📋 Tender Overview
Published Aug. 19, 2026 By Summer Shuler 502d Air Base Wing Public Affairs JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-CAMP BULLIS, Texas (AFNS) -- Before military medical personnel face the chaos of a battlefield, they must learn to provide lifesaving care when conditions are anything but controlled. U.S. Air Force students, participating in the Aeromedical Evacuation Patient Staging Course with the 937th Training Squadron, are practicing how to safely approach a HH60M Black Hawk medical evacuation helicopter frame at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas, June 22, 2026. The training teaches Air Force medical personnel how to safely prepare, secure, and transport patients aboard military aircraft during contingency and deployment operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Melissa Hydrick) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res At Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, the 937th Training Support Squadron prepares active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve medical personnel for those challenges through five different courses; Expeditionary Medical Readiness Course, Expeditionary Medical Support, Ground Surgical Team, Patient Decontamination and Aeromedical Evacuation and Patient Staging Course. There is only one training support squadron across the Air Force Medical Service, said Lt. Col. Mark Hassett, commander, 937th Training Support Squadron. The 113 members of the 937th TRSS are vehemently committed to producing warrior medics and ensuring they are prepared when they go downrange. The training bridges the gap between clinical medicine and operational environments, teaching medical personnel to make critical decisions while treating casualties, working as a team and preparing patients for evacuation. For many Airmen, that transition begins with the two-day Expeditionary Medical Readiness Course. The course provides hands-on instruction in Tactical Combat Casualty Care and lifesaving interventions for personnel across 16 medical Air Force specialty codes. We teach the fundamentals of Tactical Combat Casualty Care with a hands-on approach to lifesaving combat medic interventions, said Staff Sgt. Michelle Garcia, an EMRC instructor. This is their foundational exposure to the real-life experiences they might face down the line. For medical personnel accustomed to treating patients in a controlled hospital environment, the training offers a different perspective. In a hospital setting, staff typically receive patients who have already been treated and stabilized, Garcia said. They may never otherwise experience a high-stress, tactical scenario where they actually have to apply tourniquets to stop massive bleeding or perform emergency airway interventions themselves. The course also emphasizes teamwork. Students from different medical specialties train together, learning to apply their individual skills as part of a small team operating in stressful and unpredictable conditions. They have to be able to work in austere, highly unpredictable deployment scenarios, utilize their clinical skills appropriately and make rapid, critical medical decisions on the fly as a unit, said Staff Sgt. Aaliyah Fernandez-Vineski, a surgical services specialist and GST ground supervisor. Fernandez-Vineski draws on her experience during a deployment to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, during the U.S. troop withdrawal to prepare the next generation of medical teams. Having been in that environment, I wanted to teach so I could help build the next generation of teams heading out into this rapidly evolving battlespace, she said. This training means the world to me, but I know it means even more to our heroes downrange, who deserve the absolute best quality of care on the worst day of their lives. Once patients are stabilized on the ground, another challenge begins: Getting them safely to the next level of care. U.S. Air Force students, participating in the Aeromedical Evacuation Patient Staging Course with the 937th Training Squadron, loading a simulated patient onto a C-130 Hercules airframe at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas, June 22, 2026. The training teaches Air Force medical personnel how to safely prepare, secure and transport patients aboard military aircraft during contingency and deployment operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Melissa Hydrick) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res U.S. Air Force students, participating in the Aeromedical Evacuation Patient Staging Course with the 937th Training Squadron, are learning to properly move a simulated patient inside a cargo truck at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas, June 22, 2026. These exercises prepare Air Force medical teams to move wounded or ill patients safely during deployments, humanitarian missions or emergency response operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Melissa Hydrick) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res U.S. Air Force students, participating in the Aeromedical Evacuation Patient Staging Course with the 937th Training Squadron, are learning to properly carry a simulated patient off a training KC-135 Stratotanker airframe at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis, Texas, June 22, 2026. The training teaches Air Force medical personnel how to safely prepare, secure and transport patients aboard military aircraft during contingency and deployment operations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Melissa Hydrick) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res The Aeromedical Evacuation and Patient Staging course teaches medical personnel to safely stage, triage and stabilize patients for transport. Students learn to lift and move patients, build patient pallets, operate within staging facilities and configure and load aircraft such as the C-130 Hercules and KC-135 Stratotanker. Our primary focus is making sure our members are trained to safely stage, triage and stabilize patients so they are secure for flight, said Tech. Sgt. Imelda Herrera, a 937th TRSS instructor. This training gives them the vital foundation they need to perform when the pressure is on. Instructors add environmental and psychologic
