Posted on Mar 12, 2025
Military medical system unprepared for future conflict, experts say
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This is something I have worried about for a long time. To be realistic, it’s not just surgeons, it’s nurse anesthetists, anesthesiologists, OR nurses and surgical techs. You need trained nursing staffs on the wards to take care of the trauma patients. When the military started downsizing and sending patients to civilian facilities, the systems readiness declined, IMHO.
Military medical system unprepared for future conflict, experts say
Posted from militarytimes.comPosted in these groups: 
Medical
66H: Medical-Surgical NurseSurgical Technologist
Nurse AnesthesiaCombat Trauma Management
Medical 66H: Medical-Surgical NurseSurgical Technologist Nurse AnesthesiaCombat Trauma Management
Posted 9 mo ago
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Maj Robert Thornton I see the draft coming back if we go to war to get personnel to fill medical positions.
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Maj Robert Thornton
Unfortunately, Cpl Vic Burk, that takes time. We need a medical/surgical system in place that can be gone air transported in days, not months. When I was active, I was on mobility, a bag packed and ready to go at all times. We had the personnel we could send anywhere in the world. Reservist would be brought on to active to back fill the hospitals from where we were mobilized. I just don’t know if we have the force to do that now.
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MAJ Byron Oyler
Maj Robert Thornton - I retired four years ago and we do not have a sufficient medical plan in place. Medical department is one of the most expensive in DOD and while I understand their concerns, they fail to realize all the money spent into us just does not disappear. When we are not longer in uniform, we take that knowledge and experience out to the civilian workforce and it is rare in any ER I am not the most experienced and well trained RN on shift. We are money well spent.
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Given the significant efforts directed toward improving our military capabilities, I was initially skeptical of the readiness concerns presented in the article. However, a review of the relevant subject matter and authoritative sources confirmed the need for ongoing improvements, with these issues actively being reported through late 2025.
Here are specific, recent examples from the search results:
1. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports (September 2025)
The GAO continues to release reports that detail persistent readiness challenges:
Ground Vehicle Availability: A report from September 25, 2025, found that "mission capable rates have declined for 16 of the 18 Army and Marine Corps ground vehicles" in their review since 2015.
This decline is attributed to a lack of parts and materiel, a shortage of trained maintainers, and a drastic reduction in depot overhauls (e.g., Army overhauls dropped from over 1,200 in FY 2015 to only 12 in FY 2024).
Persistent Challenges Across Domains: A GAO testimony in March 2025 stated that despite DoD efforts, "significant work remains" to address persistent readiness challenges across the Air, Sea, Ground, and Space domains, noting that over 100 recommendations remain to be fully implemented.
2. Congressional Testimony on Medical Readiness (March 2025)
The critical concerns about medical preparedness are still being voiced at the highest levels:
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on March 11, 2025, specifically titled: "Stabilizing the Military Health System to Prepare for Large-Scale Combat Operations."
In his opening statement, the Chairman discussed the "peacetime effect" leading to an "erosion of physician capability and expertise" that could result in unnecessary casualties in wartime, directly echoing the long-standing concerns about preparedness for high-casualty conflict.
3. Think Tank and Military Leadership Warnings (October/November 2025)
Recent analysis and military statements reflect the ongoing challenge of modernization:
A report cited in October 2025 found a "gap between what’s available now and what’s required now to maintain deterrence in the near- and medium-term," suggesting that the emphasis on long-term innovation is leaving a hole in near-term readiness.
The Chief of Defence Staff in India, in a speech on November 27, 2025 (today), highlighted that for a military, the "ability to visualise, anticipate and prepare for future conflicts... becomes existential," underscoring the global military challenge of adapting to rapidly evolving warfare.
The documents confirm that the concern that the U.S. military is insufficiently prepared for a future, high-intensity conflict remains a major and current focus of authoritative government and expert analysis.
