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Dr Frank Butler Receives Presidential Citizens Medal for Groundbreaking Contributions to Trauma Care

Sunday, January 5th, 2025

President Joe Biden presented Dr. Frank K. Butler, Jr., with the prestigious Presidential Citizens Medal in a ceremony at the White House, Jan. 2, 2025.

This award, one of the highest honors a civilian can receive, recognizes Butler’s extraordinary contributions to battlefield trauma care and his enduring impact on both military and civilian medicine.

Dr. Butler’s legacy began during his service as a Navy SEAL, where he developed an intimate understanding of the unique challenges faced in combat environments. Transitioning to medicine, he spearheaded the creation of Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) in 1996, revolutionizing battlefield trauma protocols. TCCC’s principles—focused on prehospital care—were initially adopted by elite units such as Navy SEAL Teams and the Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment. Over time, these protocols became the standard of care across the U.S. military and influenced trauma care worldwide.

During his 11 years as Chair of the Department of Defense’s Committee on Tactical Combat Casualty Care, Butler led a multidisciplinary team of trauma care experts who drove advancements that saved thousands of lives during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. The innovations he championed—including the widespread use of tourniquets and hemostatic dressings—not only improved survival rates in combat but also reshaped emergency medical responses in civilian contexts. His push to train and equip every soldier with these life-saving tools has had far-reaching effects, from military operations to first responder and law enforcement agencies worldwide.

Butler’s influence extended beyond the battlefield. As a member of the White House advisory team on civilian IED injuries and a founding member of the Hartford Consensus Working Group, he played a critical role in the development of the national “STOP THE BLEED®” campaign. Launched in 2015, this initiative empowers bystanders to act as immediate responders, significantly improving outcomes for victims of severe bleeding.

Over his illustrious career, Butler has been recognized with numerous accolades, including the American College of Surgeons Distinguished Military Lifetime Achievement Award, the Military Health System Battlefield Medicine Innovation Award, the U.S. Special Operations Command Medal, and the Military Health System Research Symposium Distinguished Service Award, a lifetime achievement award. Notably, he was the inaugural recipient of the Tactical Combat Casualty Care Award, now named the “CAPT Frank K. Butler” award in his honor.

The Presidential Citizens Medal is awarded to citizens of the United States of America who have “performed exemplary deeds of service for their country or their fellow citizens.”

Butler’s groundbreaking contributions have left an indelible mark on military medicine and the nation. From transforming the way trauma is treated on the battlefield to influencing global trauma care standards, his work has saved countless lives.

As President Biden presented the medal, he highlighted Dr. Butler’s unparalleled dedication to saving lives and advancing medical care, noting that his work “revolutionized trauma care.”

Story by Sharon Holland, Uniformed Services University

Editor’s note: If you’d like to know more about CAPT Frank Butler, MD, (USN, Ret) who started out as a UDT/SEAL, check out the upcoming War Docs Podcast episode, “NAVY SEAL TO DOCTOR: A JOURNEY OF RESILIENCE AND TRANSFORMATION”

Dive into the captivating story of CAPT (Ret) Frank Butler, MD, a Navy SEAL who swapped combat boots for a stethoscope, demonstrating that resilience and dedication know no bounds. This episode reveals how military discipline and a medical family heritage inspired a seamless transition to a career in healing. Join the podcast for an enriching conversation about courage, commitment, and the pursuit of a medical mission. Perfect for enthusiasts of military and medical narratives, this story is sure to inspire and motivate. The episode featuring Dr. Butler will be available on YouTube on 6 JAN 25 and will launch on all major podcast platforms on 10 JAN 25.

Posted in Guest Post, Medical, Veterans | 2 Comments »

23 STS IDMT: ‘Knowing what to do and being ready can make all the difference’

Sunday, January 5th, 2025

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. —

“Is there a doctor on board?”

Sitting in his aisle seat toward the back of a commercial flight, Air Force Staff Sgt. William Flaspoehler saw the flight attendants scrambling for help.

It was May 2023, and Flaspoehler was traveling to a deployed location in Southeast Asia.

He walked to the front of the cabin and found a 64-year-old woman, pale-faced, sweating and clutching her chest in pain.

After observing her symptoms, he checked the woman’s pulse and blood pressure.

