Patriot Medic 2025 took place August 6 to 12 at Fort McCoy, Wisconsin, and Grissom Air Reserve Base, Indiana. The multi-national exercise, led by the Air Force Reserve, included more than 9,000 personnel from all U.S. military services and international partners including Australian, British and Canadian forces. 

U.S. Air Force Reserve Master Sgt. Brandon Fitch and 1st Lt. Erin Patinella, a medical technician and clinical nurse with the 932nd Aeromedical Staging Squadron, rush to a simulated field casualty during Tactical Combat Casualty Care training for Exercise Patriot Medic 25, Aug. 10, 2025, at Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind. Patriot Medic validates Reserve medical capabilities and strengthens resilience, adaptability and continuous improvement. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Noah J. Tancer)

Maj. Gen. John Bartrum was the senior trainer for Patriot Medic 25. He is also the mobilization assistant to the Air and Space Force surgeon general where he directs Air Force Medical Service operations. 

"We have to be ready to operate in a world of constrained resources," Bartrum said. "The exercise conditions Reserve Airmen for high stress operations. We build resiliency in peacetime so that we can respond and perform effectively in any environment." 

More than 100 Tactical Combat Casualty Care trainers and evaluators participated in the exercise and trained new trainers and other servicemembers at the event. This helped some participants complete required deployment cycle TCCC Level 2 training certifications. Trainers also certified new training cadre that returned to their units with the ability to train more Airmen. 

"The enhancement [to the exercise] came from realism and stresses induced on our medics," said Col. Ramil Codina, command surgeon for Air Force Reserve Command. "We prepare our medics as we fight in the field with combined forces operators." 

Codina also shared how the exercise validated the Reserve's immediate readiness capabilities and supported the AFRC priorities Ready Now! and Transforming for the Future. 

"The 'Ready Now' piece is measured by our ability to provide long-term care and evacuate our patients in the field with current technologies," Codina said. 

A U.S. Army medic with the 209th Regional Support Group applies a tourniquet to a patient during a simulated Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosives event for Exercise Patriot Medic 25, Aug. 9, 2025, Fort McCoy, Wis. Patriot Medic focuses on trauma care, patient evacuation, en route care and joint interoperability to ensure forces are combat-ready and mission-capable. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jake Buck)

"Trauma physicians from the Army, Navy and allied medical forces all perform medicine in a similar fashion," Codina said. "Our Air Force Reserve medics who are trained in tactical combat casualty care were able to pass those skills onto our joint and allied partners." 

Capt. April Pulver, chief nurse with the 920th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at Langley Air Force Base, also participated in the exercise. 

"When you're deployed, Reserve Airmen come from various units and stations, and you need to learn how to work as a team," Pulver said. "I very much learned how to be a part of one team at Patriot Medic 25." 

Patriot Medic 25 demonstrated the Reserve's unique value in providing experienced medical support globally. In a world where peer competitors threaten global stability, the Reserve's medical capabilities could determine mission success or failure. 

"The reason we do this every year is readiness," Bartrum said. "We are ready now, anytime, anywhere." 

Source: U.S.Air Force