Cpl Vic Burk COL (Join to see) Maj Robert Thornton COL (Join to see)
Here are specific, recent examples from the search results:
1. Government Accountability Office (GAO) Reports (September 2025)
The GAO continues to release reports that detail persistent readiness challenges:
Ground Vehicle Availability: A report from September 25, 2025, found that "mission capable rates have declined for 16 of the 18 Army and Marine Corps ground vehicles" in their review since 2015.
This decline is attributed to a lack of parts and materiel, a shortage of trained maintainers, and a drastic reduction in depot overhauls (e.g., Army overhauls dropped from over 1,200 in FY 2015 to only 12 in FY 2024).
Persistent Challenges Across Domains: A GAO testimony in March 2025 stated that despite DoD efforts, "significant work remains" to address persistent readiness challenges across the Air, Sea, Ground, and Space domains, noting that over 100 recommendations remain to be fully implemented.
2. Congressional Testimony on Medical Readiness (March 2025)
The critical concerns about medical preparedness are still being voiced at the highest levels:
The Senate Armed Services Committee held a hearing on March 11, 2025, specifically titled: "Stabilizing the Military Health System to Prepare for Large-Scale Combat Operations."
In his opening statement, the Chairman discussed the "peacetime effect" leading to an "erosion of physician capability and expertise" that could result in unnecessary casualties in wartime, directly echoing the long-standing concerns about preparedness for high-casualty conflict.
3. Think Tank and Military Leadership Warnings (October/November 2025)
Recent analysis and military statements reflect the ongoing challenge of modernization:
A report cited in October 2025 found a "gap between what’s available now and what’s required now to maintain deterrence in the near- and medium-term," suggesting that the emphasis on long-term innovation is leaving a hole in near-term readiness.
The Chief of Defence Staff in India, in a speech on November 27, 2025 (today), highlighted that for a military, the "ability to visualise, anticipate and prepare for future conflicts... becomes existential," underscoring the global military challenge of adapting to rapidly evolving warfare.
The documents confirm that the concern that the U.S. military is insufficiently prepared for a future, high-intensity conflict remains a major and current focus of authoritative government and expert analysis.
Cpl Vic Burk COL (Join to see) Maj Robert Thornton COL (Join to see)
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COL (Join to see)
I agree with the concerns you raised, especially on the medical side. One of the biggest challenges for active-duty medical personnel is the lack of real trauma volume in most stateside military treatment facilities. Very few MTFs are Level I trauma centers, so it’s hard for trauma nurses, emergency physicians, and surgeons to maintain the kind of hands-on experience they’d need in a large-scale conflict.
The Army has tried to address this with programs that embed active-duty nurses and physicians in high-volume civilian trauma centers for a few years as part of their duty assignment. Those programs help, but they only reach a limited number of people.
By comparison, a lot of trauma nurses and trauma surgeons in the Army Reserve work full-time in civilian Level I trauma centers. They manage major trauma every day, so their practical readiness is often higher than their active-duty counterparts. That’s what I meant earlier when I said the reserve component is generally better prepared on the trauma-care side.
My background is strictly medical, so I can only speak to that piece. I don’t have the same level of insight into other areas of the military, such as logistics or sustainment.
The Army has tried to address this with programs that embed active-duty nurses and physicians in high-volume civilian trauma centers for a few years as part of their duty assignment. Those programs help, but they only reach a limited number of people.
By comparison, a lot of trauma nurses and trauma surgeons in the Army Reserve work full-time in civilian Level I trauma centers. They manage major trauma every day, so their practical readiness is often higher than their active-duty counterparts. That’s what I meant earlier when I said the reserve component is generally better prepared on the trauma-care side.
My background is strictly medical, so I can only speak to that piece. I don’t have the same level of insight into other areas of the military, such as logistics or sustainment.
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Friedrichs noted there is $10 billion of unfunded facility needs in DOD and $100 billion in VA. There are opportunities to bring patients with acute care needs from the VA into DOD facilities, or bring DOD medical personnel into VA medical facilities, he said, “so that we are not wasting money on duplicative buildings and instead focusing our resources on the patients who need our care.”
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