Bill Summary
The "Retaining Essential Support for Combat and Unified Evacuation Act of 2025" (RESCUE Act of 2025) is a legislative proposal aimed at preserving and ensuring the operational integrity of the Army's aeromedical evacuation capabilities within its Medical Service Corps. The Act mandates that the Medical Service Corps maintain dedicated resources, including personnel, training, and specialized aircraft, for aeromedical evacuation missions.
Key provisions include:
1. **Authority Clarification**: The Secretary of the Army must ensure that both the aviation branch and the medical department have clear responsibilities for organizing, training, and conducting aeromedical evacuation operations.
2. **Maintaining Capabilities**: The Act requires the Secretary to sustain the necessary capabilities in alignment with medical evacuation doctrine and operational needs, supporting various missions including combat, humanitarian aid, and emergency responses.
3. **Structure Protection**: The aeromedical evacuation capability must remain distinct within the Medical Service Corps, with any restructuring needing prior notification to Congress and a thorough risk assessment.
4. **Consultation Requirement**: Changes to the allocations or structure of the Medical Service Corps must involve consultation with the Surgeon General, ensuring that any adjustments are medically sound and capable of supporting all required missions.
5. **Effective Date**: The provisions will take effect 180 days after the Act is enacted.
Overall, the RESCUE Act aims to reinforce the Army's medical evacuation capabilities while ensuring that any changes to these critical functions are carefully evaluated and communicated.
Possible Impacts
The "Retaining Essential Support for Combat and Unified Evacuation Act of 2025" (RESCUE Act of 2025) could affect people in several ways:
1. **Enhanced Medical Support for Military Personnel**: The legislation ensures that the Medical Service Corps of the Army maintains a dedicated aeromedical evacuation capability. This means that soldiers injured in combat or during operations will receive timely and specialized medical evacuation services, leading to better health outcomes and potentially saving lives. Service members and their families can have greater peace of mind knowing that robust medical evacuation procedures are in place.
2. **Increased Training and Readiness**: By mandating that the Medical Service Corps retains specialized personnel and training for aeromedical evacuation, the Act enhances the overall readiness of military medical services. This could lead to improved job security and career development opportunities for those involved in military medicine, as well as the potential for more advanced training programs that benefit not only military personnel but also emergency responders in civilian settings.
3. **Impact on Civilian and Humanitarian Operations**: The Act allows for the integration of military aeromedical evacuation capabilities into humanitarian assistance and disaster response operations. This means that in times of natural disasters or humanitarian crises, the military can provide crucial medical evacuation support. Local communities and civilian populations affected by such events may benefit from faster and more efficient medical response capabilities, potentially reducing casualties and improving recovery times.
Overall, the RESCUE Act of 2025 aims to strengthen the medical evacuation framework within the Army, which has significant implications for military personnel, their families, and civilian populations in need of emergency medical services.
[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1951 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
<DOC>
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1951
To ensure the preservation and operational integrity of the aeromedical
evacuation capabilities of the Department of the Army within the
Medical Service Corps and to maintain the role of the Medical Service
Corps as the primary joint service provider for intra-theater
aeromedical evacuation, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
June 4, 2025
Mr. Cruz introduced the following bill; which was read twice and
referred to the Committee on Armed Services
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure the preservation and operational integrity of the aeromedical
evacuation capabilities of the Department of the Army within the
Medical Service Corps and to maintain the role of the Medical Service
Corps as the primary joint service provider for intra-theater
aeromedical evacuation, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Retaining Essential Support for
Combat and Unified Evacuation Act of 2025'' or the ``RESCUE Act of
2025''.
SEC. 2. PRESERVATION OF DEDICATED AEROMEDICAL EVACUATION CAPABILITY OF
MEDICAL SERVICE CORPS OF THE ARMY.
(a) In General.--The Medical Service Corps of the Army shall
maintain a dedicated aeromedical evacuation capability, including
personnel, training, doctrine, and aircraft specifically configured for
aeromedical evacuation missions.
(b) Clarification of Authority.--The Secretary of the Army shall
ensure that--
(1) the aviation branch of the Army has the authority to
organize, train, and equip aviation assets in accordance with
operational requirements; and
(2) the medical department of the Army, under the authority
delegated to such department by the Surgeon General of the
Army, has the authority for medical command and control,
patient care responsibilities, and clinical standards for
aeromedical evacuation operations.
(c) Elements of Capability.--The Secretary of the Army shall
maintain the capability required under subsection (a)--
(1) in alignment with the sufficiency analysis of the
Surgeon General of the Army;
(2) consistent with medical evacuation doctrine and
operational planning assumptions of the Army; and
(3) in support of--
(A) the commanders of the combatant commands;
(B) contingency operations and operational plans;
(C) civil authorities;
(D) chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear
response force missions;
(E) humanitarian assistance and disaster response
operations; and
(F) garrison emergency medical response operations
at installations of the Department of Defense.
(d) Change in Structure.--
(1) In general.--The capability required under subsection
(a) shall remain a distinct component within the Medical
Service Corps of the Army and may not be restructured into
general-purpose aviation elements or dual-use configurations
without prior notification to the congressional defense
committees (as defined in section 101(a) of title 10, United
States Code), which shall--
(A) be accompanied by a formal risk assessment on--
(i) operational medical readiness of the
Medical Service Corps; and
(ii) readiness of the Medical Service Corps
to support the joint force and missions
specified under subsection (c)(3); and
(B) contain a report that--
(i) is based on the force structure
authorizations outlined in the most current
Army Structure Message;
(ii) is informed by the most current Total
Army Analysis approved by the Secretary of the
Army; and
(iii) does not propose or assume any
changes to the aircraft authorizations
reflected in the documents specified in clauses
(i) and (ii).
(2) Operational medical requirements and joint force
needs.--Any adjustments made to the force structure of the
aeromedical evacuation capability of the Army must account for
operational medical requirements and joint force needs where
the Surgeon General of the Army retains authority over the
medical force structure, staffing, clinical oversight, and
doctrinal development for aeromedical evacuation units.
(e) Change to Allocations.--The Secretary of the Army may not make
any changes to allocations for the Medical Service Corps of the Army
that is inconsistent with the requirements of this section without
prior consultation with the Surgeon General of the Army, who shall
certify that the proposed changes are supported by a sufficiency
analysis and that the revised platform levels remain adequate to
support all mission categories requiring aeromedical evacuation,
consistent with medical evacuation doctrine and operational planning
assumptions of the Army.
(f) Effective Date.--This section shall take effect on the date
that is 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act.
(g) Rule of Construction.--Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prohibit augmentation of military patient movement
operations with combatant, commercial, or allied assets in contingency
or humanitarian operations, as determined necessary by the Secretary of
Defense.
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