NAMRU SOUTH Advances U.S. Military Health and Partner Nation Collaboration at UNITAS 2026.
UNITAS, the world's oldest continuous annual multinational maritime exercise, includes medical-response scenario exercises involving rapid identification of a simulated infectious disease and medical evacuation of patients.
“Our participation in this joint medical inject with the Peruvian Navy demonstrates the value of training together under the same demanding conditions in which our teams may need to respond,” explained Cmdr. José Garcia, science director for NAMRU SOUTH. “By integrating clinical assessment, disease identification, and medical evacuation, we strengthen interoperability between our forces.”
During the exercise, NAMRU SOUTH and Peruvian participants received patients and conducted field diagnostics in practice scenarios, to increase response readiness for infectious disease threats.
“UNITAS provided a great opportunity for NAMRU SOUTH to demonstrate its cutting-edge, rapid pathogen detection capabilities in a real-world field scenario,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jeffrey Spiro, a physician with NAMRU SOUTH.
“We learned a lot coordinating this medical inject with our Peruvian military partners, and we’ll be able to build on those connections in the future as we expand our research footprint and continue to support the operational community.”
The 67th UNITAS exercise, hosted by the Peruvian Navy, involved more than 5,700 military personnel from 24 nations, as well as ships, submarines and aircraft from participating militaries. Drills took place in the Pacific Ocean and across several bodies of water across South America.
NAMRU SOUTH, part of Navy Medicine Research & Development, conducts research and surveillance in the SOUTHCOM Area of Responsibility to prevent and treat infectious diseases in support of U.S. warfighter health and readiness.
Navy Medicine's 44,000+ talented and ready forces optimize health readiness, deliver quality healthcare and provide global expeditionary medical support to warfighters.
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