119-s1951

[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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