Keller Army Community Hospital conducted a joint medical-focused, full-scale training exercise with our New York Army and Air National Guard partners on June 4-6, 2025.
Training occurred on June 4-5, and the full-scale exercise on June 6. Training and exercise locations included Keller Army Community Hospital, West Point, N.Y.; New York National Guard ‘s Camp Smith, Cortland Manor, N.Y.; and Stewart Air National Guard Base, Newburgh, N.Y.
“This exercise pulled together all the key elements of the medical evacuation chain. Army medical personnel, Army medevac helicopters, and Air Guard medical personnel and aircraft were all involved,” said U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Gary Charlton II, Asst. Adjutant General – Air, New York Air National Guard. “This training allowed our Army and Air Guardsmen to learn together and from each other. This kind of training means our medical personnel will perform better when lives are on the line.”
“This exercise allows Keller (and the U.S. Army) to sustain a ready military force that refines Soldiers in the field of warrior tasks and military medicine,” said Col. Sean J. Hipp, Commander, Keller Army Community Hospital. “This successful exercise is the result of incredible coordination and execution by the multiple agencies and will build long-term partnerships in the region.”
DAY ONE – In-class training
Keller Soldiers participated in scenarios focused on tactical combat casualty care including instructional didactics and hands-on training. To increase medical knowledge and prepare for the full-scale exercise, the training was organized into four stations:
- Airway management, breathing, and addressing bleeding
- IV access, prevention of hypothermia, addressing burns and shock
- Care under fire, applying a tourniquet, and carries/litter carry
- Documentation of care, 9-line, preparing for evacuation, and splints and slings
DAY TWO – Orientation with vehicles, aircraft, and equipment
Keller and National Guard Soldiers and Airmen participated in joint training, at Stewart ANG Base, which included familiarization with medical equipment, vehicles, and aircraft.
C Co. 1-171st General Support Aviation Battalion, based in Rochester, N.Y., provided two UH-60L Blackhawk medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) helicopters and medics assigned to the 466th Medical Company (Area Support), from Queensbury, N.Y., provided litter training that included 4-person and 2-person transport, rotating a patient in a litter, and loading/unloading a patient on to an aircraft. Soldiers also conducted hot (blades spinning) and cold (blades not spinning) loading/unloading training.
Similar training occurred on a C-17 Globemaster provided by NY ANG’s 105th Airlift Wing based at Stewart and 139th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron from Schenectady, N.Y.
DAY THREE – Full scale exercise
The full-scale exercise scenario, at Camp Smith, included mass casualties that needed to be transported for additional care. Soldiers, Marines, and Airmen were in moulage to replicate wounds, both Air Force and Army medics treated the injured and preparing them for transport, and the exercise team used a portable speaker to simulate wartime sounds.
Medics, under the watch of the observer and controller team, were faced with time constraints to provide care and prepare the injured for medevac, via UH-60Ls, from Camp Smith to Stewart.
Upon UH-60L arrival/touchdown at Stewart, Keller Soldiers and Guardsmen Soldiers ad Airmen conducted a tail-to-tail transport from the helicopter to the C-17 Globemaster while continuing to provide medical care.
Simultaneously at Stewart, the full-scale exercise included a simulated drone strike that resulted in multiple casualties. The 466th Medical Company Area Support (MCAS), evaluated and processed casualties needing further roles of care. Keller embedded a trauma team, with the MCAS, that included one provider and three licensed practical nurses to treat the simulated casualties.
An Aeromedical Evacuation Liaison Team, at Stewart, coordinated and facilitated the transfer of patients. To simulate real-life aeromedical evacuation, the C-17 Globemaster departed Stewart, with Keller Soldiers and Guardsman Soldiers and Airman, while the 109th and 105th Critical Care Air Transportation Teams (CCATT) team conducted tactical combat casualty care in-flight.
“This exercise was a complete success,” said Col. Hipp. “Our Soldiers effectively conducted army warrior tactical and medical scenarios, gained knowledge of operational and medical treatment capabilities in a simulated wartime environment, and completed individual critical tasks to attain proficiency in their military specialties and maintain combat readiness.”
“The observations and lessons learned will improve future training operations with our military partners,” added Hipp.
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