Shaping Future Military Physicians: D.C. Army National Guard Aviation Conducts MEDEVAC Training with Uniformed Services University

Medical students and applicants experience battlefield medicine through real-world aviation training at USU.

April 24, 2026 Originally posted on DVIDS, story by Ayan Sheikh

The thrum of rotor blades cut across a clear sky as a UH-60L MEDEVAC Black Hawk descended onto a training field in Bethesda, kicking up dust and drawing a tight circle of onlookers; many of them future physicians weighing careers that could place them in a moment exactly like this one.

First-year medical students and prospective applicants at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) participated in a medical evacuation exercise alongside the D.C. Army National Guard Aviation Battalion on April 10, simulating the urgent choreography expected and often witnessed in battlefield medicine.

The training paired classroom instruction with a visceral demonstration of what's known as Tactical Combat Casualty Care, or TCCC, as students assessed a simulated patient, applied a tourniquet and carried the casualty toward the waiting helicopter.

"We're hosting 115 potential applicants," said U.S. Army Lt. Col. James Austin Cox, assistant dean of admissions and recruitment at the school. "These are students that have already been accepted to the School of Medicine and are deciding, do they want to join military medicine, or do they want to go somewhere else?"

The exercise, he said, is designed to narrow that decision-not through brochures or lectures-but through real life immersion.

For many in attendance, it was their first close encounter with the military. Roughly half of the university's students arrive with prior service experience, Cox shared, while the rest come directly from civilian life, often with little exposure to the armed forces.

"For them to see a helicopter land, to see a patient - even though it's a simulation - get TCCC care and move to a helicopter, is just a little insight into demystifying what military medicine is," he said.

The demonstration also showcased the early responsibilities placed on students. The participants conducting the evacuation were first-year medical students who had already completed initial trauma and TCCC training, underscoring the program's emphasis on operational readiness from the outset.

For prospective student Zach Tympanick, the experience was all he needed to decide on pursuing a career in military medicine.

"It was beyond amazing to be inside a medical helicopter as well as witness a simulated medical exercise," Tympanick said. "Overall, the entire experience, especially meeting and talking with current and future students, further solidified my decision to commit to USUHS."

For the D.C. National Guard Aviation Battalion, the event also highlighted the importance of partnerships in across the Washington region.

"The training event with Uniformed Services University is really important for the D.C. Guard, especially aviation," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 (CW3) Chris Alora, flight operations officer. "We've supported their exercises in the past, and helping students understand MEDEVAC is critical - we're one of the only MEDEVAC units in the D.C. area."

Alora emphasized that the collaboration serves a broader purpose beyond a single training day.

"It showcases a different facet of military medical capabilities," he said. "At the same time, it helps connect with the next generation of military medical professionals who may one day be supporting units like ours."

Cox, a former flight surgeon, framed the exercise as more than a recruitment tool. Military physicians, he said, are integral to mission readiness, and he emphasized the role partnerships play in shaping future military physicians.

"The physicians that we graduate are going to spend 20-plus years in the military, and they're going to be your kid's pediatrician, your flight surgeon, your underwater medicine doc," Cox went on to explain.

"So being able to partner with the D.C. Guard and tell these students 'hey, you're not just a flight surgeon.' It's not about jumping out of a helicopter with a scalpel. The job is to make sure that all of my pilots and maintainers and crew are mentally, emotionally and physically prepared."

By placing students alongside National Guard aviators, the university hopes to connect abstract lessons to real world application and to the people they may one day serve.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CW4) Brian Caudle, a Black Hawk pilot and maintenance officer with the D.C. Army National Guard Aviation Battalion, said the exposure works both ways.

"I hope they gather how proficient and technical military medical aviation and medicine can be versus the civilian world," he said.

The Guard unit routinely supports military medical facilities across the D.C. region, including missions tied to major treatment centers, offering students a glimpse into the scale and integration of military healthcare systems.

For CW4 Caudle, the exercise is also an investment in the future.

"Hopefully we're recruiting talent for our future military doctors," he stated, noting that the event allows participants to see "the capabilities and the equipment and the people they'll be working with" if they choose that path.

That choice carries a long horizon. While aviators may take up to two years to enter their field, medical professionals often train for five to seven years before practicing independently, CW4 Caudle said.