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File: aabgm_03.txtOPERATIONS DESERT SHIELD AND DESERT STORM BIOENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING DEPLOYMENT BACKGROUND DEPLOYMENT - USAF personnel began deploying to the Persian Gulf in early August 1990. I am not sure who was the first bioenvironmental engineering (BEE) troop to arrive in theater. The DP records indicate the MacDill and Shaw BEE Personnel arrived on 10 August 1990. The HQ TAC Surgeon's staff, including the Command bioenivironmental Engineer, arrived on 15 August 1990. Over the next four months, the majority of the BEE personnel had arrived in theater (although there were a few that made it in just before the start of the war). BEE personnel were scattered across 22 USAF bed-down locations. Most BEE personnel were deployed for over 180 days, and many over 220 days, in support of Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm. The majority of the BEE troops returned home by late April 1991. PERSONNEL - During Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, approximately 90 BEE personnel were deployed to the Area Of Responsibility (AOR) in the Persian Gulf. There were 12 bioenvironmental engineers and 78 bioenvironmental engineering technicians (BEETs). Of the 12 engineers deployed, 7 (58 %) were lieutenants. Approximately 65 % of the BEETs were young airmen. A map of the AOR is provided indicating where personnel were deployed. BEE ASSIGNMENTS - Each Air Transportable Hospital (ATM) was staffed with three BEE personnel - one engineer and two BEETs. At locations where there was no ATH assigned, medical coverage was provided by Squadron Medical Elements (SME) and Air Transportable Clinics (ATC). Initially, the SMEs did not have BEE personnel assigned. Beginning the middle of September 1990, each non-ATH location was robusted with a 907XO and 908XO. Each patient decontamination team had four BEETs assigned. BEE DUTIES - In the beginning, BEE personnel were consumed with basic survival functions and performed mainly public health type duties {i.e., drinking water surveillance, heat stress monitoring, etc.). However, once the aircraft were bedded down, attentions swung to industrial hygiene (IH). Initially there was very little industrial work being performed (with the exception of Civil Engineering who stayed busy from the very beginning till the very end). The first few months the aircraft maintainers merely turned aircraft which basically involved refueling and servicing them. Later on during the deployment, more extensive aircraft maintenance was performed. Throughout, IH surveillance was primarily subjective, practical based, professional judgment evaluations. With the exception of hazardous waste (HW) disposal, the BEE personnel had little to do in the environmental protection arena. The U.S. Army was appointed as the OPR for all environmental protection activities (see attached message on this 1
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