trusted care in any environment.
“The biggest takeaway from Patriot Medic is realizing that when we train as one integrated team, we are unstoppable in the actual fight,” said Brown.
| Date Taken: | 06.17.2026 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2026 15:09 |
| Story ID: | 568075 |
| Location: | GULFPORT, MISSISSIPPI, US |
| Web Views: | 23 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Exercise Patriot Medic 26 strengthens medical readiness, by SSgt Tambri Cason, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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