“We need to divert and land as soon as possible,” he told the pilots, knowing the woman would soon go into cardiac arrest.

From there, Flaspoehler said he relied on both instinct and experience. He followed chest pain protocols, placed the passenger on oxygen and gave her aspirin and fluids. Next, he examined a bottle of nitroglycerin: a drug that could potentially stabilize the patient, but could also be lethal.

“I knew I had to do it,” he said. “It was stressful, but I knew she didn’t have much time.”

As the aircraft began its descent to the nearest airport, Flaspoehler worked to keep the woman alive.

For Flaspoehler, an independent duty medical technician with the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Florida, providing life-saving care is almost second nature.

His journey to that moment began years before he joined the military.

Before enlisting in the Air Force in 2016, Flaspoehler honed his medical skills as a civilian emergency medical technician in Los Angeles. Later, his career led him to a level-one pediatric trauma center at LA Children’s Hospital. There, he treated some of the most critically injured patients imaginable, he said.

“We responded to car accidents, fires, stabbings … pretty much everything imaginable,” he said. “As a whole, those jobs exposed me to a wide range of medical incidents.”

Flaspoehler said that one of those incidents in particular left him wanting something more in life.

One day, the former EMT found himself in the back of an ambulance, speeding through the streets of Los Angeles, treating a man bleeding heavily from a neck wound.

As he packed the wound to stem the bleeding, the same thought continued to flash through his mind: the injury was eerily similar to the one that had killed his friend, fallen Army Sgt. Michael Cable, who died in Afghanistan in 2013.

Flaspoehler said that in the moment, he tried not to think about Cable’s death. But afterward, he began to dwell on it. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he could be serving a greater purpose, he said.

“I wanted to be able to be there to see and treat my friends and brothers and sisters,” Flaspoehler said. “As a civilian, I was usually treating strangers. I wanted to be with a team and have the responsibility of taking care of them.”

That realization drove him to join the Air Force.

As part of the 23rd STS, Flaspoehler’s work is dynamic. His unit is tasked with missions involving austere airfield control, terminal attack control, personnel rescue and recovery, assault zone battlefield trauma care, and more.

In his role as an IDMT, he’s trained to establish medical treatment facilities in remote and hostile environments.

“I can run a 911 call, pick up an active duty patient, treat them as a paramedic, bring them to the emergency room and then treat them and discharge them,” Flaspoehler said. “This kind of position doesn’t really exist in the civilian world.”

He also provides medical support during high-risk activities like airborne jump operations and dives, and trains personnel on Tactical Combat Casualty Care to prepare them for potential life-and-death scenarios.

“One day, it could be their friend that needs help out there,” he said, referring to fallen Army Soldier Cable.

On the flight, the 64-year-old patient’s blood pressure and heart rate returned to healthier levels and the medicine reduced her pain.

Soon after, the flight landed in Kuching, Malaysia, where Flaspoehler helped first responders carry the woman off the plane and to an ambulance.

After arriving at his deployed location in Southeast Asia, Flaspoehler followed up on the patient’s status: the woman had survived after receiving additional care in Kuching.

“I felt relieved that I made the right call,” he said. “While it was something I had handled so many times before, I had never had to do something like this on a plane, in international waters.”

Ultimately, Flaspoehler said he credits the medical experience he gained as a civilian and in the Air Force.

“Knowing what to do and being ready can make all the difference.”

By SSgt Natalie Fiorilla
24th Special Operations Wing

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Guest Post, Medical, SOF | 1 Comment »

Year In Review: Soldiers Played Crucial Role Informing Modernization Needs

Saturday, January 4th, 2025

The Army’s continuous transformation efforts in 2024 centered on the service’s network of systems.

Army leaders have turned to Soldiers to give comprehensive feedback on how to improve its systems and command and control and communications

During the initiative, the service incorporates new technology into operational exercises to better evaluate the equipment’s’ effectiveness in Army formations. The service has consciously built toward its next iteration of Project Convergence, a joint multi-national, multidomain series of experiments.

Year of change for 101st

The Soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, have played a pivotal role in executing the Army’s modernization concept, “transforming in contact,” developed by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Randy A. George.

Troops at the division’s command post now operate network structure that the service once assigned to the brigade level.

