JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas –
Airmen from across the 59th Medical Wing and partner units engaged in hands-on trauma training during a Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Skills Day, May 9, 2025, at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.
“We partnered with different squadrons—the 433rd AES, as well as the 344th TRS—to create an AE scenario so that our participants in the Med Group can have hands-on experience with impactful scenarios that will help them to be better medics,” said Capt. Elezabeth Labib-Zuniga, audiologist with the 59th Surgical Operations Squadron.
Drawing from her previous deployment and training experience, Zuniga emphasized the necessity of preparedness.
“When you’re downrange, you don’t have time to react. You just have to rely on your training,” she said. “That was sort of the mission and vision that we had with this event.”
Senior Airman Thomas Jobson, a paramedic with the 59th Medical Group, recently transitioned from a clinic-based role to emergency medical services.
“My last base, I was working on my clinical stuff—family health, pediatrics, etc.” he said. “So moving to EMS and working as a paramedic was a pretty significant change for me… It’s a little challenging becoming confident and having that authority, that autonomy to make medical decisions.”
For Jobson, the TCCC training presented unique challenges.
“All my other TCCC training was on my previous base. So everything from the environment to the fact that we’re using actual people—it’s new to me,” he said. “Especially the care under fire portion. That’s particularly something I’m not used to… Having airsoft shots flying at me while also trying to do my job at the same time—it was a cool experience.”
Training scenarios incorporated simulated gunfire and battlefield conditions, with the goal of pushing participants beyond standard clinical environments.
“Mike Tyson said everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth,” Jobson said. “You're sitting there, you’re getting shot at. It was really helpful to have cadre kind of inform us—not tell us what to do—but remind us, ‘Hey, we need to get out of this area.’”
For Capt. Kaitlyn Betts, element chief at the Family Health Clinic at Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center, the motivation behind organizing the event was rooted in her own transition from civilian nursing into the military.
“As a nurse coming from the civilian side, joining the military, you think you’re going to be hopping into that all the time,” she said. “But from personal experience, we really need to take advantage of these exercises.”
She added, “We all signed the line and we joined the military, and we’re supposed to be ready to deploy at all times.”
Realistic combat simulations—complete with simulated explosive ordnance detonations and live role players—added urgency and unpredictability to the event.
“I think there are a lot of people that were green today,” Betts said. “And maybe hopefully they’ll be a little less green when they leave. And then for those of us that are a little more seasoned, it just kind of gets us ready so that if we’re called next, we’re ready to go.”
In total, the TCCC Skills Day was a joint success, incorporating support from the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and multiple Air Force squadrons.
“Just a big thank you to everyone who helped us out—especially the 344th, the 433rd, the EOD here, and also the Master-at-Arms school at Lackland,” Betts said. “The Navy’s actually shooting at us today.”
Labib-Zuniga echoed the value of the collaboration. “This was really a place to be out of your comfort zone.”
As the pace of global uncertainty continues, exercises like TCCC Skills Day ensure Air Force medics are ready—not just in theory, but in practice.
U.S. Air Force Captain Maximillian Fabricant said “It is important that we continue to implement large exercises and prepare frequently, so we are ready when our time is called.”