{"id":38300,"date":"2023-08-11T18:38:25","date_gmt":"2023-08-11T18:38:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2023\/08\/11\/airmen-prepare-for-a-new-era-of-medical-evacuation-in-the-pacific\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T12:33:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T12:33:11","slug":"airmen-prepare-for-a-new-era-of-medical-evacuation-in-the-pacific","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/08\/11\/airmen-prepare-for-a-new-era-of-medical-evacuation-in-the-pacific\/","title":{"rendered":"Airmen prepare for a new era of medical evacuation in the Pacific"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam \u2014 The U.S. Air Force is rethinking how it would medically evacuate thousands of wounded American troops from the Pacific in a matter of weeks if the military sustained high casualties in a war with China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Such a conflict would force the military\u2019s flying ambulances to reckon with thousands of miles of open ocean, a lack of full-service health facilities and the logistical challenges of transporting and cooling medical supplies across the region, airmen told Air Force Times during a recent visit to Guam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To save the lives of their fellow service members, they said, medevac units will need to fly longer, triage more injuries and illnesses in midair and work more closely with their international partners than ever before.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/09\/inside-the-air-forces-massive-mobility-war-game-in-the-pacific\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"149\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mg2.jpg_d3a540.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Inside the Air Force\u2019s massive mobility war game in the Pacific<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Mobility Guardian, a massive exercise for airlift and aerial refueling, involved 3,000 troops and 70 mobility aircraft from the U.S. and six allies.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIt\u2019s the readiness factor, ensuring that we\u2019re not just mission-capable [in] how we have been doing aeromedical evacuation as we always have,\u201d said Lt. Col. Stephanie Ellenburg, who sets the standard for patient care across nearly three dozen medevac units as commander of the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAre we truly getting ready [for] what potentially is out there?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A new paradigm<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Medics from the U.S. Air Force and six allied countries sought to answer that question last month at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/09\/inside-the-air-forces-massive-mobility-war-game-in-the-pacific\/\" target=\"_blank\">Mobility Guardian<\/a>, the Air Force\u2019s two-week, biennial training exercise for its airlift and aerial refueling units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Their efforts will shape a new framework for aeromedical evacuation at Air Mobility Command, the branch of the Air Force that manages medevac units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The initiative is part of AMC boss Gen. Mike Minihan\u2019s push to transform his command for major operations in the Pacific, after the Pentagon named China as America\u2019s top competitor in military strength, technology development and global influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Minihan warned airmen in a memo earlier this year to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.airforcetimes.com\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/02\/01\/this-air-force-general-is-rallying-his-troops-for-war-with-china\/\" target=\"_blank\">prepare for a potential war with China<\/a> as early as 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"999\" height=\"665\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ellenburg.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-72124\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ellenburg.jpg.jpg 999w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ellenburg.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/ellenburg.jpg.jpg?resize=768,511 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 999px) 100vw, 999px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Lt. Col. Stephanie Ellenburg, 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron commander, speaks to the AE crew during joint medical training on a Royal Air Force A400M Atlas over the Indo-Pacific region July 14 during Mobility Guardian 2023. (Staff Sgt. Devin Rumbaugh\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If the U.S. responds to a Chinese attack on Taiwan \u2014 the democratically self-governed island that maintains military and trade ties with the United States but is claimed by China \u2014 Air Force medics could face an onslaught of combat wounds and a limited number of aircraft on which to treat them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington think tank, <a href=\"https:\/\/csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaws.com\/s3fs-public\/publication\/230109_Cancian_FirstBattle_NextWar.pdf?VersionId=WdEUwJYWIySMPIr3ivhFolxC_gZQuSOQ\">has estimated<\/a> that 6,900 to 10,000 U.S. troops would be killed, wounded or missing in a conflict with China. Those killed in action could comprise around half of the casualties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIn three weeks, the United States will suffer about half as many casualties as it did in 20 years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan,\u201d the think tank said in a Jan. 9 report.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That volume of casualties would put immense pressure on military medevac to carry as many troops to safety as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Officials say that requires a shift in the Air Force\u2019s current aeromedical evacuation enterprise, on which the military relies to move patients between major bases and hospitals around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In a typical medevac, troops would call for help and wait for air planners to assign medics and an aircraft to pick up a wounded or ill patient. But in the Pacific, vast distances and schedule demands \u2014 and potentially, combat losses \u2014 mean the coalition may not have the luxury of waiting for on-call units from nearby bases to arrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Reorganizing those teams can help. At Mobility Guardian, small medical crews armed with large backpacks of supplies traveled with airlift squadrons to respond to simulated emergencies on the spot. Airmen had to use their own judgment and prioritize treatment for those with the highest chance of survival, the Air Force said in a July 20 release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That approach also helps keep missions moving if a unit can\u2019t speak to troops on the ground or receive orders from higher headquarters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Air Force should be able to tack more airmen and equipment onto those basic teams, depending on the situation, Ellenburg added. For instance, a unit may need to pick up pediatric supplies or a respiratory therapist in Guam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Aeromedical evacuation teams will also need to keep patients stable in flight for longer periods of time, as they hop between facilities that provide lower-level care on their way back to major military hospitals in the U.S., like Hawaii\u2019s Tripler Army Medical Center. That will require airmen to balance the amount of equipment they carry on flights with the need to travel light on aircraft full of other cargo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"999\" height=\"665\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c130.jpg_ba6c18.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-72127\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c130.jpg_ba6c18.jpg 999w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c130.jpg_ba6c18.