Tactical Combat Casualty Care in Operation Freedom’s Sentinel

Over the course of nearly 19 years of conflict, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) guidelines and their implementation have evolved to incorporate the latest advances in trauma research, casualty care, and transport, playing a large role in generating the lowest incidence of preventable deaths in the history of modern warfare. During the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq, the adoption and implementation of TCCC principles by conventional forces have been extrapolated to have been responsible for saving the lives of more than 1,000 US Servicemembers. As the intensity and nature of the military conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq change, and a growing potential for a near peer conflict rises, it remains important that the lessons of TCCC continue to be instilled in our formations in garrison, before deployment, and while in theater. This article reviews the use of TCCC principles by an assault helicopter battalion, in combination with a variety of other factors, in the successful management of a mass casualty event during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel 2019 in Afghanistan.