Soldiers used the first Integrated Tactical Network aerial toolkit during Operation Lethal Eagle in April and during a Joint Rotation Training Center in January.

During Lethal Eagle, Soldiers engaged in long-range, large-scale, air assault operations or L2A2. During the exercise 101st members used the toolkit to communicate with dismounted Soldiers to augment command and control during the simulated assaults.

In August, 101st Soldiers used advanced aerial tier and command and control technology, providing commanders with more communication with 80 aircraft flying from Fort Campbell to Fort Johnson, Louisiana.

‘War is changing’

The leader of Army Futures Command, Gen. James Rainey published the first of a series of articles in Military Review, beginning in August detailing the “transforming in contact” initiative and how the Army faces the most change in traditional warfare since World War II.

Rainey said technology evolves at a rapid pace and said the Army needs to quickly evolve technologies before they become obsolete. The commander added that the Army must change and evolve with the technology through doctrine, training and policy.

He said that the Army should document requirements for specific battlefield capabilities rather than individual pieces of technology and work with Congress on the Army’s fiscal flexibility.

Rainey said the Army needs to acquire useful technology, such as artificial intelligence, quicker instead of waiting for future capabilities to develop.

He encouraged putting the latest warfighting technologies into Army formations to encourage needed transformations, including the implementation of next generation combat vehicles, robotics and the latest command and control equipment.

He cited human-machine integration as a capability that reduces risk to Soldier safety and allows Soldiers to focus on decision-making tasks that require humans.

Project Convergence expands its scope

The Army’s annual series of modernization experiments, Project Convergence continued to evolve in 2024, expanding its scope and scale.

From Feb. 23 to March 20, more than 4,000 participants including members of partner nations from Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand took part in Project Convergence Capstone 4 in the western United States. The Air Force, Marines and Navy also contributed PC-C4, which experimented with more than 200 technologies.

PC-C4 successfully saw the Army, partner nations and other military branches successfully integrate sensors and fires without wasting unnecessary munitions.

The Army hosts Project Convergence annually to inform the integration of new technologies and capabilities to gauge the effectiveness of weapons and defense systems.

Project Convergence expands to Europe and the Pacific

To gain a better understanding of the needs of geographic combatant commands, the service executed more series of experiments in Project Convergence Europe and Project Convergence Pacific in 2024. The Army performed the tests in the context of near-peer regional adversaries, noting the geographic and regional obstacles.

PC Europe focused on the Joint Warfighting Assessment as part of the Avenger Triad Exercise from Sept. 10-19. During the computer-assisted, command post exercise the Army focused on improving force readiness, acquiring Soldier feedback on modernization solutions, integrating and evaluating multi-domain operations concepts and assessing joint and multi-national interoperability.

In June, PC Pacific joined the multi-national exercise Valiant Shield 24 at locations in South Korea, Hawaii, the Philippines, Guam, Japan and Washington State. U.S. Indo-Pacific Command led the field training exercise with troops from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard and partner nations.

Army Futures Command, headquartered at Austin Texas conducts 60-70 experiments annually, including Project Convergence Europe and Project Convergence Pacific with new technologies to augment readiness and the capabilities of Army formations.

By Joe Lacdan, Army News Service

Posted in Army, Guest Post | Comments Off on Year In Review: Soldiers Played Crucial Role Informing Modernization Needs

Visit Brookwood at the 2025 SHOT Show & the Supplier Showcase

Friday, January 3rd, 2025

Brookwood is thrilled to be part of SHOT Show and the Supplier Showcase 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada! We’ll be showcasing our top-of-the-line fabrics and invite all attendees to visit us at our SHOT Show Booth (#30003) and Supplier Showcase Booth (#52420).

This is a great opportunity to meet some of our incredible team members, including our Chief Marketing Officer, Matthew Morris; Director at Brookwood Companies, Jeff Harris ; Vice President of Military Division, Steve Nardelli; Director of Industrial Division, Liz Johnson; Director of Business Development, Anderson Ward; Business Development Manager, Shawn Honeycutt; and Technical Product Manager Trident, Brian Mariot.

We’re looking forward to connecting with everyone. See you in Las Vegas!

