Jan. 11, 2019 This Month in AFMS History: The Iranian hostages arrive in Wiesbaden, 38 years ago On Jan. 20, 1981, two Air Force C-9 Nightingale aerovac aircraft touched down at Rhein-Main Air Base, West Germany, to cheering crowds.
Dec. 27, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: Operation Christmas Kidlift In mid-December 1950, Air Force Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Russell Blaisdell knew the deadly fate his orphans faced. When North Korean troops overran the South Korean capital in June 1950, it was widely reported that the North Korean army indiscriminately killed civilian men, women and children.
Nov. 15, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: First Space Medicine Symposium On November 12, 1948, Air Force Brig. Gen. Harry Armstrong, commandant of the School of Aviation at Randolph Field, Texas, convened the first Air Force symposium on space medicine.
Oct. 26, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: Twenty years ago, AF medical team responds to Hurricane Mitch in Honduras The 24th Medical Group at Howard Air Force Base, Panama, was a month away from decommissioning and returning to the U.S. when Hurricane Mitch slammed into Honduras on October 29, 1998.
Sept. 14, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: Kirtland opens first joint Air Force and VA health clinic On Sept. 8, 1989, the 377th Medical Group cut the ribbon on a joint Air Force and Department of Veterans Affairs clinic located on the VA campus in downtown Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Aug. 30, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: Air Force dentists responded to 1981 explosion at Ramstein Air Base Two bombs exploded in a parking lot outside the U.S. Air Forces in Europe headquarters building at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, on August 31, 1981, injuring 15 people. When they heard the blasts, Air Force dentists and their staff ran out to help.
July 6, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: The air transportable “Flying Lung” On July 23, 1953, Airman Third Class Warren Beatty of Detroit, Michigan, became the first iron lung patient evacuated by air from the Korean War theater.
June 8, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: First attached Army Air Forces unit hospital established 75 years ago The 34th Station Hospital, attached to the 12th Air Force on Pantelleria Island in the Mediterranean Sea from June 18 to Sept. 21, 1943, was the first station hospital attached to an Army Air Force Unit.
May 8, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: 100th anniversary of first flight surgeon school On May 8, 1918, U.S. Army Aviation Branch, Col. Theodore Lyster created the first ever course for flight surgeons, at the Medical Research Laboratory, Hazelhurst Field, N.Y.
March 7, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: 75th Anniversary of the first body armor suits delivered to Eighth Air Force During World War II, small fragments of high-explosive shells traveling at relatively low velocities caused the majority of bomber air and ground crew casualties.
Feb. 7, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: February 2018 marks 75th anniversary of the first formal graduation of U.S. Air Force flight nurses Seventy-five years ago, on February 18, 1943, the School of Air Evacuation held its first formal flight nurse graduation. Organized at Bowman Field, Kentucky, on October 6, 1942, the school trained flight surgeons, flight nurses, and flight technicians to care for patients during aeromedical
Jan. 19, 2018 This Month in AFMS History: Lt. Elsie Ott and the first official aeromedical evacuation flight In January 1943, 2nd Lt. Elsie S. Ott, a 29-year-old Army nurse with barely a year of military service, took on a mission to demonstrate the value and feasibility of aeromedical evacuation.
Dec. 20, 2017 Malcolm Grow legacy still strong in Air Force medicine A pioneer in flight medicine, Malcolm Grow was a strong proponent of an independent Air Force Medical Service. He was the first Air Force Surgeon General, when the AFMS came into existence in 1949. Grow was a pioneer of military medicine, and one of the earliest and most effective advocates for
Nov. 17, 2017 This Month in AFMS History: 60th anniversary of Lackland Air Force Base hospital dedication Sixty years ago, in November 1957, Lackland Air Force Base dedicated its new, nine-story, 500-bed hospital, making it the largest hospital in the Air Force.
Oct. 26, 2017 This Month in AFMS History: Caribbean Air Command For more than 20 years, the Caribbean Air Command was one of the smallest Air Force Major Commands in terms of personnel and resources, although it effectively covered one of the largest geographical areas of operations in the world. Air Force Medical Service personnel were key players in the
Sept. 30, 2017 This Month in AFMS History: Spotlighting Lt. Gen. Alexander “Rusty” Sloan Dr. Alexander “Rusty” Sloan never entertained the idea of becoming the Air Force Surgeon General. Throughout his career, Sloan even tried to avoid serving at the Pentagon; however, he excelled at every assignment, pushing him quickly up into the ranks and putting him on the path to becoming the 14th
Sept. 21, 2017 World War I and the beginnings of aviation medicine United States involvement in World War I began April 6, 1917. For the U.S. military, aviation medicine began in May 1917 when the U.S. Army appointed Lt. Col. (Dr.) Theodore C. Lyster, often called the father of aviation medicine, as the first service member dedicated to aviation-related medicine.