UNITED STATES NAVY IN DESERT SHIELD/DESERT STORM

prepositioning ship MV Noble Star on 15 Au- hometowns, if available and as soon as pos-
gust. In less than two weeks, the Seabees, and sible, to ensure appropriate medical care.
Na--vy medical and support personnel from
Naval Hospital Portsmouth, Virginia, had NAVAL RESERVE SUPPORT. The call-up of
transformed the shipping containers into a reservists in support of DESERT SHIELD/
500-bed, forward-deployed medical facility, STORM marked the largest activation of re-
complete with operating rooms, intensive care servists since President Johnson mobilized re-
units and radiological facilities. FF15, along serve forces during the Vietnam Tet Offensive
with FF16 and FF115 which were set up in late in 1968. On 22 August, President Bush issued
January, cared for more than 32,000 patients the first executive order authorizing the call up
during DESERT SHIELD/STORM. Members of 48,800 members of the Selected Reserve to
of all coalition forces, expatriates, enemy pris- active duty.
oners of war (EPWs) and Kuwaiti refugees
received care from the fleet hospitals. Subsequent executive orders increased
the authorization to 365,000 for all the ser-
FF16 ~~nd FF115 exemplified the Navy's vices. Of those, the Navy was authorized a
Total Force concept, demonstrating how Na- ceiling of 44,000. The full authorization was
val Reserve units could be recalled to active not used. Eventually, over 21,000 naval re-
duty and hit the ground running. While the servists were called to join active-duty units in
fleet hospitals worked ashore, Navy hospital and around the Arabian Peninsula, and fill
ships operated in the waters of the Persian critical gaps in military support positions in
Gulf, Red Sea and Gulf of Oman. Among the the United States and overseas. The Naval
first ships deployed in support of DESERT Reserve provided the Navy's only capability
SH:[ELD, USNS COMFORT (T-AH 20) and in many areas, including dedicated combat
USNS MERCY (T-AH 19), are the only hospital search and rescue, mobile inshore undersea
ships of their size in the world. These 1,000- warfare and logistic air transport.
bed floatin�r hospitals stood at the ready
throughout DESERT SHIELD/STORM. Each The majority of reservists augmented
hospital ship is equipped with 50 trauma sta- their regular counterparts.. They came from all
tions that form the casualty receiving area, 12 parts of the country, representing many spe-
- operating rooms, a 20-bed recovery room, 80 cialties: medical, naval construction, cargo
intensive care beds and 16 light- and interme- handling, mine warfare, naval control of ship-
diate-care wards. ping, intelligence, public affairs, and the chap-
lain corps. Reservists made significant contri-
Navy medicine was ready stateside too. butions, and provided meaningful training to
All Navy medical treatment facilities geared their active-duty shipmates, enhancing the
up to receive casualties from DESERT STORM skills of both groups by the time the crisis was
if the need arose. In cooperation with the other over.
arirted services, the Navy designated certain
hospitals to be casualty receiving centers Medical personnel composed the larg-
(CRCs). The CRCs were set up to receive est number of any specialty recalled - ap-
patients from all services as they were proximately 50 percent of the naval reservists
medevaced stateside. Patients were then trans- were involved in health care. The reserves
ferred to facilities near their duty stations or provided 90% of the Cargo Handling Battalion

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