Military Medics Advance Trauma Care: Air Force Reserve Command surgeon Col. Jay Johannigman—on his third combat tour—says that today’s military medic “has re-emerged as a leader and innovator, leaning forward and taking home important medical lessons.” One such innovation is the use of a shunt, or plastic tube, as a temporary means to couple two ends of a torn blood vessel. Johannigman, who works as trauma director at University Hospital in Cincinnati, says, “That is unheard of in the states.” (Read more here.)
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.