Saving lives in the battlefield: U.S., partner nations medical train together during Salitre 2026

U.S., Chilean, Brazilian, Colombian and Paraguayan air forces medical professionals took life-saving training to the next level by treating numerous patients and conducting air evacuations during Exercise Saltire 2026.

This is the fifth iteration of the Chilean-led multinational exercise and the first to incorporate a medical component. The training focused on U.S. and partner air forces working together to provide medical aid during a mass casualty event that simulated real-world air evacuation and medical care.

“During our mass casualty (training) today, everything went perfect, we got to learn from each other, and we met all of our objectives,” said U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Laura Gaitan, Air Forces Southern medical plans and operations noncommissioned officer in charge. “We have exchanged a lot of information between the U.S. and the Chileans. One of the main things we have been able to do with our partner nations is teach them a faster and easier way for medical care.”

For Salitre 2026, the U.S. Air Force supplied several highly specialized teams to include a ground surgical team (GST), a critical care air transportation team (CCATT), a special operational surgical team (SOST) member, and tactical combat casualty care (TCCC) members, to bolster cross-culture medical familiarization between the participating nations.

These specialized teams came into play in various ways during the exercise. Drawing on the Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) training they received earlier in the exercise, participants delivered immediate lifesaving care following a simulated military attack.

The CCATT flew to the scene of the strike on a C-130 Hercules at Barriles, Chile, then assessed the medical needs of individuals on the ground.

“I think there is a need for this (kind of) training with our people because we don’t have the same combat expertise,” said Chile air force Lt. Col. Gonzalo Suarez, medical operations director. “We have to be prepared for something we have never seen and (that’s why) this kind of exercise is very important.”

They then airlifted them out of the location while providing medical care alongside their national partners. Finally, the CCATT’s patients were transferred to a medical facility at Cerro Moreno Air Base where the GST performed mock surgery on critical patients.

“For us it is a real big deal that we could have people from the U.S. Air Force … so we can integrate and process a patient from a point of injury through tactical care and transportation by air to a medical ground facility,” said Suarez.

To ensure each partner nation was integrated, medical professionals built a medical field hospital together, went through several days of mission planning and three separate mass casualty training sessions.

“I really hope that we can get more chances to train together on different scales whether it be in critical care, air transportation, or any different point of view of how we can give better care,” said Suarez.

The information shared amongst the medical teams included specialized techniques such as operating on severe burns to stop severe blood loss and equipment familiarization like combat tourniquets and ventilators. It also involved how different countries utilize aircraft for medical use and setting up an impromptu surgical center.

“I have learned so much from our Chilean partners as well as how we can improve on the next iteration of Salitre and for when we work with our partner nations,” said Gaitan.