JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska – The 477th Aerospace Medicine Squadron’s medical team hosted an iteration of the Air Force Surgeon General’s MEDIC-X initiative at the 176th Air National Guard headquarters on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Aug. 1, 2024.

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jack Williams, an independent duty medical technician program mentor assigned to the 962nd Airborne Air Control Squadron and the leader of the course, said this is the first time the 447th has done joint training at this level.

Medical professionals from the Air National Guard, the Air Force Reserve and the Navy Reserve attended the course along with different subject-matter experts from the 673d Medical Group. In order to be prepared for real-world events which take most of the doctors, nurses and emergency medical technicians out of the facility, the 477th is using total-force integration to train medical members to be able to fill in spots they’re not used to working.

“Today we utilized Air National Guard aircraft, active duty Air Force medics with nine different specialty skills, equipment and supplies and two Navy Corpsmen to train a whole unit,” said Williams. “This was truly a total force integration moment, which to me means building partnerships on a deeper level. If we are preparing for the next big conflict, we need to train together.”

Thirty-four service members integrated for the nine-hour course covering 52 medical skills. Some of those skills included performing medical procedures aboard aircraft, performing chest percussion therapy, and other life-saving procedures.

“This course helps improve the efforts of joint-force training so we’re all on the same page in the event something does happen and we have to work together,” said U.S. Navy Reserve Hospital Corpsman First Class Melissa Lewis-Batista, assistant medical department representative at the Naval Reserves Center Anchorage.