Posted in Guest Post, Materials, SHOT Show | Comments Off on Visit Brookwood at the 2025 SHOT Show & the Supplier Showcase

FirstSpear Friday Focus: Technical Woobie Restock

Friday, January 3rd, 2025

The Technical Woobie is restocked just in time for the cooler, winter temperatures. WARM ACM 600 Merino Wool, our warmest wool layer. 100% made in the USA with 100% USA materials backed up by our standard lifetime warranty on materials and craftsmanship.

Premium nylon accents add abrasion and wind resistance, making this a durable cold weather top when worn as the outer layer.

The Full-length zipper and pockets utilize premium YKK zippers and durable FirstSpear S-Pulls.

Buttonholes inside the hand-warmer pockets and cord loops along the internal zipper seams allow for easy and discreet cable management.

Hood drawcords stash inside for windy days and an external loop hanger on the back gives you a handy place to secure the garment.

The cuffs are strategically designed with thumb holes for added protection and comfort.

The Technical Woobie offers an everyday style that’s matched with some of the most high-performance material combinations available and will quickly become your go-to top when the weather drops.

The Technical Woobie is more fitted. If you prefer a looser fit, go up one size from your regular wear (L goes to XL).

For more information check out, www.first-spear.com.

Posted in Advertiser, Clothing, FS Friday Focus, Guest Post | Comments Off on FirstSpear Friday Focus: Technical Woobie Restock

Special Tactics Hosts IFAM at Hurlburt Field

Friday, January 3rd, 2025

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. —

The 24th Special Operations Wing and the Special Tactics Training Squadron hosted the second iteration of the Initial Familiarization Course Dec. 9-13, 2024, at Hurlburt Field, Fla. IFAM is a five-day program for select candidates that are considering careers in combat control, special reconnaissance or as a special tactics officer.

“IFAM is packed with invaluable experience and information that any serious candidates interested in joining special tactics should apply for,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Ricky Patterson, 720th Special Tactics Group recruiting assessments and selections section chief.

This year, a total of 26 enlisted Airmen and officers participated in the course, which included mission briefings, interviews with leadership, exercises testing physical and mental readiness, equipment demonstrations and field training events. The participants, all active-duty members from various career fields, are exploring the opportunity to transition to special tactics.

While IFAM has no bearing on the application process or selection boards, it will help identify future candidates for special tactics career fields, explained Maj. Chris Walsh, 24th Special Tactics Training Squadron commander.

“IFAM is an important new initiative for the special tactics community,” Maj. Walsh said. “Our goal is to educate and inspire members that are interested in special tactics career fields, combat control, special reconnaissance and special tactics officer positions. We recognize that many Airmen may not know what to expect or where to start, so it is important that we dispel any myths or unknowns. We also want to prepare future operators with the skills, habits and the training focus they need to be successful.”

In addition to the participants, 14 special warfare recruiters from the 330th Recruiting Squadron in San Antonio, Texas, attended IFAM to gain career field-specific recruiting insight. Recruiters were able to observe and ask the special tactics cadre questions about types of candidates they should try to recruit, said Tech Sgt. Austin Jessup, a senior recruiter with the 330th Recruiting Squadron serving Florida’s Panhandle region.

“Each recruiter will be able to take this knowledge and pass it along to their current and future candidates in their areas of operation,” Jessup said.

Looking ahead, Maj. Walsh said the goal is to host IFAM twice a year to continue to prepare and inform interested candidates.

“We have struggled to attract the talent that exists in our Air Force, and we need to bring more people into our community,” Walsh said. “I’m confident that IFAM is a way to give that talent a place to interact with our operators. To me, this is where the magic happens, I believe they will see how great the people and the mission are in Air Force Special Operations Command and U.S. Special Operations Command.”

For candidates interested in attending IFAM, more information can be found at airforcespecialtactics.af.mil or by emailing 24SOWSTTS.ASSESSMENTS.RAS@us.af.mil.

By Capt Savannah Stephens, 24th Special Operations Wing

Posted in AFSW, Air Force, Guest Post, SOF | Comments Off on Special Tactics Hosts IFAM at Hurlburt Field

DAF Updates Waiver Policies for Asthma, Hearing Loss, Food Allergies

Thursday, January 2nd, 2025

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas (AFNS) —

The Air Force Accessions Center announced the expansion of medical waiver considerations for multiple medical conditions, which opens up the opportunity for military service to an additional 600 applicants annually, Nov. 1.

