SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- U.S. Transportation Command kicked off Ultimate Caduceus today to assess the Defense Department’s aeromedical evacuation and critical care air transport capabilities. The field training operations last until March 17 and span across four locations: Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska; Boise, Idaho; and Portland, Oregon.
As the DOD’s single manager for global patient movement, USTRANSCOM oversees the transport of medical patients in foreign locations to treatment centers in the United States. Ultimate Caduceus will simulate this capability using rotary and fixed-wing aircraft to move patients to and from regional medical facilities and Federal Coordinating Centers.
More than 400 joint and total force military and civilian personnel are participating in this year’s exercise, including medical representatives from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the Defense Health Agency.
Ultimate Caduceus will assess the capabilities of and provide field training to aeromedical evacuation and critical care air transport teams, medical staging systems, as well as reception and onward movement functions for global patient movement.
“Ultimate Caduceus is all about exercising USTRANSCOM’s role in global patient movement and increasing interoperability across sister services and with our interagency partners so we can grow our capabilities together,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Matthew Kesti, USTRANSCOM joint medical planner, and UC23 joint exercise control group deputy director.
USTRANSCOM provides the world's only long-range, large-capacity aeromedical evacuation capability, providing en route health care management to patients from forward locations to points of definitive medical care across the globe.