Air Force medical leaders collaborate with Total Force, mission partners Published Dec. 6, 2024 By Maristela Romero Air Force Surgeon General Public Affairs LEESBURG, Va. -- Part four of a five-part series covering the Air Force Surgeon General’s annual Senior Leadership Workshop. This year’s theme: ‘The Air Force Medical Service at 75 … Mission Ready, Operationally Relevant!’ The Air Force and Space Force Surgeon General brought medical leaders together on the final day of the Senior Leadership Workshop, Dec. 6, 2024, to discuss medical readiness efforts that span the Total Force in support of the Department of the Air Force mission. Discussions underscored the critical role of integrated medical operations in each service to ensure mission readiness and seamless healthcare delivery across all the DAF. Lt. Gen. John J. DeGoes, U.S. Air Force and Space Force Surgeon General, and Chief Master Sgt. James Woods, Medical Enlisted Force and Enlisted Corps Chief, opened the day addressing questions from senior leaders regarding the Air Force Medical Command. They discussed topics such as efforts to hire civilian employees; concerns about promotion opportunities; and support in establishing a balance between readiness and health care priorities at the military treatment facility level. “If we’re not ready with staffing, policy or meeting the major command requirements or military treatment facilities, we will program to a task and not to a timeline,” DeGoes assured. “We’re working very closely with the Air Force Personnel Center so as not to cause any harm to medics.” U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas. W. Harrell, Medical Readiness Command-Alpha commander, and U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeannine M. Ryder, MRC-Bravo commander, spoke extensively about readiness and health care delivery at MTFs. They reinforced the expectation for medical group commanders to ensure their staff accomplish training and exercises and empowered them to resolve resourcing concerns at the installation before elevating it. “We understand the challenges. We lived it,” Ryder said. “You have to make sure that things are right at home. We have more data [from MTFs] that I ever thought, and we both look at it. If you are set and you don’t have any hours or enough time, then it’s up to me or Gen. Harrell to fix your issues.” Harrell added that in a world where resources are always constrained, installation commanders have the advantage of working directly with local medical Airmen and understand their needs. This will inform how Harrell and Ryder can deconflict readiness and health care delivery priorities as dual-hatted MRC commander and Defense Health Agency network director. U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Robert K. Bogart, commander, 711th Human Performance Wing, then set the scene with the 711 HPW’s role within the Air Force Research Laboratory. He highlighted the development of advanced medical technologies and training to support Total Force in reducing injury and casualties. He also credited civilian integration as vital to the continuity of scientific research and knowledge within the Air Force innovative space. "We have hundreds of partners and alliances with industry, academics, and government partners. These relationships create opportunities for success more closely with [organizations] across USAF and USSF," Bogart said. “Everything we do at the 711 Wing is to enable, enhance, and restore Airmen and Guardians throughout their life cycles.” Bogart also discussed the wing’s partnership with the U.S. Space Force to identify research opportunities for incorporating space medicine and initiate long-term physiological and behavioral evaluations for Guardians in their operational environments. The National Defense Authorization Act established the U.S. Space Force as a new service in 2019 to secure national interests in the space domain and address the growing threat posed by strategic competitors in space. Organized under the Department of the Air Force, the Space Force relies on the AFMS for medical support. U.S. Space Force Chief Master Sgt. Amber Abramowski, senior enlisted leader to the deputy chief of space operations, illustrated the high-risk assessments made during satellite operations, which have created equally high demand among Guardians for mental health care services. She asked the AFMS community for collaboration on developing safety standards to identify and track Guardian status and their ability to meet cognitive tasks. “The Guardians understand the uniqueness of who they are and build on the best product to their fitness assessment, but it’s also on us to look to the past and build something better,” Col. Lidia Ilcus, U.S. Space Force Medical Operations deputy director, said. Ilcus focused on the evolution of challenges for the new service, which is approaching its fifth anniversary in December 2024, and echoed Abramowski’s ask for Total Force support on developing policies and guidance that address its unique medical and human performance optimization needs. “It’s hugely important that AFMEDCOM leadership maintain relationships with the USSF and find ways to codify this collaboration,” she said. U.S. Air Force Col. Ramil Codina, command surgeon of the Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command, and U.S. Air Force Col. Linda Rohatsch, director, Air National Guard Medical Service, shared insights on their unique capabilities and challenges. They emphasized their need for synchronized training, shared resources, and interoperable systems to ensure that medical personnel are prepared to provide medical support during peacetime and wartime. Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters U.S. Air Force Lt. Gen. Adrian L. Spain, gave operational updates focusing on reorganization of forces to address medical readiness and resource constraints in the era of Great Power Competition. “We have to be closely aligned in communicating the risks … and what we need to prioritize for prepping and sustaining for the fight,” he said. DeGoes and Woods concluded the workshop with a final Q&A session joined by AFMEDCOM senior leaders, emphasizing the importance of transparent communication, unity, and collaboration across the Total Force. They pledged to strengthening partnerships in health care delivery and sustain the readiness of all Airmen and Guardians as AFMEDCOM leaders continue developing the organization. “The AFMEDCOM and DHA leadership are here to support you,” DeGoes said. “While we're going through this change, it is critically important that we stay operationally aligned, that we go to the [installation] staff meetings as the medical advisors, and don't lose sight of that.”