China built more than twice naval tonnage of US in 2024-25: Euronaval
BLUF – A new Euronaval report found that China produced 636,208 tons of naval vessels in 2024–2025, more than twice the 270,509 tons built by the United States, significantly narrowing the gap in naval shipbuilding despite the U.S. Navy retaining a substantial advantage in total fleet tonnage. For Navy Medicine, China’s accelerating naval expansion reinforces the importance of preparing for prolonged, high-intensity maritime conflict in the Indo-Pacific, including distributed medical support, mass casualty management, prolonged casualty care and medical logistics in contested environments where evacuation and resupply may be severely restricted.
Preserving the Institutional Membrane: Walter Reed National Military Medical Center Re-Verifies as an ACS Level II Trauma Center
BLUF – Walter Reed National Military Medical Center has earned reverification as an American College of Surgeons Level II Trauma Center, demonstrating its continued ability to provide complex combat casualty care and preserve the specialized personnel, clinical systems and institutional expertise developed during two decades of war. The authors emphasize that Navy Medicine and the broader Military Health System must expand civilian trauma and emergency surgical patient access through legislation and formal agreements to sustain clinical proficiency, prevent the erosion of wartime medical capabilities and ensure readiness for future large-scale combat operations.
The Blood Clock
BLUF – In an analysis of the Defense Health Agency’s FY2027 campaign plan, Mary Womack highlights its goal of positioning 90% of anticipated wartime blood requirements forward by 2028, warning that staffing shortages, limited collection capacity, short blood-product shelf lives and unresolved international agreements threaten this objective despite $42.5 million in proposed additional funding. For Navy Medicine, the plan establishes an October 31 deadline for Naval Hospital Guam to update emergency blood-release protocols incorporating low-titer O whole blood and rapid infectious disease testing, while emphasizing the importance of adequately staffed donor centers, pre-screened walking blood banks and reliable blood supplies for prolonged casualty care during large-scale combat operations.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/blood-clock-mary-womack-nu4ve
Some Thoughts on the Admiralty – What does a 20% Cut Look Like?
BLUF – Retired Navy Capt. John Cordle questions the rationale behind the Pentagon’s mandated 20% reduction in flag officer positions, arguing that the changes lack demonstrated analysis, will generate relatively modest savings and could weaken organizational effectiveness, career progression and senior military oversight. For Navy Medicine, the proposed downgrading of the Commander of Naval Medical Forces Support Command and two reserve Medical Forces deputy director positions to captain-level billets raises concerns about diminished senior leadership representation, reduced flag officer career opportunities and potential long-term effects on medical readiness and training.
https://johncordle.substack.com/p/some-thoughts-on-the-admiralty
Navy Medicine Fast Facts – Naval Medical Research and Development Command
BLUF – On Oct. 1, 2026, the Naval Medical Research Command (NMRC) was elevated to an Echelon III command under the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery (BUMED) and redesignated the Navy Medicine Research and Development Command (NMRDC). This milestone harkens back to 1974 when Navy medical R&D went through one of its most significant transformations. That year the Naval Medical Neuropsychiatric Research Unit (NMNPRU) was redesignated the Naval Health Research Center (NHRC), the Naval Aerospace Medical Research Laboratory (NAMRL) separated from the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute (NAMI) becoming its own command, and the BUMED Research Division relocated to the 12th floor of Building 1 at the National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) Bethesda, Maryland and became the Naval Medical Research and Development Command (NMRDC).
For 24 years, the original NMRDC was our research hub and responsible for Navy Medicine’s vast research and development enterprise. At its peak, NMRDC oversaw 11 R&D commands and activities worldwide. In this issue we look back at the original NMRDC.
Groups seek clarity on motive behind Pentagon’s study of women in combat
BLUF – The American Civil Liberties Union, National Women’s Law Center and Service Women’s Action Network have sued the Pentagon seeking records about the purpose, methodology and intended use of its study of women’s effectiveness in combat, citing concerns about Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s previously stated opposition to women serving in combat roles and the selection of a researcher whose earlier work drew criticism. For Navy Medicine, the controversy highlights the importance of objective, evidence-based assessments of physical performance, injury risks and operational readiness when evaluating service members for combat assignments, particularly as potential policy changes could affect female sailors and Marines.
Role 1 in Large-Scale Combat Operations
BLUF – In an October 2026 article, Dr. James Jones argues that large-scale combat operations will transform Role 1 medical facilities from brief stabilization points into prolonged casualty care sites, requiring physician associates, medics and corpsmen to manage critically injured patients for hours or days amid mass casualties, delayed evacuation and contested logistics. For Navy Medicine, his recommendations emphasize expanding prolonged casualty care training, forward-deployed whole blood and walking blood bank capabilities, realistic clinical skills sustainment, joint casualty evacuation planning and AI-enabled decision support to improve survival when rapid access to surgical care is unavailable.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/role-1-large-scale-combat-operations-james-jones-ktguc
Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms pediatrician named Navy Pediatrician of the Year by American Academy of Pediatrics
BLUF – Navy Lt. Cmdr. Scott Berkheimer, a pediatrician at Naval Hospital Twentynine Palms, was named the 2026 Navy Pediatrician of the Year by the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Uniformed Services, recognizing his dedication to military children and families through primary care, newborn resuscitation and coordination of specialty services at a geographically isolated installation. For Navy Medicine, his recognition highlights the importance of high-quality pediatric care in remote military communities, strong referral relationships with larger medical centers and graduate medical education programs that prepare Navy physicians to support military families wherever they serve.