Service Updates

US Army

Major Kayleigh M. Herrick-Reynolds, MD, DABS 

Army surgeons continue to answer the call to service across an increasingly demanding operational landscape, including sustained support to CENTCOM and SOUTHCOM, with our surgeons demonstrating excellence at every echelon of care. One example is the establishment of 90-day rotations in Panama supporting systems development in SOUTHCOM. Army Surgeon Dr. Stephanie Saint-Laurent is working in conjunction with local surgeon Dra. Martha Quiodettis and the Joint Security Cooperation Group Panama to develop a trauma system and establish a military-civilian agreement with local trauma centers to provide US casualty care capability in the region.  

The Joint Expeditionary Trauma Training course, led by Dr. Tyson Becker and Russel Moore has launched a 12-day program designed to prepare joint force surgical teams for damage control resuscitation and surgery in austere and prolonged care settings. The course replicates large-scale combat operations (LSCO) conditions, including contested logistics, prolonged casualty care, mass casualty events, equipment failure, and split-team operations. 

The curriculum maps directly to Army Individual Critical Task List, the Air Force Comprehensive Medical Readiness Program, and Navy Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities, thereby ensuring interoperability and shared standards across services. Multiple courses are scheduled through fiscal year 2026. A recent publication identifying research gaps for surgical combat casualty care identified a shift in priorities toward dried and shelf-stable blood products, CBRNE preparedness, and burn care, reflecting the realities of planning for LSCO.1   

Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, achieved recognition as a transplant center of excellence, a milestone reflecting the dedication of Dr. Jamie Diaz Robinson, Dr. Sharon Weeks Groh, and the entire transplant team. The DoD Rectal Cancer Watch and Wait Tumor Board, founded by Dr. Mary O’Donnell with the support of Dr. Craig Shriver and the Murtha Cancer Center has now achieved 1 year of successful virtual DoD wide tumor boards. Colorectal surgeons across Military Treatment Facilities (MTF) are now able to meet virtually for endoscopy review, MRI interpretation, and multidisciplinary review, expanding beneficiary access to state-of-the-art cancer care. 

Army surgeons continue to shape the future of military surgical training. A recent systematic review documented a decade of innovation in military surgical graduate medical education (GME) from 2015 to 2025, highlighting advances in simulation-based training, deployment readiness curricula, and mentorship frameworks that have led to improvements in resident confidence and readiness.2 

The search for a new General Surgery program director at Madigan Army Medical Center is underway. This year, we also recognize the changing capabilities at Dwight D. Eisenhower Army Medical Center, which has resulted in reassignment of GME surgical trainees to other MTFs and civilian partner institutions. This past year, eight residents and four staff surgeons from the Brook Army Medical Center General Department of Surgery completed the first ever San Antonio marathon. Notably, rising chief resident Dr. Ryan Fahey also completed a full Ironman in Woodlands, Texas. 

Army surgeons continue to play a vital role in the broader surgical community through leadership in national organizations, including the ACS and the ESS. We look forward to the academic year ahead. 

References  

1. Wallace JD, et al. 2025 update to Committee on Surgical Combat Casualty Care research gap analysis: top 10 research and development priorities for battlefield surgical care. J Am Coll Surg. 2026;242(5):1178-1187.
2. Rogers JL, Luo J, Rodrigues G, Gallagher ME. Advancing military surgical education: a decade of innovation, 2015-2025. J Surg Educ. 2026;83(5):103930.

US Navy

Captain Jay A. Yelon, DO, FACS, FCCM

The US Navy and the ACS continue to support surgeons' education. This is accomplished through ESS webinars and the promulgation of ACS Committee on Trauma (COT) programs, including Stop the Bleed, Advanced Trauma Life Support^® (ATLS^®), Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma (ASSET™)+, and Disaster Management and Emergency Preparedness (DMEP).

These programs support the mission of Medical Treatment Facilities in addressing readiness for combat casualty care. Navy Medicine provides global leadership in military medicine through surgical support for military treatment facilities, operational commands, and military-civilian partnerships. Expeditionary medical support remains a focus for Navy surgery, with the ongoing evolution of expeditionary medical platforms. The Navy’s Bureau of Medicine and Surgery supports surgeons’ ongoing professional development through courses such as the Navy Medicine Quality and Safety Leadership Academy, which provides the skills needed to perform quality assurance activities. Navy Medicine continues its in-garrison mission by participating in the ACS’s Quality Programs, including the COT, Commission on Cancer, Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program, and the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP^®). The partnership between Navy Medicine and the ACS is firmly established.

US Air Force

Colonel Mary Stuever, DO, FACS

C-STARS Cincinnati Expansion

On March 11, 2026, under the leadership of Colonel Valerie Sams, the US Air Force and University of Cincinnati (UC) Health opened the expanded C-STARS Cincinnati DARRIO (Dynamic and Realistic Research with Immersive Operations) Center. Supported by a $10 million congressional appropriation, the new 30,000-square-foot facility combines Air Force Research Laboratory innovation with UC Health's clinical expertise to advance trauma training and en route care research. 

