Air Force and other service medical teams are operating “closer to the front than ever before,” USAF’s Surgeon General told the House Appropriations defense panel last week. Lt. Gen. James Roudebush said the new system of joint en route care has meant that wounded warriors are moved, on average, from the battlefield to definitive care in the States in “three days or less.” He compared that to the up to 14 days required during Operation Desert Storm in 1991 and 45 days during the Vietnam War. The Air Force medics, alone, said Roudebush, have “treated and safely evacuated more than 41,000 patients since the beginning of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.”
More than seven weeks still remain until the 2023 fiscal year begins on Oct. 1, but observers of Congress are already warning that time is running out for lawmakers to pass the annual National Defense Authorization Act and appropriations bill that will fund the Pentagon before that deadline. Should Congress…