The owner of a telemedicine company pleaded guilty today to organizing and leading a $46.2 million Medicare fraud conspiracy that spanned more than six years.
According to court documents, Christopher Harwood, 43, of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, admitted that he owned and operated a telemedicine company called TelevisitMD. Harwood and his co-conspirators targeted Medicare patients through aggressive telemarketing campaigns, inducing them to accept orthotic braces and genetic tests that they did not need. Harwood paid doctors to approve orders for these braces and genetic tests. These doctors did not follow Medicare’s rules for telemedicine visits, did not have real medical relationships with the Medicare patients, and often signed orders for orthotic braces and genetic tests without any meaningful interaction with the Medicare patients. Harwood then sold the signed doctors’ orders to durable medical equipment (DME) supply companies, laboratories, and marketers who were part of the scheme.
Harwood also owned and operated multiple DME supply companies based in Florida that he used to bill Medicare millions of dollars for orthotic braces that Medicare patients did not want or need. In total, at least $46.2 million in false and fraudulent claims were submitted to Medicare as part of Harwood’s scheme. Medicare paid $17.9 million based on these claims, and Harwood personally received more than $10.4 million from the fraud scheme.
Harwood pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit health care fraud and wire fraud and agreed to pay $17.9 million in restitution. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date. Harwood faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting Deputy Inspector General for Investigations Scott J. Lampert of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG); and Special Agent in Charge Brett Skiles of the FBI Miami Field Office made the announcement.
HHS-OIG and FBI investigated the case.
Trial Attorney Owen Dunn of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section is prosecuting the case.
The Fraud Section leads the Criminal Division’s efforts to combat health care fraud through the Health Care Fraud Strike Force Program. Since March 2007, this program, currently comprised of eight strike forces operating in federal districts across the country, has charged more than 6,200 defendants who collectively billed federal health care programs and private insurers more than $45 billion. In addition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Health and Human Services, are taking steps to hold providers accountable for their involvement in health care fraud schemes. More information can be found at www.justice.gov/criminal-fraud/health-care-fraud-unit.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Pablo Soria-Porras, Sergio Solano-Sanchez, Eduardo Benitez-Jacinto, and Jesus Diaz Iniguez, who are all illegal aliens from Mexico, face federal charges after law enforcement seized approximately 44 pounds of methamphetamine and two firearms in drug trafficking operations in and around Douglasville and South Fayetteville, Georgia this week.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Spokane, Washington – First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano announced on October 15, 2025, that former Riverside School District employee Dallas Michael Shuler who formerly pled guilty to 12 felony counts pertaining to the online exploitation of children was sentenced on March 25, 2026, to 360 months (30 years) of imprisonment followed by a lifetime term of supervised release.As indicated in court pleadings and hearings, in May of 2024, the FBI Spokane Office was contacted due to a child sexual abuse material video which had been posted online. When questioned about the video, Mr. Shuler indicated he had been in contact with the minors depicted in the video and had requested they produce the sexually explicit material. Further investigation into Mr. Shuler’s electronic devices and online accounts showed Mr. Shuler had engaged in hands-on sexual abuse of at least three minor children and had filmed the abuse. He also engaged in online sexual exploitation of children with dozens of additional victims, many of whom were contacted and victimized through Snapchat. The charges pled to encompass sexual exploitation against 37 different minor children.At the sentencing hearing, AUSA Rebecca Perez spoke to the incredible breach of trust at the core of Shuler’s crimes due to his position as an educator and a coach. Throughout his hundreds of online contacts with minors, Shuler consistently sought out children from the Riverside School District, indicating his ultimate goal of physical sexual contact with children. Mr. Shuler usually posed as a young teenage girl to attempt to entice his target audience of young teenage boys On three separate occasions, Mr. Shuler filmed himself engaging in sexual contact with children and subsequently distributed those images and videos of child sexual abuse material. AUSA Perez further