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Source: United States Army

DRAWSKO, Poland — Soldiers with the 30th Medical Brigade conducted a rail casualty evacuation exercise during SWORD 26, May 11-15, to prepare Army medicine for the realities of large-scale combat operations across Europe.

The training, conducted under the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, tested the use of rail transportation as a casualty evacuation platform while integrating multinational medical personnel, host-nation rail systems and NATO interoperability standards.

“We need to make sure that we’re looking at multimodal transportation for casualty evacuation during large-scale combat operations,” said Col. Crystal Belew, commander of the 519th Hospital Center. “We had overwhelming success in what we called the golden hour. We had air superiority. We were able to use rotary-wing evacuation. Moving into large-scale combat operations, we need to use all forms of evacuation methods.”

The exercise reflected a shift in Army medicine’s focus from counterinsurgency operations to preparing for high-intensity conflict against near-peer adversaries, where contested airspace may limit the use of helicopters for medical evacuation.

According to Belew, Europe’s extensive rail network provides an opportunity for NATO allies to train together while testing the challenges of moving casualties across multiple countries and transportation systems.

“Training with rail assets improves NATO interoperability with our host-nation partners,” said Belew. “Europe has one of the most extensive rail networks in the world, and we get to use NATO standards, standardized agreements and transload node agreements when we’re crossing different country borders.”

The rail exercise incorporated multinational cooperation at every level, from medical treatment to transportation logistics.

“The true interoperability would be a Mexican Soldier being treated by a Polish medical provider going to a German facility,” said Belew. “Using a rail asset and training through those different means and methods really brings the interoperability piece to full success.”

In addition to the rail platform, the exercise also tested a casualty staging unit concept, an innovation modeled after systems used by NATO partners. The casualty staging unit is designed to stabilize patients before they are moved onward for additional treatment, helping reduce strain on emergency medical facilities during mass casualty events.

“This is a concept we’re experimenting with that, by doctrine, does not exist in Army medicine,” Belew said. “This is where we are stabilizing stable patients for onward evacuation.”

The training scenario focused on preparing Soldiers and medical personnel for the scale and complexity expected in future conflicts.

“Large-scale combat operations have an expectation of mass casualties and complexity that has not been seen in our generation,” said Belew. “Exercises such as SWORD 26, where we’re focused on larger scales, mass casualties and stressing the system, are training Soldiers for those real-world expectations.”

The exercise also supported the broader sustainment mission of the 21st TSC by ensuring medical forces remain prepared to care for wounded personnel during future operations.

“Army medicine sustains the warfighter,” said Belew. “This training will sustain the warfighter by preparing for large-scale combat operations and preparing our medical professionals to take care of Soldiers.”

By integrating multinational partners, testing emerging medical concepts and expanding casualty evacuation capabilities beyond traditional air evacuation, SWORD 26 demonstrated NATO’s continued commitment to readiness and interoperability across the European theater.

Source: United States Army

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Candles flickered inside Daenner Chapel as American and German community members gathered next to rows of white grave markers at Kaiserslautern Main Cemetery during the annual Kindergraves Memorial Service, May 16, 2026.

The ceremony honored 451 American infants and children buried at the historic Kindergraves memorial site, many of them born to U.S. military families stationed in Germany during the height of the Cold War.

Senior leaders from the U.S. Army 21st Theater Sustainment Command and U.S. Air Force 86th Airlift Wing joined local officials, volunteers and military families during the event, which included candle lighting, prayers and wreath-laying ceremonies.

Deputy Mayor Anja Pfeiffer said the Kindergraves memorial remains a place of remembrance, compassion and connection between Germany and the American military community.

“The Children’s Cemetery here in Kaiserslautern is such a place,” Pfeiffer said during translated remarks at the ceremony. “451 children have found their final resting place here. 451 short lives. 451 stories that could never be told.”

Pfeiffer said many American families arrived in Kaiserslautern far from home but became part of the local community over time.

“German-American friendship has shaped Kaiserslautern for decades,” she said. “Compassion knows no language and no nationality.”

Maj. Gen. Michael B. Lalor, commanding general of the 21st Theater Sustainment Command, said the memorial reflects the enduring bond between the Kaiserslautern community and American service members stationed overseas.

“Losing a child can be one of the most traumatic and painful experiences a parent ever endures,” Lalor said. “That heartache only becomes heavier if you’re doing it far from home and not surrounded by family.”

Lalor said the continued preservation of the cemetery reflects decades of compassion and partnership between the Kaiserslautern community and American military families.

“When these families left Germany, they carried the weight of leaving a piece of themselves behind on German soil,” Lalor said. “But they also knew their children would not be forgotten.”

During the ceremony, representatives from the Army, Air Force and German-American community lit memorial candles symbolizing remembrance and enduring devotion to the children buried at the cemetery.

Following the chapel service, attendees walked to the cemetery grounds for a wreath-laying ceremony.

The ceremony also recognized volunteers and organizations who continue to preserve the memorial, including the German-American Club Kaiserslautern, the Ramstein Area Chiefs Group, the Sergeant Morales Club and local students from Burg Gymnasium who help care for the cemetery grounds.

Pfeiffer said the cemetery continues to connect generations of German and American families through shared remembrance.

“Even though these children had only a short time in this world, they left their mark in the hearts of their families and also in our city,” she said. “It reminds us how precious every single life is.”