A DOD committee formed shortly after Gulf War I to oversee combat trauma surgery programs gathered at Ft. Sam Houston, Tex., last month, to review its set a new agenda. Among accomplishments from its first decade, the group has created joint training standards and an Emergency War Surgery Handbook, as well as establishing partnerships with civilian trauma training centers. Lt. Col. Donald Jenkins, chief of trauma at Wilford Hall Medical Center at Lackland AFB, Tex., says that the Combat Trauma Surgical Committee comprises “high-powered, high ranking, very senior member[s]” that keep their focus on the wounded troop. He called the committee’s efforts “unparalleled.”
The use of a military counter-drone laser on the southwest border this week—which prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to abruptly close the airspace over El Paso, Texas—will be a “case study” on the complex web of authorities needed to employ such weapons near civilian areas and the consequences of agencies…