explained that Mr. Shuler’s actions were not a momentary lapse in judgment; rather, they were a consistent pattern which went on for years and was only stopped by the actions of the FBI and Spokane County Sheriff’s DepartmentDuring one online conversation with another online child predator, Mr. Shuler bragged about how good he was at committing these crimes. He noted “I have tons of stuff like that,” in referring to sexually exploitative material. He went on to note, “I baited the boys and did it myself” and “I got those boys to do stuff haha,” going on to brag that as a result he had “content you won’t find anywhere else.”The impact of Shuler’s crimes was best captured by victims and parents who provided impact statements, two of whom spoke at the sentencing hearing. They expressed their profound sense of anger, sadness, and betrayal due to Shuler’s conduct. All expressed that Shuler’s crimes had dramatically altered their lives and their sense of security in their community.Shuler declined to speak at sentencing. There has been and continues to be no expression of remorse from Mr. Shuler.First Assistant United States Attorney Pete Serrano said, “Shuler is one of the most prolific child predators to be sentenced in this district. No others compare. He was relentless in his pursuit of child victims. The long sentence was merited by the offenses committed on vulnerable children in this case.”“As a school district employee, Mr. Shuler was entrusted with the children of this community, whom he held a responsibility to safeguard and guide as a role model,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “It was a horrifying betrayal of that trust to abuse his access to children by exploiting them both in person and online, as Mr. Shuler did again and again, causing harm to the children of his community at a truly shocking scope and scale. Tragically, no prosecution can undo what these children suffered or fully erase its record from the Internet. Still, our case team, partner law enforcement agencies, and prosecutors hope this sentence sends a strong message to a predator who would not stop hurting children, and to anyone elsetempted to follow in his footsteps.”This case is being brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative launched in May 2006 by the U.S. Department of Justice to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse. Led by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals, who sexually exploit children, as well as to identify and rescue victims.This case is being investigated by the FBI, in cooperation with the United States Secret Service, the Spokane County Sheriff’s Department, and the Spokane County Prosecutor’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rebecca R. Perez.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Ashaad Anthony Turner, 24, a previously convicted felon, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court to 30 months in federal prison for unlawfully possessing a stolen, loaded firearm while intending to distribute marijuana in Northwest Washington, D.C., announced U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
LAS VEGAS – The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada is set to begin presenting evidence in the trial involving alleged members and associates of La Mara Salvatrucha, commonly referred to as MS-13. This phase of the trial is scheduled to begin on March 30, 2026, before United States District Judge Gloria M. Navarro in U.S. District Court in Las Vegas.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
This afternoon, in federal court in Brooklyn, Elkin Armando Alomia Quiñones, Luis Alberto Arboleda Escobar, Diego Luis Obregon Aguirre, Edwin Obregon Castro, Juan Matias Obregon Castro, Rodrigo Obregon Saavedra and Narjel Paredes, all citizens of Colombia, will be arraigned before United States Magistrate Judge James R. Cho on an indictment charging them with violations of the Maritime Drug Law Enforcement Act and international cocaine distribution conspiracy. The seven defendants were extradited yesterday to the Eastern District of New York from Colombia where they were previously arrested in March 2025.
Source: United States Department of Justice Criminal Division
Jackson, TN – Jonathan Ray Forrest, 43, has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for possessing over 50 grams of actual methamphetamine with intent to distribute. D. Michael Dunavant, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.In June 2024, Forrest was found in possession of 165 grams of methamphetamine, 2.7 pounds of marijuana, 395 grams of mushrooms, 90 Xanax pills, and half a gram of heroin during the execution of a search warrant at his residence in Kenton, TN. This was Forrest’s sixth felony drug offense involving his illegal distribution of methamphetamine, and he was on…
CAMP BLANDING JOINT TRAINING CENTER, Fla. — Soldiers and Airmen of the Florida National Guard conducted their first joint Oleoresin Capsicum (OC) spray certification in decades at Camp Blanding Joint Training Center, March 23–26.
