Battlefield medicine's bleeding edge

Published June 12, 2025
By Samuel King Jr.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Smoke floods into the tiny outdoor carport and sounds of war blast out into the humid air as the Airman’s coyote brown boots step into a puddle of a casualty’s blood.

The Airman, a medic completing the last day of the Air Force’s tactical combat casualty care training, assesses the scene, takes a deep breath and gets to work saving a life.

Air Force medics experienced this setup, known as tactical field care, many times in practice and as a graded assessment to pass the TCCC tier three training at Eglin the week of June 2.

Care under fire and tactical field care are the two primary hands-on phases of the the training. The course is a three-year or pre-deployment requirement for Air Force medics.