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SUBJECT:  1676 TACTICAL AIRLIFT SQUADRON (PROVISIONAL) AFTER-ACTION REPORT

DESCRIPTION:  REPORTS VACCINES NOT AVAILABLE IN ADEQUATE AMOUNT PRIOR TO DEPLOYMENT, P.1; PSYCHOLOGIVCAL PROBLEMS MAINIFESTED BY NON-SPECIFIC PHYSICAL COMPLAINTS SUCH AS CHRONIC FATIGUE, INSOMNIA, HEADACHE, BACK PAIN, PAGE 3.

OCR IS NOT READABLE.  PAGE 1 AND 3 ARE RETYPED.  SEE IMAGE FILE.

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE
1676 Tactical Airlift Squadron Provisional
APO New York 09855 

REPLY TO
ATTN OF: FSO

SUBJECT: After Action Report

I0: CC

After Action Report: The challenge of Desert Storm for the Air Force line was
not matched by similar challenge to the medical side of the house, The fact
that we never were confronted with large numbers of casualties, that the Air
Evacuation System was never inundated, that the anticipated infectious
diseases did not occur, and that we never went through the psychosocial trauma
of experiencing losses of our own troops meant that our effectiveness as
medical personnel was not really tested. Despite that fact, obvious,
significant and worrisome deficiencies in the system can be identified based
on our experience in theater and should not be lost to follow-up. Complacency
based on the fact that we experienced no major medical shortfalls is not
warranted. Most of the flight surgeons with whom I served shared my
conviction that had the medical staff and personnel been tested there would
have been significant, preventable losses due to problems in logistics,
intelligence and communication. Desert Storm offers the Medical Corps an
opportunity to assess its performance in an environment without the trauma of
a bloody war.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF DEPLOYMENT: In the first week of November, we were notified
that we were to deploy within the next couple of weeks. The precise
destination was not specified and did not become known to us until a short
time prior to actual deployment. Our initial concerns were to gather medical
intelligence about the region, determine the specific conditions and needs we 
would find at our deployment site and collect the supplies and equipment that
we required. Our Air transportable Clinic (ATC) had not been fully deployed
for about 18 months according to the FSO personnel and so we needed to
inventory and resupply it. Next, we had to make sure that deploying personnel
were up-to-date on immunizations. Vaccines for anthrax and meningitis were
not obtained prior to deployment. We were unable to obtain gamma globulin in
adequate amounts and were only barely able to provide 3 month protection for
all deploying personnel. The final gamma globulin serum that we used was
specially flown in from CONUS. I had just completed the Basic Flight Surgery
course and felt well prepared professionally, given that the entire course had
been directed at problems we anticipated confronting in Desert Shield.

Our first clinic was in Oman in a building that housed the hospital and
served as a supply warehouse and passenger terminal. (This arrangement is
counter to the Geneva Convention that requires medical facilities to be used
exclusively for medical services. That location was determined by the base
commander,) There was one other squadron flight surgeon (from Pope AFB) who
was redeployed within a few days of our arrival. Subsequently, we were joined
by two more flight surgeons and their techs. About two weeks after our arriv-
al, Lt Col Winfred Oldham of Willow Grove joined us; fortunately he had par- 
ticipated in many deployments and was able to teach me a lot about setting up

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