Personnel from the 715th Military Police Company and the 125th Security Forces Squadron hosted the training for Florida Army National Guard Soldiers assigned to the 265th Air Defense Artillery Regiment and the 116th Field Artillery Regiment. More than 100 Guardsmen participated in nonlethal security training.
“Today we conducted the OC spray contamination level one,” said 1st Sgt. Spencer Gibbs, first sergeant of the 715th Military Police Company and an instructor for the Non-Lethal Weapons Instructor Course. “This contamination is both for familiarization and self confidence purposes. If they have to go down range and the OC spray is deployed, they recognize that and are able to fight through while still accomplishing the mission. This is the first time in my entire military career that I have supported a joint operation for qualification this way. I have served as an instructor for over 14 years and this is the largest instructional group I have been a part of. I am very proud of the level of motivation that the units demonstrated through it all.”
Following exposure to the spray, Soldiers navigated an obstacle course designed to test their ability to operate under stress. Participants applied physical defense and control techniques before detaining an individual, demonstrating proper procedures despite the contaminant’s effects.
“Everyone was pretty well prepared,” said Spc. Kirian Johnson, a military police Soldier with the 715th Military Police Company. “The environment was good, the course got all of your senses moving. The hardest part of going through this was the aftermath. Looking around, trying to regain your vision after, it’s difficult. This training is important because in a real world scenario if someone’s going to pepper spray me, I have to handle that scenario in a professional manner. I need to have an expectation of what’s going to happen and how it’s going to affect me.”
The Florida Army National Guard conducts OC spray certification and other security training to maintain readiness for both state and federal missions. As the Florida National Guard continues to operate as a joint force, realistic training scenarios remain critical to sustaining proficiency across the formation.
Experiences such as OC spray training build confidence and reinforce emotional control, enabling Guardsmen to manage reactions in chaotic situations rather than be overwhelmed.
“This is a type of training you won’t know how to handle until you go through it,” said Master Sgt. Jimmy Randolph, logistics superintendent of the 125th Security Forces Squadron. “Seeing people face the unknown and having the courage to go forth is one of the best parts of this training. This event gives us an opportunity to execute that team building and partnership aspect of our mission by coming together with our brothers and sisters and get them certified. The most beneficial part of these joint ops is coming together as a force and understanding each other’s roles, building camaraderie and that Guard unity. It gives us a platform to understand each other’s mission and how we come together while looking for ways to further train and develop in the future.”
The training also highlighted the importance of discipline, accountability and leadership in developing confident, mission-ready Guardsmen. Instructors maintained clear expectations throughout the event, reinforcing standards across all participating units.
“The military has set a standard for training,” said Gibbs. “Attitude sets everything, we give these Soldiers our expectations of motivation and what they can expect from us. At no point in time did the participants, or the training staff, deviate from those expectations. That’s a testimony to the instructors and the leadership that’s ready to get the job done and complete the mission. I think that by doing that, not just in the training grounds but in the field, keeping that morale up is going to allow us to be more successful in the future.”
VICENZA, Italy — U.S. Soldiers assigned to Civil Affairs Team Kenya coordinated a combined, joint school donation event with Kenya Defence Forces Civil Military Cooperation personnel at Mokowe Arid School in Mokowe, Kenya, Feb. 12.
The U.S. civil affairs team, which reports to Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF), accomplished this mission to provide critical resources to vulnerable populations by combining their efforts with U.S. Army Task Force Bataan personnel, the KDF, Lamu County government representatives and Lamu County Women’s Peace and Security.
According to U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Chance Terry, team sergeant, addressing these issues not only provides humanitarian aid, but also serves to thwart violent extremist organizations who exploit vulnerabilities to recruit locals living in the area of operations for Forward Operating Site Manda Bay, Kenya.
