The time it takes to get a badly wounded servicemember in Afghanistan to a hospital for treatment has decreased significantly in the past year. USA Today reported Wednesday that the time has been slashed from 100 minutes to just 42 minutes, and 96 percent of those wounded now survive their wounds, citing official military data and officials. However, according to the newspaper, military officials are still determining the exact correlation between faster patient delivery and survival, since they regard wound severity and not travel time as the most critical factor.
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.