Six-state Guard team brings medical expertise to Paraguay for Exercise Amistad

More than 20 National Guard medical professionals from Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Utah are in Asunción, Paraguay, June 15-26 for Amistad 2026, an annual exercise that blends patient care with partnership-building and medical knowledge exchange. This year’s rotations span Paraguay and the Dominican Republic.

“It is absolutely incredible to watch a U.S. joint medical operations team come to a country they may have never been to and operate in multiple locations,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Peter Mudge, commander of the Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Medical Group and mission commander for the Paraguay portion. “They are doing all this with teammates and all foreign partners they have never met, with a common goal of providing world class medical care in whatever situation they are given. They are, plain and simple, amazing.”

Working alongside Paraguayan counterparts, Guard members have been organized into four teams supporting clinics selected by Paraguay’s Ministry of Health, each seeing roughly 100 patients a day. The effort is centered on optometry and audiology, with additional dental and family medicine services.

“Audiology and optometry definitely impact people’s lives,” said Mudge. “You can see it on people’s faces when they get glasses or hear better than they have ever have in their lives. Seeing the brightness on their face is just an incredible experience.”

“It’s a special mission that we have, being able to treat the local community where they’re resource limited, so we’re able to bring a little bit of outside support to them,” said U.S. Army Maj. Meghan Hart, a physician assistant with the Massachusetts Army National Guard Medical Detachment. “But we’re also able to see our impact almost immediately, and that’s the most rewarding thing.”

Many participants draw on their civilian clinical experience. U.S. Army Capt. Brad Daniels-Demers serves as a nurse practitioner both in the Massachusetts Army National Guard Medical Detachment and at a civilian hospital.

“I think the Guard has a particular advantage, because not only do we have our military-trained skill set, but we also have civilian career skills,” he said. “So, when we match those things together, not only do we offer a variety of knowledge, but we can offer more to the local community.”

The Massachusetts National Guard’s 25-year partnership with Paraguay through the National Guard State Partnership Program provided familiarity for some participants. While Amistad is not an SPP event, it builds on that foundation by emphasizing the exchange of best practices, including mentoring Paraguayan medical students working in the clinics.

For U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Kirk Drennan, an optometrist with the Utah Air National Guard’s 151st Medical Group who speaks Spanish, direct communication has streamlined care and strengthened collaboration with his Paraguayan counterpart, Dr. Petter Gumercindo, who has completed medical school and is training to become an ophthalmologist.

“Hopefully that translates into perpetual care where they can go on to treat more and more, and we can snowball this into bigger and greater things,” he said.

The exercise is set to continue later this summer in the Dominican Republic. Amistad is among a range of global engagements for Guard members.

“Our Soldiers and Airmen gain invaluable experience working alongside trusted partners, sharing expertise, strengthening readiness and building relationships that enhance security,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. Steve Nordhaus, chief of the National Guard Bureau.