1 / 2Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Army Capt. Ethan Hunt, right, team chief for Civil Affairs Team Kenya, talks to a group of students during a school donation event at Mokowe Arid School in Mokowe, Kenya, Feb. 12, 2026. Hunt’s address is part of an effort coordinated by his team to address a shortage of critical resources in vulnerable communities within the area of operations for Forward Operating Site Manda Bay Kenya. (Photo courtesy of Staff Sgt. Alec Golden) (Photo Credit: SETAF Africa)VIEW ORIGINAL2 / 2Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Chance Terry, right, a team sergeant for Civil Affairs Team Kenya assigned to Alpha Company, Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, (SETAF-AF) and U.S. Air Force Capt. Bailey Ziman center, an airman assigned to 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron, disperse comfort kits from the American Red Cross to locals at Mokowe Arid School in Mokowe, Kenya, Feb. 12, 2026. The kits include toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap, among other items, to address a shortage of critical resources in vulnerable communities living within the area of operations for Forward Operating Site Manda Bay Kenya. (Photo courtesy of Staff Sgt. Alec Golden) (Photo Credit: SETAF Africa)VIEW ORIGINAL
“School donation events give us the opportunity to work with the area’s youth, the Kenya Defence Forces and the Lamu County Government to build strong cooperative relationships,” Terry said. “All entities and organizations in this region want peace and security, and the best way to accomplish that is for all of us to work together. This event is one of many examples to reach our shared goal.”
Such events also give U.S. and Kenyan military personnel opportunities to learn each other’s processes and improve their ability to work together smoothly.
U.S. Army Sgt. Jeremiah Bowman right, a civil affairs specialist, and U.S. Army Capt. Andrew Hunt, second from the right, a civil affairs officer, speak with counterparts from Kenya Defence Forces during a school donation event at Mokowe Arid School in Mokowe, Kenya, Feb. 12, 2026. Bowman and Hunt are both assigned to Alpha Company, Civil Affairs Battalion, U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa, (SETAF-AF). By coordinating such activities, they provide opportunities for U.S. and Kenyan military personnel to improve interoperability, support strategic goals in the region, and address critical resource shortages in vulnerable communities. (Photo courtesy of (Photo courtesy of Staff Sgt. Alec Golden) (Photo Credit: SETAF Africa)VIEW ORIGINAL
“Collaborating with the KDF team enhances our combined operational effectiveness and strengthens community relations,” Terry said. “Initiatives like this are fundamental to ensuring local stability and the mutual protection of our forces.”
U.S. Soldiers assigned to Task Force Bataan unloaded “comfort kits” provided by the American Red Cross and dispersed them to local community members. These kits consist of basic hygiene items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes and soap that people living in the industrialized world can easily purchase. However, certain hygiene items have special significance in developing countries, as well as high-stakes impacts on young women’s lives.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Bailey Ziman, center, an airman assigned to 475th Expeditionary Air Base Squadron, and members of the Kenya Defence Forces disperse comfort kits from the American Red Cross to locals at Mokowe Arid School in Mokowe, Kenya, Feb. 12, 2026. The kits include toothbrushes, toothpaste and soap, among other items, to address a shortage of critical resources in vulnerable communities within the area of operations for Forward Operating Site Manda Bay Kenya. (Photo courtesy of Staff Sgt. Alec Golden) (Photo Credit: SETAF Africa)VIEW ORIGINAL
“In addition to the kits, our team distributed feminine hygiene products, and if there are any expendable items taken for granted in the United States, it would be menstrual pads,” Terry said. “If female students don’t have access to these items, they will miss school and potentially resort to harmful means to acquire them. Local school teachers have told us that when young girls are not in school, they face increased risk for gender violence, early marriage and early pregnancy, causing them to drop out of school entirely.”
Going forward, Terry explained that his CA team’s future plans include facilitating similar engagements with KDF members to address the lack of resources faced by communities in the local area. The team will also continue working with local organizations, such as the Lamu County Women’s Peace and Security, to identify other schools most in need of support in the area.
“The support we’ve received from everyone we work with in Kenya to collaborate is truly amazing,” Terry said. “I think there is a tremendous amount of momentum here that will continue to grow for many years.”
About SETAF-AF
U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.
DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — U.S. Army military medical professionals tested the Medical Currency Application for Readiness Tracking 2.0, a digital, field-medicine tracker, for the first time in Africa during Justified Accord 2026 at Lugalo General Military Hospital and Msata Military Training Base, March 2-12.
Justified Accord is U.S. Africa Command’s largest exercise in East Africa. This year’s event connected U.S. military medical professionals, Tanzanian healthcare providers and Nebraska Air National Guard personnel through the Nebraska-Tanzania State Partnership Program.
Historically, military leaders have struggled to measure the readiness value of medical care. Providers would gain critical clinical experience during exercises, but the data only existed in spreadsheets, paper logs or individual memory. The inaugural medical readiness exercise represented an opportunity to use MCART 2.0 to quantify operational readiness.
U.S. Air Force Maj. Daniel Cybulski, an infectious disease physician with the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills Omaha Team, U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, sits with Tanzania People’s Defence Force medical personnel during patient consultations as part of a medical readiness exercise during Justified Accord 26 at Msata Military Training Base in Msata, Tanzania, March 9, 2026. This first-ever MEDREX in Tanzania prepared U.S. military health professionals for the challenges of providing care outside traditional clinical settings. Working alongside African partners, U.S. medical professionals refined their ability to deliver rapid, adaptable and resource-efficient medical care, directly increasing medical readiness for large-scale combat operations.
JA26 increases multinational interoperability in support of humanitarian assistance and crisis response, prepares regional partners for United Nations and African Union missions, and builds readiness for the U.S. joint force. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) and hosted in Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania, JA26 is U.S. Africa Command’s largest exercise in East Africa. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Tucker Chase) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Tucker Chase)
“MCART began as an effort to create a self-reporting tool that would allow military medical personnel to document readiness-relevant clinical activity, particularly care delivered outside military treatment facilities,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Justin Fox, professor of surgery at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.
The concept emerged approximately five years ago and was initially developed as a proof-of-concept application within the U.S. Air Force to address a persistent gap in capturing operational clinical experience.
Now, MCART 2.0 is a cloud-enabled, modular system. Providers log encounters, procedures, diagnoses and clinical hours through a mobile interface. The platform aggregates clinical data and adds calculated measures like work-relative value units, joint knowledge, skills and abilities metrics, then populates that data to a dashboard for senior leaders.
The system captures service-specific readiness requirements, such as U.S. Army individual critical task lists, and U.S. Air Force comprehensive medical readiness program activities, which creates a single joint operational picture.
In October 2025, the development team began coordinating with U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) to determine how to introduce and integrate the tool into military exercises in Africa.
Planners collaborated to incorporate specific situational reporting requirements and medical specialties into the system. This preparation resulted in a tailored tool that matched SETAF-AF’s reporting workflows and JA26 MEDREX requirements.
U.S. Army Col. Jason Carpenter, a dentist with the 155th Medical Group, 155th Air Refueling Wing, Nebraska Air National Guard, and a Tanzania People’s Defence Force medical professional conduct a dental procedure as part of a medical readiness exercise during Justified Accord 26 at Lugalo General Military Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 5, 2026. This first-ever MEDREX in Tanzania prepared U.S. military health professionals for the challenges of providing care outside traditional clinical settings. Working alongside Africa partners, U.S. medical professionals refined their ability to deliver rapid, adaptable and resource-efficient medical care, directly increasing medical readiness for large-scale combat operations.
JA26 increases multinational interoperability in support of humanitarian assistance and crisis response, prepares regional partners for United Nations and African Union missions, and builds readiness for the U.S. joint force. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) and hosted in Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania, JA26 is U.S. Africa Command’s largest exercise in East Africa. (U.S Army photo by Pfc. Alva L. Gonzalez) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Alva Gonzalez)
“MCART 2.0 was integrated into the Justified Accord MEDREX as the standardized mechanism to capture clinical activity and readiness-relevant events,” Fox said. “Entries are aggregated into near real-time dashboards to provide visibility to mission and command leadership.”
