SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. – Approximately 400 military and civilian personnel gathered to reinforce a shared commitment to patient-centered care during Exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2026 held Sept. 2-12, 2026, at Scott AFB.
The annual patient movement field training exercise, led by U.S. Transportation Command, simulates receiving injured troops from overseas locations at designated aeromedical evacuation hubs and patient reception areas where federal coordinating centers and local partners receive, triage, stage, track and transport patients to pre-designated local definitive care facilities.
“Ultimate Caduceus is about the power of our partnership and a testament to our nation’s shared commitment to providing world-class care,” said Air Force Col. Christopher Backus, USTRANSCOM command surgeon. “The synergy between our military medical teams and the incredible expertise of our community and interagency partners creates a resilient network that is greater than the sum of its parts. Together, we are ready for any crisis.”
The exercise kicked off with hands-on training evaluating the readiness of the patient movement enterprise. Participants were assessed on their ability to scale up forces and deploy sufficient medical assets to provide expedited transport of military patients to locations within the United States for care within a collective effort with our military and industry partners.
“Opportunities like this are crucial for our soldiers to come out and flex their medical skill sets not only with our military, but with industry partners,” said Army Maj. Jesse Back, 7450th Medical Operational Readiness Unit officer in charge of the patient insertion team. “Testing our real-world abilities and interoperability away from our home station only makes for a stronger united warfighting team.”
A central focus of this exercise was testing the aeromedical evacuation mission, which provides time-sensitive, fixed-wing, critical in-flight care to patients in transit from locations overseas to the United States. Global operations depend on the medical enterprises ability to project, maneuver and sustain the joint force and are made stronger through continued relationships with our partners and allies.
“Working directly with other services builds trust by helping us understand each other’s capabilities and work through challenges before we have to do it in a real-world operation,” said Air Force Maj. Melissa Cadorette, Air Mobility Command A37 Joint Exercise Division exercise support branch chief. “While this exercise is focused on joint integration across the medical field, my biggest takeaway has been seeing how important communication and coordination are across all organizations involved in patient movement.”
Multiple aircraft were involved to make this exercise possible. Air Force C-130J Super Hercules, Army C-12 Huron, Army HH-60 Black Hawks and civilian cargo and passenger aircraft participated, allowing joint and civilian medical teams to train on a variety of airlift platforms. This global patient enterprise provides safe, reliable and scalable patient movement for the Department of War.
“Commercial patient movement services are centered around individual patients,” said Anthony Ross, U.S. Transportation Command Defense Health Agency liaison officer. “Ultimate Caduceus provides an opportunity to strengthen our public-private partnerships, test and integrate high-volume commercial capabilities and scale the War Department’s capacity to deliver warfighters from the battlefield to care.”
Readiness is a shared responsibility. UC26 is where our community of experts come together to share insight and refine a collective approach to patient care. The exercise is an opportunity to strengthen our integration, test our readiness and ensure our robust network is prepared for any crisis.
“Through joint training and collaboration, participants gain a better understanding of each organization’s capabilities, procedures and challenges,” said Army Reserve Lt. Col. David Stefl, 807th Theater Medical Command joint task force medical deputy commander. “The success in future operations depends not only on individual technical proficiency, but also on the ability to integrate with partners. Through this exercise we build on these relationships to enhance readiness, improve patient care in operational environments and increase our collective ability to respond effectively when called upon.”
USTRANSCOM’s role is to integrate efforts with interagency partners to create a seamless community of care. Together, we can move every patient safely and efficiently to the definitive medical care they need anywhere within the United States.
“Federal and industry partners expand War Department medical capacity – testing our interoperability at Ultimate Caduceus increases our readiness to deliver warfighters from the battlefield to the DHA, TRICARE, VA and HHS healthcare networks,” said William Walker, Defense Health Agency assistant director of healthcare administration and operations. “Building this foundation now positions War Department leaders to rapidly integrate and scale federal and industry capacity to meet our nation’s warfighting requirements.”
Exercises like Ultimate Caduceus increase interoperability across medical teams and systems so we can provide the highest level of care for those who need it most. Additionally, it reinforced the importance of preparedness for future conflict and DHA’s sacred obligation to provide lifesaving care on and off the battlefield.