Travis AFB demonstrates commitment to patient care in UC24

Published June 27, 2024
By Tech. Sgt. Savannah L. Waters
60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFNS) --

Approximately 550 Team Travis members participated in Exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2024 at Travis Air Force Base, June 10-21.

UC24 is an annual U.S. Transportation Command-led patient movement field training exercise held at multiple locations throughout the Indo-Pacific and within the United States.

Ultimate Caduceus assessed USTRANSCOM’s ability and capacity to conduct global patient movement on a large scale and in a field training environment, as well as examined patient movement functionality across the Defense Department and with interagency partners.

Airmen build ERPSS tent — Airmen assigned to various U.S. installations connect framework for a patient staging system during exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2024 at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., June 14, 2024. UC24 assessed U.S. Transportation Command’s ability and capacity to conduct global patient movement at a large scale and in a field training environment, as well as examined patient movement functionality across the Defense Department and with interagency partners. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kenneth Abbate)

Airman practice in-processing simulated patients in an ERPSS tent — Airmen practice in-processing simulated patients into a patient staging system tent during exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2024 at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., June 17, 2024. UC24 allowed global military patient movement stakeholders to train during large scale patient movement operations with unity of effort and an understanding of each other’s roles to provide safe, reliable and scalable global patient movement for the Defense Department. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Robert Nichols)

Airman transport simulated patient — Airmen prepare to load a simulated patient onto an ambulance bus during exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2024 at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., June 17, 2024. UC24 assessed U.S. Transportation Command's ability and capacity to conduct global patient movement at a large scale and in a field training environment, as well as examined patient movement functionality across the Defense Department and with interagency partners. (U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Robert Nichols)

An airman reads a simulated medical scenario on an aircraft — Maj. Howard Luong, 22nd Health Care Operations Squadron physician assistant, reads a simulated medical scenario during exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2024 mid-flight over northern California, June 18, 2024. More than 1,000 military and civilian personnel participated in the annual U.S. Transportation Command-led patient movement field training exercise from June 10 to June 21, at Travis Air Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Philip Bryant)

An airman records simulated patient notes on an aircraft — Capt. Genesis Santos, 959th Inpatient Operations Squadron transport nurse, records simulated patient notes during exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2024 in the skies over northern California, June 18, 2024. Participants simulated receiving injured troops from overseas locations at designated aeromedical evacuation hubs and patient reception areas where federal coordinating centers and local partners received, triaged, staged, tracked and transported patients to pre-designated local medical facilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Philip Bryant)

Airmen transport simulated patients from an ambulance bus onto an aircraft — Airmen transport a simulated patient onto a C-130J Super Hercules during exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2024 at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., June 18, 2024. Participants simulated receiving injured troops from overseas locations at designated aeromedical evacuation hubs and patient reception areas where federal coordinating centers and local partners received, triaged, staged, tracked and transported patients to pre-designated local medical facilities. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Philip Bryant)

“We are super grateful to be a part of Ultimate Caduceus 24, knowing what an incredible planning event it has been over several months,” said Brig. Gen. Derek Salmi, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander. “We are so grateful for the reps and sets that it has given our team to integrate in the broader patient management and patient distribution system.”

Participants simulated receiving injured troops from overseas locations at designated aeromedical evacuation hubs and patient reception areas where federal coordinating centers and local partners received, triaged, staged, tracked and transported patients to pre-designated local definitive care facilities.

“This exercise prepared medic Airmen to treat and render aid to injured personnel, ensuring continuous care from the point of injury in a contested environment, all the way to definitive medical treatment stateside,” said Maj. Melvin Tsui, 60th Medical Group medical incident commander. “This exercise was critical in ensuring we can interoperate with multiple agencies within the patient movement system. Each component is essential, and the exercising of those communication lines is vital to ensuring this system works in a large-scale overseas conflict.

More than 1,000 joint and total force military and civilian personnel participated in this year’s iteration, demonstrating a collective commitment to patient care. This included representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Defense Health Agency.

“What was unique about this UC is it started in the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Guam [and continued with] Travis [AFB], Denver, Reno, Washington, D.C. and Pearl Harbor, Hickam,” said Col. Christopher Backus, USTRANSCOM command surgeon. “This has been a bigger UC than most, and I feel like this has paved some new ground. We’ve definitely made steps forward on items that we want, and we are looking forward to making further steps.”

UC24 allowed global military patient movement stakeholders to train with a unity of effort and an understanding of each other’s roles to provide safe, reliable and scalable global patient movement for the DoD.

As the DoD’s single manager for global patient movement, USTRANSCOM provides the world's only long-range, large-capacity aeromedical evacuation capability, enabling en route health care management to patients from locations around the globe to their point of definitive medical care.

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