US Army
Major Bryan Gamble, MD, FACS
The US Army continues to support military treatment facilities (MTFs), military-civilian partnerships, and evolving operational requirements. Surgeons are taking advantage of the US Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC)’s approval of the 4-week Captains Career Course to complete professional military education. This course offers less disruption to the clinical practices and personal lives of learners than the 9-week version. While centralized management has benefited surgeons, our decreased interaction with, and influence on, the Forward Resuscitative Surgical Detachments (FRSD) has been to the units’ detriment. Our consultant group is leading efforts to address this gap and better prepare the Army Role II FRSD for their mission. Army surgeons remain thoroughly involved with supporting the ongoing efforts of the ESS.
US Navy
Commander Diego Vicente, MD, FACS
The US Navy continues to be a distinguished global leader in military medicine with world-class clinical expertise augmenting operational readiness. In 2024-2025, Navy surgeons supported military treatment facilities and operational commands around the world, and developed new partnerships that enhanced trauma care, surgical training, and medical innovation.
Navy surgeons continue to lead in the expansion of military-civilian trauma partnerships, including a new University of Pennsylvania Navy Austere Resuscitative Surgical Care Team, the Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System. This enhanced support from Penn Medicine signals the success and sustainability of these partnerships and reinforces the Navy’s central role in high-volume trauma environments.
With the support of the established cancer centers at the Naval Medical Center, Portsmouth, and Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, ESS members developed a cancer center program at Naval Medical Center San Diego. These military cancer centers continue to be a cornerstone of graduate medical education and have increased surgical case complexity.
In July 2025, the Navy Surgery welcomed 27 new surgery interns, including the recipient of the prestigious Colonel Jeffrey P. Kavolius Award in Academic Excellence in Surgery, Emily Stapleton, MD (Uniformed Services University class of 2025). To further invest in the future of Navy surgeons, 42 physicians were selected for general surgery training in military and civilian residency programs, and 11 surgeons were approved for further fellowship training. Additionally, Navy medical students, interns, and general medical officers seeking surgical training have increased access to civilian programs through the Defense Health Agency partnerships. In 2026, both Temple University and Penn State University will become dedicated locations to train future Navy surgeons.
On the global stage, the Hospital Ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) completed the Pacific Partnership 2024 mission, and Pacific Partnership 2026 preparations are underway with an ESS member as the assistant mission planner. This continued leadership demonstrates Navy surgeons’ critical role in international humanitarian assistance and disaster response.
Research and innovation remain a central focus, with new collaborative initiatives launched in partnership with the Naval Health Research Center, 1st Medical Battalion, Murtha Cancer Center, and Joint Pathology Center. These efforts continue to advance surgical science, operational medicine, and combat casualty care.
Navy surgeons remain at the forefront of academic and professional leadership, playing vital roles within the ESS and serving in key positions across multiple committees within the ACS and other prestigious medical societies.
These accomplishments as well as some “sea stories,” will be shared in the new quarterly general surgery e-newsletter The Surgeons’ Scroll.
The activities and achievements described here are examples of the Navy's unwavering dedication to excellence in national defense, education, leadership, and the art and science of surgery.
The Navy continues to push for increased recruitment and retention and is excited to welcome a new group of mid-career and late-career surgeons joining the Navy surgical community in 2025–2026.
US Air Force
Lieutenant Colonel Mary Stuever, MD, FACS
The ACS Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET) course was completed on April 28 and 29, at Khalifa University in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Defense and the Abu Dhabi Department of Health. Members of the Trauma, Burn, and Rehabilitation Medicine (TBRM) team served as lead subject matter experts and coordinators and provided the majority of instructors. There were 16 participants, eight civilian and eight military. The overall response to the course was excellent, with participants citing this as the best training course that they have attended. The demand signal for additional ASSET courses is strong, and continued collaborative support is recommended to ensure the trauma surgical training needs are met for Abu Dhabi, The Emirates, and the Gulf Corporation Council region.