The expansion triples C-STARS Cincinnati's training capacity to approximately 300 medical teams annually. Using immersive simulation, virtual reality, and advanced training environments, the center prepares military medical personnel for complex combat operations and civilian disasters while ensuring research findings rapidly translate into improved patient care and military readiness.

The facility is dedicated in honor of Chief Master Sergeant Dario Rodriguez, the first respiratory therapist at C-STARS Cincinnati and later its superintendent. Throughout his career, Chief Rodriguez transformed Critical Care Air Transport Teams, advanced en route care through education and research, served as the Air Force Respiratory Care Practitioner Career Field Manager, and mentored generations of military healthcare professionals. 

ECMO Integration

C-STARS Cincinnati continues to expand military readiness through its partnership with the University of Cincinnati Medical Center's extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) program. Military physicians, nurses, and respiratory therapists maintain proficiency by participating in a high-volume ECMO center, providing valuable experience with one of the most complex forms of critical care. 

This partnership was further strengthened through the 1st Annual ECMO Symposium, co-hosted by C-STARS Cincinnati and the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, highlighting continued progress in military-civilian collaboration and advanced critical care education.

Joint Military-Civilian Partnership Summit

Military and civilian healthcare leaders gathered May 21–22, 2026, for the inaugural Joint Military-Civilian Partnership (JMCP) Summit, led by Colonel Ryan Earnest (Joint Trauma System [JTS] and the Military Health System Strategic Partnership with the American College of Surgeons Liaison [MHSSPACS]). Representatives from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Defense Health Agency, and more than 20 civilian medical centers met to strengthen partnerships that ensure military medical teams remain clinically prepared during peacetime and ready for future conflicts.

Discussions focused on embedding military surgical teams within civilian trauma centers, maintaining combat casualty care proficiency, rotating special operations medics through high-volume hospitals, and sustaining these partnerships through the MISSION ZERO Act. 

Building on the success of the inaugural meeting, the 2nd Annual JMCP Summit expanded participation to more than 25 military-civilian partnership sites across the Department of Defense. Speakers included Dr. Stephen Ferrara, Lieutenant General John DeGoes, and Dr. Kristan Staudenmayer. 

Led by the JTS under Colonel Jennifer Gurney and supported by the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and the MHSSPACS, these summits continue to establish a sustainable national framework that strengthens trauma systems, military readiness, and combat casualty care. 

New Leadership for the Joint Trauma System 

Following a highly competitive selection process with BG Solis, Colonel Valerie Sams was selected as the next Director of the JTS. Leadership transition from Colonel Jennifer Gurney will begin this summer. 

The JTS has experienced tremendous growth under Colonel Gurney's leadership, and we thank her for her lasting contributions. We look forward to continued success under the leadership of Colonel Sams.

Epic Fury

To support Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany during anticipated casualty operations, 24 Air Force personnel were mobilized in support of Epic Fury. 

During the deployment, weekly critical care lectures were provided for ICU staff, and teams conducted a mass casualty (MASCAL) exercise focused on integrating augmented and organic personnel. In recognition of his leadership as Flight Commander for the Legacy Plus mobilized team, Lieutenant Colonel Mark Cheney received the Meritorious Service Medal. 

Reserve/National Guard

Lieutenant Colonel Omar Rokayak, DO, FACS

The Excelsior Surgical Society (ESS) remains honored to support the surgeons of the Reserve and National Guard who provide a substantial portion of the operational surgical capability across the joint force. These surgeons stand at the intersection of military readiness and civilian trauma care, bringing experience from high-volume trauma centers, academic institutions, and community health systems directly into operational medicine. That dual role remains one of the greatest strategic advantages within military healthcare. 

Over the past year, military medicine has intensified its focus on preparation for large-scale combat operations, delayed evacuation care, contested environments, and homeland disaster response. In each of these areas, Reserve and Guard surgeons play an indispensable role. Daily exposure to high-acuity trauma, emergency surgery, vascular injury, critical care, and multidisciplinary team-based care sustains the clinical judgment and technical proficiency required for future conflict and domestic crisis response. 

The 2nd Annual Joint Military-Civilian Partnership Summit underscored the accelerating collaboration between the Military Health System and civilian healthcare. These partnerships are no longer viewed as supplemental; they are foundational to readiness. Across the country, Reserve and Guard surgeons are helping strengthen integration between military teams and civilian trauma centers to improve preparedness for mass casualty incidents, chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats, natural disasters, and other large-scale emergencies requiring coordinated national response. 

Readiness cannot be built through short training cycles alone. It demands sustained operative exposure, integrated trauma systems, realistic multidisciplinary training, and strong military-civilian alignment. Reserve and National Guard surgeons are central to that mission, carrying lessons and capabilities between both worlds while helping shape the future of combat casualty care and disaster preparedness. 

The ESS remains committed to supporting these efforts through mentorship, professional development, advocacy, continuing medical education, research, and expanded military-civilian integration. The operational experience, adaptability, and leadership within the Reserve and National Guard Components continue to strengthen military medicine, civilian trauma systems, and the nation’s overall readiness for future conflict and crisis both at home and abroad.