Within the first days of the MEDREX, the dashboard began displaying patient encounter totals and procedure counts. For the first time, the database captured clinical data related to dermatology and bioenvironmental engineering.
“The system allows us to capture the work that our medical teams are doing in a way that translates directly into readiness,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Benjamin Pass, an international health specialist with Air Combat Command‘s Office of the Command Surgeon. “It provides leaders with visibility into the clinical activity taking place across the mission and helps demonstrate the value of these engagements.”
The platform, developed in collaboration with USU, has supported more than 20 missions across U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and its use has extended to U.S. Africa Command through JA26.
MCART 2.0 training has evolved from informal orientation to a structured onboarding approach. Training emphasizes short, practical sessions that guide users through account setup, logging encounters and understanding how their entries translate into mission and readiness metrics.
1 / 2Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Army Maj. Woo Do, the chief of pediatric surgery, Directorate for Surgical Services, Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, and Tanzania People’s Defence Forces medical personnel perform surgery on a Tanzanian patient as part of a medical readiness exercise during Justified Accord 2026 at Lugalo General Military Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 4, 2026. This first-ever MEDREX in Tanzania prepared U.S. military health professionals for the challenges of providing care outside traditional clinical settings. Working alongside African partners, U.S. medical professionals refined their ability to deliver rapid, adaptable and resource-efficient medical care, directly increasing medical readiness for large-scale combat operations.
JA26 increases multinational interoperability in support of humanitarian assistance and crisis response, prepares regional partners for United Nations and African Union missions, and builds readiness for the U.S. joint force. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) and hosted in Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania, JA26 is U.S. Africa Command’s largest exercise in East Africa. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Tucker Chase) (Photo Credit: 1st Lt. Tucker Chase)
VIEW ORIGINAL2 / 2Show Caption +Hide Caption –U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jazmin Smith, an orthopedic technician assigned to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Hospital, assists during surgery on a Tanzanian patient during a medical readiness exercise as part of Justified Accord 26 at Lugalo General Military Hospital in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, March 9, 2026. This first-ever MEDREX in Tanzania prepared U.S. military health professionals for the challenges of providing care outside traditional clinical settings. Working alongside African partners, U.S. medical professionals refined their ability to deliver rapid, adaptable and resource-efficient medical care, directly increasing medical readiness for large-scale combat operations.
JA26 increases multinational interoperability in support of humanitarian assistance and crisis response, prepares regional partners for United Nations and African Union missions, and builds readiness for the U.S. joint force. Led by U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) and hosted in Djibouti, Kenya and Tanzania, JA26 is U.S. Africa Command’s largest exercise in East Africa. (U.S Army photo by Pfc. Alva L. Gonzalez) (Photo Credit: Pfc. Alva Gonzalez)
“The most significant improvements came from the hundreds of end users across the Army, Navy and Air Force who tested the application during operational missions and exercises,” Fox said. “Their feedback was critical in improving usability and ensuring the platform met the practical needs of clinicians operating in real-world environments.”
U.S. Air Forces Southern Command led early adoption, and the Navy first used the platform during Pacific Partnership in 2025. SETAF-AF’s adoption during JA26 advances the Army’s transformation initiative, applying an innovative medical readiness tool in Africa.
Ongoing efforts are underway to migrate MCART 2.0 into the Defense Health Agency’s IT infrastructure to support long-term sustainment and enable it to function as an enterprise capability. As part of this effort, data will transition into the Military Health System Information Platform, allowing secure access for DHA and military department analytic teams to support program evaluation and provider readiness assessments.
For SETAF-AF, Africa serves as a battle lab where joint medical teams can validate tools defining readiness across the total force. By integrating digital tracking during the MEDREX, U.S. forces proved innovative training enables partner-led security.
U.S. Army Southern European Task Force, Africa (SETAF-AF) prepares Army forces, executes crisis response, enables strategic competition and strengthens partners to achieve U.S. Army Europe and Africa and U.S. Africa Command campaign objectives.