ALPENA, Mich. — More than 100 active-duty and Air National Guard medics from seven units trained to provide expeditionary medical care under the threat of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) during Northern Strike 26-2 at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center.
Approximately 60 Airmen participated in Expeditionary Medical Support certification training, which prepares medical personnel to provide rapid, scalable and forward medical care in operational environments. Northern Strike increased the complexity of that training by introducing a persistent UAV threat into a field hospital scenario.
“Drones are a very real threat, and our medical Airmen are not prepared through their typical medical training to handle these UAVs,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Sarah Blackthorne, Northern Strike Air Component medical planner. “We developed a drone stress inoculation event testing how they might evacuate a field hospital.”
Several UAVs targeted a field hospital at the Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center during the scenario. Airmen countered the drones with anti-drone netting and small-arms fire. After neutralizing the threat, they deployed a quadruped unmanned ground vehicle to inspect the downed drones and evacuated the patients.
“The concept of the drone nets came from Ukraine,” said Blackthorne. “The specific type of netting is supposed to be impenetrable by most drones, creating large tunnels that casualties could be evacuated through.”
“Evacuation always includes taking your patients with you,” she continued. “The evacuation to the secondary facility was actually into an underground medical facility.”
According to Blackthorne, the facility was built during the Cold War as a hardened medical shelter. She believes the bunkers serve as an ideal training tool and mimic the types of facilities military medical professionals are utilizing in Ukraine.
“We don't want it to be the first time they experience UAVs on deployment,” said Blackthorne. “Opportunities to get exposure here to those things, where they can work through the stress, are valuable.”
Ukrainian military doctors in attendance shared their experiences from the front lines, helping participants understand the realities of UAV threats.
“The threat of a drone attack in theater is a real and current threat,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Patrick D. Frank, Michigan National Guard Joint Forces Headquarters deputy director of staff-Air. “One of the largest lessons learned here was the need to go underground more. The Ukrainian doctors discussed with the medics and leadership about how tents are okay, but underground is better.”
The drone incursion drew dozens of observers from across the Air Force’s total force medical hierarchy, including Lt. Gen. John J. DeGoes, Air Force surgeon general and commander of Air Force Medical Command.
“As the threat environment changes, we need to change as well, along with the techniques we utilize,” said Frank. “It is important to work through these scenarios to not only be ready for the current threat but also be mentally ready.”
Northern Strike is an Army-sponsored, multicomponent, multinational exercise designed to build readiness and enhance interoperability. Northern Strike 26-2, Michigan’s largest and longest joint readiness exercise, was held Aug. 1-15 at the National All-Domain Warfighting Center and featured about 9,000 participants.