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/c130.jpg_ba6c18.jpg?resize=768,511 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 999px) 100vw, 999px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Royal Canadian Air Force and U.S. Air Force aeromedical evacuation personal work on simulated patients during Mobility Guardian 23 at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, July 10. (Tech. Sgt. Sean Carnes\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those teams could start small and localized on aircraft like the C-130 Hercules cargo plane, which can land on austere outposts with dirt strips instead of full-fledged runways. Later, they could hand off patients to teams on faster C-17 Globemaster III airlifters, which have more room for people and supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">C-17s, seen as the gold standard for aeromedical missions because of their built-in power supply, lighting and square footage, could then ferry their patients to their final destination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Working together<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ideally, Ellenburg said, the U.S. and its allies will standardize their teams, processes and lingo so that injured troops receive the same level of care, regardless of who picks them up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That means American medevac teams need to be jacks of all trades like their foreign counterparts, and less beholden to checklists that can be thorough but cumbersome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Interoperability is made easier when countries fly the same aircraft, like the C-17s the U.S. shares with Australia or the C-130s it has in common with Japan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">On a July 10 training sortie, American airmen joined their Australian counterparts on a Royal Australian Air Force C-17 to go through the motions of loading litter-bound patients onto the plane and checking their vitals in flight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1000\" height=\"665\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/coalition.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-72130\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/coalition.jpg.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/coalition.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/coalition.jpg.jpg?resize=768,511 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Royal Australian Air Force aviators, assigned to the 3rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, and U.S. airmen, assigned to the 375th AES, conduct joint medical training July 10 on a RAAF C-17 Globemaster III over Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, for Exercise Mobility Guardian 23. (Staff Sgt. Devin Rumbaugh\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In the belly of the jet, medics wove multicolored tubes and cords through the skeletons of metal litter racks that would hold four patients \u2014 plastic dummies adorned with faux gashes and burns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four airmen, one for each handle on a litter, began the carefully choreographed steps to bring victims up the ramp: squat, lift, forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Leading Aircraftwoman Rachel Koch, an Australian medical technician, barked directions. \u201cPrepare to rack. Rack!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Two Australians and two Americans slid a patient into place on the shelf.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Staff Sgt. Audrey Allen, an American technician with the 375th AES, offered Koch tips to secure the patients as they strapped three other dummies to the floor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThey\u2019re very similar, but in learning the different team dynamics, it helps us understand how we\u2019re going to integrate together if we\u2019re going to fly AE missions together,\u201d Royal Australian Air Force Flying Officer Alyssa Collins, officer in charge at the 3rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, said in a public affairs video July 11.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"999\" height=\"665\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bodies.jpg.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-72131\" srcset=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bodies.jpg.jpg 999w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bodies.jpg.jpg?resize=300,200 300w, https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/bodies.jpg.jpg?resize=768,511 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 999px) 100vw, 999px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Medical training dummies wait at the bottom of the ramp of a Royal Australian Air Force C-17 Globemaster III July 10 during Exercise Mobility Guardian 23 on Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. (Staff Sgt. Devin Rumbaugh\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Still, coalition air forces faced other logistical hurdles that may require further policy tweaks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Some biomedical cargo was stuck on the flight line because of inspection processes that crews hadn\u2019t anticipated, Ellenburg said. And units may have to find a way to support heating-and-cooling equipment so medicine doesn\u2019t go bad in the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Ellenburg said Mobility Guardian highlighted the \u201cstruggles that it\u2019s going to take\u201d to redesign aeromedical evacuation, but praised the seven-member coalition\u2019s effort to figure it out for a new generation of airmen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019ve had the greatest opportunities to work with lots of different international partners,\u201d she said. \u201cNot all of our U.S. forces have. \u2026 It\u2019s opening their eyes [to] really, truly, what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Airmen will need to fly longer, triage more illnesses and injuries in midair and work more closely with their international partners than ever before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":72118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":8,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,8,26],"tags":[8492],"coauthors":[3381],"class_list":["post-38300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-flashpoints","category-newsletters","tag-china"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"WDY36H5BXRCLDBRUOZRQW4MSQI","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-air-force\/2023\/08\/11\/airmen-prepare-for-a-new-era-of-medical-evacuation-in-the-pacific\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Airmen prepare for a new era of medical evacuation in the Pacific - Navy Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Airmen will need to fly longer, triage more illnesses and injuries in midair and work more closely with their international partners than ever before.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Airmen prepare for a new era of medical evacuation in the Pacific\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Airmen will need to fly longer, triage more illnesses and injuries in midair and work more closely with their international partners than ever before.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/flashpoints\/2023\/08\/11\/airmen-prepare-for-a-new-era-of-medical-evacuation-in-the-pacific\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Navy Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-08-11T18:38:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-08-20T12:33:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rachel S. Cohen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rachel S. Cohen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\n\t    \"@context\": \"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\n\t    \"@graph\": [\n\t        {\n\t            \"@type\": \"Article\",\n\t            \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/11\\\/airmen-prepare-for-a-new-era-of-medical-evacuation-in-the-pacific\\\/#article\",\n\t            \"isPartOf\": {\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/flashpoints\\\/2023\\\/08\\\/11\\\/airmen-prepare-for-a-new-era-of-medical-evacuation-in-the-pacific\\\/\"\n\t            },\n\t            \"author\": {\n\t                \"name\": \"migration\",\n\t                \"@id\": \"https:\\\/\\\/one.sightlinemg.com\\\/navytimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/cc76c831bb37a926738c8391fca7a3b1\"\n\t            },\n\t        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