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		U N C L A S S I F I E D 
 
Several of the aircrew deployed with their contact lenses. Five
or six of those elected to wear glasses during the deployment 
rather than wear contacts due to the dry, dusty conditions.  The 
remainder, however continued to wear contact lenses and encoun-
tered surprisingly few problems.  Life support had the appropriate 
amount of solutions on hand and supplies were not a problem. 
 
Initially, there were some aircrew who required glasses for 
various reasons. This was quite a problem at first and glasses 
were initially only available through Lakenheath.  Later contract-
ing established a means of obtaining glasses locally, and eventu-
ally an optics lab was established within theater. 
 
There was one major epidemic during the deployment. This was due 
to improperly cooked eggs which were contaminated with Salmonel-
la. The 390 SME provided a significant amount of manpower support 
to the ATH during this outbreak. There were approximately ninety 
patients hospitalized during that time. There was only one air-
crew member from the 390th affected. 
 
In the months prior to the start of the war there were plenty of 
opportunities to brief the aircrews on a number of subjects. Most 
of the briefings were designed to help the aircrew prepare for 
wartime operations and included such topics as chemical and 
biological weapons, recognition of stress, and preventive medi-
cine. 
 
	c. Desert Storm: 
 
With the initiation of hostilities the 390 ECS SME concentrated 
primarily on working in the squadron with our own aircrews. We 
provided twenty-four hour coverage in the squadron for medical 
care throughout the war. The main concern initially was ensuring 
that aircrews who were suffering from chronic fatigue or other 
manifestations of stress were identified and given the proper 
rest, etc. The squadron flight surgeon worked closely with the 
schedulers on an informal basis to assure that those aircrew who 
were experiencing significant fatigue were identified. In the 
first days of the war almost all of the aircrew showed some 
manifestations of stress due to the fact that they were flying 
long missions almost every day into high threat environments. 
Despite all of those stressors, however, very few of the aircrew 
manifested severely mission degrading stress despite extremely 
demanding missions. Over all, those who did slightly better were 
those who made the effort, as much as possible, to continue 
routines such as regular meals, exercise, and finding time to 
"unwind". Formal and informal debriefings allowed the fliers the 
 
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		U N C L A S S I F I E D 

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