Page 6 - JSOM Winter 2025

fromthe

SOMA PRESIDENT

SOMA Members and JSOM Readers, meeting. The future of military, crisis,
and expeditionary medicine is seen in
reetings! As I write this letter, today’s SOF presentations!
we are moving into the tradi-
Gtional holiday season. I hope This year has presented its challenges at
Sean
K
MD
eenan
(Ret)
that all our members, as well as fellow COL (Ret) Sean Keenan, MD the highest levels. I reflect on our coun-
COL
Servicemembers, first responders, and try when I say there have been some
those serving their communities have a chance to relax shifts in policy at the highest echelons of government
with family and friends and reflect on the benefits of a that have presented challenges with travel and atten-
safe and secure community, partially due to your service dance at our society meeting. Our Board will continue to
to it! For many years, I was unable to be with family work closely with USSOCOM to ensure our uniformed
during the holidays—whether it was because I was de- military members have the best chance of attending the
ployed overseas, on duty responding to emergency inci- April 2026 meeting. Our other initiatives to directly en-
dents, or traveling and living apart from extended family. gage with lawmakers were delayed this past fall, due to
This made the times we were together even more special. the unprecedented government shutdown and resulting
Wherever you find yourself this holiday season, reflect on inertia. Our Board will continue to press for recognition
the service of you and your colleagues, which makes for of our unique society through official congressional des-
a safer and more just country “back home,” during the ignation status for the foreseeable future.
holidays and throughout the year.
In addition to our annual meeting, your Association’s
The SOMA staff, its Board of Directors, and many vol- Board of Directors continues to develop new programs
unteers are preparing for what will prove to be another and enhance initiatives, such as our push this year to
memorable SOMA meeting this coming April! As I write improve communications. You may have noticed a dis-
this, the final submissions have been collected—num- tinct increase in social media postings and efforts by our
bering in the hundreds—which will provide for a robust newly energized Communications Committee. Also, our
educational and training experience! As we sort through Fellowship in the Academy of Special Operations Med-
these submissions, our Program Committee will look to icine (FASOM) is on track to launch during 2026, and
select those relevant to our core demographic: the SOF we are considering a formal history project to capture
medic. Each year, we must turn away excellent submis- the immense contribution of SOF medicine and our As-
sions due to the sheer volume of proposals, but if yours sociation to the development of international military
was not selected know that we are looking to build a and prehospital medicine in the nearly four decades of
comprehensive and engaging program each year, and we SOMA’s existence. If you have followed our Association
do want to hear from you again! and attended the SOMA meetings, but have not yet de-
cided to become a member, I would like to invite you
Our theme this year is “Medical Mobility Empowering to do so. Through our membership, we can push our
SOF Effectiveness.” We realize the days of static large message, advocate for medical innovation and build a
medical facilities are mostly over, given the lessons re- solid community of like-minded individuals, working
cently shared from the current battlefields in Eastern and innovating on the forward edge of the operational
Europe and the Middle East and planning for future front. Membership will help solidify the Association and
conflicts. As such, medical assets must move with a dy- ensure longevity for another 40-plus years!
namic and ever-evolving threat to remain relevant and
effective. The future of medical support will most likely Stay safe, and I hope to see you at SOMA in April!
be built on innovations developed and shared at our Cheers, Sean

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