Land, sea and air assets of the U.S. military assigned in the Pacific Northwest came together to hone life-saving techniques and strategies during a joint scenario-based field Tactical Combat Casualty Care exercise, May 15, 2024.

Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command Bremerton hospital corpsmen joined U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force colleagues to enhance their medical capability in handling combat injuries in various operational scenarios on Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

The TCCC training was designed to enhance interoperability and improve medical readiness involving different branches of the military. Organizers stressed that integration between military branches allows for greater strategic and tactical advantages and is considered an essential key to military success during contingency operations when dealing with casualties on the field of battle.


“This exercise is very significant for Madigan,” said Col. Hope M. Williamson-Younce, director of the Puget Sound Military Health System and commander of Madigan Army Medical Center.

Williamson-Younce stressed that the current world and operational environment makes this training important.

“Some of these service members will be deployed worldwide,” she said. “This will be their last rotation before they graduate from the TCCC course.”

She emphasized, “What we’re doing today will make sure the doctors and medical techs have everything they need to be utilized in a forward presence.”

The training was designed for the Army and Air Force medics, assisted by Navy corpsmen, to be prepared to provide care in the field under fire and during evacuation, in a variety of different environments and missions. The training focused on honing such critical skills as bleeding control, airway management, and wound care, as well as tactical principles for triage and evacuation of the wounded.

The joint training promoted coordination and communication between different military branches, especially important for complex contingency operations.

The capstone [culmination] of the training exercise incorporated realistic simulations and scenarios, primarily focusing on care-under-fire. The corpsmen and medics applied tactical aspects of casualty care, including movement in hostile fire, prioritization of casualties and evacuation procedures.

“Today goes back to the basics of joint medicine and making it move flawlessly. It’s been great,” said NMRTC Bremerton Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Janard Cole, assigned to NMRTC Bremerton multi-care clinic, from Gautier, Miss.

Cole expects all the corpsman with him will take the experience along with them once they return to their positions at NMRTC Bremerton. TCCC training is a requirement for all corpsmen before deploying.

“Corpsman can get caught up in the everyday tasks of working in a hospital environment,” said Cole. “This can bring them back to why they became corpsman in a real-lifesaving care scenario. It can happen.”

Many hospital corpsmen, who gain valuable knowledge on field hospital training procedures and obtain their Fleet Marine Force qualifications, served alongside Marine Corps units as their doc.

Hospital Apprentice Franz Gallang, with NMRTC Bremerton Audiology Clinic and San Diego, California native, enjoyed the training opportunity with Army and Air Force counterparts. He gained insight on how they ran their medical practices and reaffirmed his own aspirations on becoming a greenside corpsman.

“Today has been amazing,” said Gallang. “Everything here is very action motivated. Learning alongside what each group who goes through has been great.”

Staff Sergeant Anthony Gemmati, from Oviedo, Florida, and assigned to Madigan Army Medical Center as a medical laboratory technician, participated in this event for the second year, saying, "It is important to see the differences in how both branches work in an stressful operational environment and train to these differences so we can become more well-rounded."

“We’ve all been there,” Gemmati added. “It’s our first time in a situation. Maybe we start panicking instead of falling back onto our training. It’s important to realize what you could be doing wrong so you can correct yourself and be prepared to save lives.”

TCCC originated as a Naval Special Warfare biomedical research project in the early 1990s and was first published as a Military Medicine supplement in 1996. This research was supported by evidence showing that tactical medicine environment and care differed substantially from typical prehospital medicine and that 90 percent of all combat deaths occur before reaching a treatment facility.

The resulting studies shed more light on the wounded combatant, unit corpsmen, or fellow Sailor in the primary role of life-sustaining caregiver. Early and effective use of the tourniquet substantially improved outcomes through training and evaluation from 1993 to 1996. Because of this revelation and more, TCCC became the basis for trauma care in a battlefield setting.

TCCC proponents stress that continued partnership training between military branches is what will ensure the U.S. military remains up to date through the exchange of key lifesaving knowledge. Although each branch of the U.S. military specializes in specific roles, training exercises like these allow each to gain more hands-on experience to operate in a joint environment.

“This is their time to click everything they learn together from the fixed facility to the battlefield,” said Williamson-Younce. “These are going to be the leaders that represent all services across the board in a total force.”
By testing joint knowledge as one team, the help strengthen combat medical readiness across the Indo-Pacific region by fostering joint service collaboration and delivering realistic, mission-focused medical training. Through continued partnerships similar to these TCCC iterations, U.S. forces remain postured and ready for real-world contingencies.