MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM 9 NOV 91

File: 123096_sep96_decls2_0004.txt
Page: 0004
Total Pages: 57

Subject: MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM 9 NOV 91       

Unit: VAR. BUMED  

Parent Organization: BUMED       

Box  ID: BX303801

Folder Title: VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6                                                                

Document Number:          2

Folder Seq  #:         10








                 overheads/landings were used to move patients and supplies to and from naval'
                 medical fa@es. About 300 CAT scans were performed aboard the hospital ships.

                     The major medical lessons learned from Desert Shield/Storm are as follows:

                     o  The need for improved access of medical planners to operational plans,
                        attention - to medical theater organizational structure, and effective
                        communication


                     o  The success of maintaining deplorable medical platforms in a ready condition

                     9  The need to reexsaynine the adequacy of           g of medical personnel for
                        their operational @on

                     o  The requirement to provide the supplies and equipment for routine health
                        care and health maintenance during the @tion to and from war.

                 The hiatus between the h-aqi invasion of Kuwait and the commencement of allied
                 air operations offered deployed medical treatment facilities (MTFS) the opportunity
                 to provide       g, address logistics problems, and resolve other issues that might
                 othe@e have seriously hampered their ability to treat and transport casualties
                 successfully.

                 MEDICAL COMMAND, CONTRO@ AND CO                            CATIONS

                     USCENTCOM had both the Navy and the Marine Corps as major subordinate
                 commands. This posed some problems for medical command and control- problems
                 that are likely to occur in any command structure that places Marme Corps forces at
                 the same level rather than under the Navy. Under the CENTCOM command
                 structure, NAVCENT and MARCENT had separate chains of command with no
                 formal @ to carry out their shared responsibility for providing theater medical
t for naval forces. USMARCENT was responsible for echelon I and II medical
                 care ashore for Marine Corps forces. USNAVCENT was responsible for echelon I
                 and 11 care afloat and all echelon III care for both Marine Corps and Navy forces.
                 This command structure left unclear the responsibility for de          g the overall
                 adequacy of the theater medical support system for naval forces. Because both
                 NAVCENT and MARCENT draw mechcal personnel and materiel from the
                 Navy medical department, the establishment of a medical support system requires
                 dose cooperation between the Navy and Marine Corps to allocate and coordinate
                 @ted medical assets. The absence of an organizational @ between the medical




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Document 57 f:/Week-37/BX303801/VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6/medical operations during operation desert storm:1217961126393
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-37
Box ID = BX303801
Unit = VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization = BUMED
Folder Title = VARIOUS BUMED DOCUMENTS FOLDER 6
Folder Seq # = 10
Subject = MEDICAL OPERATIONS DURING OPERATION DESERT STORM
Document Seq # = 2
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 17-DEC-1996