The Department of the Air Force holds strict medical accession standards but can grant waivers in specific cases. The new policy expands previous guidance in several areas, including asthma, hearing loss and food allergies.

“We are constantly evaluating how we can bring in the best talent while ensuring our members can serve effectively and safely,” said Brig. Gen. Christopher Amrhein, AFAC commander. “By expanding waiver criteria for manageable health conditions, we can access a wider pool of qualified applicants without compromising mission readiness.”

The new waiver policy will allow for the recruitment of individuals with clinically diagnosed asthma, provided they do not require daily preventive medication, and their rescue inhaler use is kept to a minimum. This marks a significant change from the previous standard, which disqualified all individuals with a positive asthma diagnosis and did not consider the severity of the diagnosis, according to Col. David Gregory, director of the Accession Medial Waiver division at AFAC.

Additionally, applicants with hearing loss in one ear that has been diagnosed as moderate hearing impairment can now be considered for waiver, provided the opposite ear meets the standards of mild hearing impairment.

Finally, individuals with a documented history of food allergies, provided there has been no anaphylaxis or serious systemic reaction, will now qualify for a waiver.

All three of the expanded waiver considerations will come with limitations to the career fields that applicants will be eligible to ensure members will not be put into career fields that will put them at increased risk to worsen their medical condition and be given an assignment limitation code in accordance with medical retention waiver practices per Air Force Personnel Center.

The decision to expand waiver criteria for these specific medical conditions was made after careful consideration of the potential medical, operational and financial impacts, and in close coordination with medical and operational experts across the DAF, Gregory said.

“Any adjustment to medical waiver practices comes with some level of cost for the DAF,” Gregory said. “After analyzing the available data on these conditions, the cost was felt to be acceptable to accommodate more applicants who are otherwise qualified to join the Air and Space Forces in specific career fields.”

The DAF is developing a process to monitor the long-term effects of these changes, including the medical and operational outcomes, to ensure they continue to meet the service’s needs.

For more information about waiver changes or how to apply to join the Air Force, visit www.airforce.com.

– Air Force Accessions Center

Posted in Air Force, Guest Post, Profession of Arms | Comments Off on DAF Updates Waiver Policies for Asthma, Hearing Loss, Food Allergies

US Army Takes Delivery of Textron Systems’ MK 4.8 HQ Aerosonde System for Future Tactical Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Program

Tuesday, December 31st, 2024

REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. — The U.S. Army’s Future Tactical Uncrewed Aircraft Systems, or FTUAS, Product Office has officially taken receipt of the Textron Systems’ MK 4.8 HQ Aerosonde system, marking a significant milestone in the program’s rapid prototyping effort. This achievement follows a comprehensive two-year development and testing process, which included extensive technical testing, ground and flight acceptance testing, and a joint effort between the vendor and the United States Government.

The delivery of the system, formalized through the DD-250 process, transfers ownership to the USG. The FTUAS team will now proceed with new equipment training to qualify instructors and operators at the Redstone Test Center on the MK 4.8 HQ Aerosonde system. This training is expected to be completed by late January 2025.

Upon completion of new equipment training, the FTUAS team will embark on a USG-led developmental testing cycle, which will culminate in the program’s capstone event. This testing effort will occur in parallel with the ongoing efforts to evaluate production proposals for award, anticipated in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2025.

The FTUAS program will provide brigade combat teams with an organic capability for reconnaissance and surveillance operations, enabling them to collect, develop, and report actionable intelligence. This will allow BCT commanders to maintain dominance during multi-domain operations. The FTUAS system boasts transformational capabilities, including vertical take-off and landing, on-the-move command and control, and Soldier-led, field-level maintenance. Its modular open systems approach enables rapid capability insertions, ensuring the system keeps pace with evolving technology.

The Program Executive Office for Aviation, located at Redstone Arsenal is responsible for modernizing the Army Aviation fleet of crewed and uncrewed aircraft. PEO Aviation’s Uncrewed Aircraft Systems Project Office is dedicated to rapidly fielding innovative UAS capabilities to Army formations, maintaining the Army’s asymmetric advantage over peer adversaries in large-scale combat operations.

By PEO Aviation

Posted in Army, Aviation, Guest Post | 2 Comments »