Readiness in action at Ultimate Caduceus 25 Published Sept. 2, 2025 Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs FALLS CHURCH, Va. -- Robust medical support proved critical to operational success in the Pacific during WWII. Now, 80 years after the formal end of hostilities, the U.S. military faces new challenges in the Indo-Pacific, a region which remains vital to global security. To protect American interests and deter aggression, medical readiness is recognized as a critical component for success in this challenging environment. U.S. Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. John DeGoes discussed Air Force Medical Command’s role in prioritizing readiness and supporting the warfighter, after taking command of Air Force’s newest direct reporting unit. “We must continue to deliver unmatched human performance and medical readiness in support of the Air Force and Space Force missions,” DeGoes said. “It won’t be easy, given the challenges we face. But with unified AFMEDCOM leadership - from headquarters through the Medical Readiness Commands and into the medical groups, all the way to every Airman - I am confident we will provide the trusted care necessary to fly, fight, and win anytime, anywhere, against any opponent.” DeGoes and U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. James Woods, Chief, Medical Enlisted Forces, recently engaged with Pacific Air Forces medical leaders, including medical planners from several major commands, during the PACAF Surgeon Medical Readiness Symposium at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, to discuss operations in Indo-Pacific region and the DAF’s efforts to prioritize medical readiness. During the symposium, DeGoes reinforced the relationship of Air Force medics and the warfighter as the department invests in its readiness and training to meet national security challenges. “We have to focus on the future,” DeGoes said. “We have to be operationally relevant, linked to the unit you serve, and integrated in the unit of action.” DeGoes and Woods advised medical leaders to leverage every training opportunity, ranging from large-scale exercises to smaller, local training sessions, to enhance their medical proficiency and foster seamless integration with the units they support. “You have to effectively use training time to remain mission ready and relevant,” DeGoes said. Over the summer, Air Force medics showcased their operational capability in multiple exercises including Air Force’s Department Level Exercise series. The Air Force used the exercises to generate, sustain and adapt airpower in a contested environment while working alongside regional allies - medics cared for the force. “We are all about sortie generation and regeneration,” he said. “Our sorites are not flying a plane, our sorties involve optimizing the health of Airmen and Guardians who enable the missions to occur. As medics, we need to train the way we fight: our goal is to save lives, ease suffering, return the warfighter to duty, and facilitate patient transport.” As the DLE series primarily tested military operations in a combat environment, the U.S. Transportation Command hosted Ultimate Caduceus 2025 to exercise the Department of War’s medical capability and evaluate its ability to rapidly care for and move patients from an overseas location to a reception area in the United States. During Exercise Ultimate Caduceus 2025, Air Force medics joined more than 1,000 military and civilian personnel, including teams from 21 civilian hospitals to provide rapid response care for patients evacuated from Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, to Travis Air Force Base, California. “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.” Participants rehearsed transporting thousands of patients through Travis AFB, intentionally exceeding the capability of the Air Force’s David Grant Medical Center. UC25, designed to overwhelm military medical capabilities, became an activating event for the National Disaster Medical System’s military-civilian partnership program. Congress, through legislation, tasked NDMS to enhance the nation’s ability to respond to large-scale disasters, public health emergencies, and support the military with patient care in large scale combat operation, when needed. “The scenario highlights what we know to be true in a real-world crisis,” said Anthony Trimble, National Disaster Medical System planner. “Military medical resources alone won’t be enough. We will rely on civilian partners, and exercises like UC25 to make that interoperability real.” Building interoperability across services and sectors While UC25 was Air Force-centric, other services and civilian agencies played significant roles. The U.S. Army provided medevac personnel, the Navy assisted with patient tracking, and Federal Coordinating Centers in Sacramento, Hawaii, San Antonio and New Mexico demonstrated the role the NDMS plays during a large-scale activation. “All the services would rely on NDMS if it were activated at scale,” explained U.S. Navy CDR Michael Kleman, NDMS pilot principal deputy director. “Congress directed us to be interoperable. That means Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, civilian hospitals, VA facilities, FEMA, even the Department of Transportation and State Department - we’re all in this together.” National relevance beyond combat Though built around combat casualty return, UC25 proved equally relevant for domestic disasters. The same system that moves service members could be activated for events like earthquakes, floods, or pandemics. Air Force medics could play a central role whether its offering care on the ground or providing the aeromedical evacuation capability to get patients to safety. “The beauty of NDMS is that it works in both directions - supporting the military in war, and supporting the nation in crisis,” Trimble said. “UC25 shows the American people that if something happens at home, the system is real, tested, and ready.” A national framework, a ready force UC25 underscored what the Air Force Medical Service trains for every day: readiness is not theoretical. It is practiced, tested, and proven in real-world conditions alongside joint, interagency, and civilian partners. The ability to deliver care in combat, or in the wake of disaster, depends on medics who are trained, adaptable, and ready - anytime, anywhere, for the nation.