Top enlisted leaders who work on U.S. Army medical and operational needs said medical evacuation and its associated tasks require modernization for future large-scale combat.
Casualty numbers in the Russia-Ukraine war point to likely large-scale casualty events in the future that will far eclipse the numbers seen by U.S. troops in recent wars, a panel of command sergeants major said Monday at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting in Washington.
The three leaders agreed that one problem vexing units is the inability to move large numbers of casualties across the battlefield.
“Everything that has wheels or tracks has a casualty on it, unless it has a main gun on it,” said Command Sgt. Maj. James Light, the top enlisted leader for the 1st Cavalry Division.
And that’s for a division with armored combat brigades, which carry many more vehicles in their formations than lighter units such as Infantry Brigade Combat Teams.
Command Sgt. Maj. Oracio Pena, top enlisted leader for the Joint Readiness Training Center, noted that infantry brigades must rely on Humvees and infantry squad vehicles, which can only carry one patient at a time.
But even with vehicles to move casualties, leader also see a lack of platoon- and company-level casualty evacuation plans being used by units in training, said Command Sgt. Maj. Jesus Gonzalez, the top enlisted leader at the U.S. Army Medical Center of Excellence.
Across the medical field, the Army is taking steps to improve gear and training for both medical and nonmedical personnel.
They’re modernizing Warrior Aid and Litter Kits, which are first aid kits for soldiers, and assigning combat paramedics in the Mobile Maneuver Battalion to mitigate casualty evacuation challenges.
Officials are also implementing aerial drones and unmanned ground vehicles to look for casualties and scout routes for evacuation and drop medical supplies forward from battalion aid stations to medics and combat lifesavers.
The service is also working to increase the number of combat lifesavers per squad, team, vehicle or crew, in addition to updating lifesaver training to include tourniquet conversion, freeze-dried plasma and rapid blood typing.
Todd South has written about crime, courts, government and the military for multiple publications since 2004 and was named a 2014 Pulitzer finalist for a co-written project on witness intimidation. Todd is a Marine veteran of the Iraq War.