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File: aabfg_15.txt
Page: 15
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(14) (U) Medical records of deploying personnel should be
screened prior to departure to ensure individuals with health
problems or disqualifying profiles are not deployed.

B. (U) Mobility Processing - Our Medical Readiness and Medical
Logistics functions worked hard and put in long hours preparing for
Operation Desert Shield. As a result processing - both personnel and
equipment - went smoothly. Although time from initial recall to
first flight was only three hours and fifteen minutes, the fact that
personal affairs (shots, powers of attorney, emergency data cards,
wills, etc.) had been taken care of allowed enough time for mandatory
briefings, inventorying C-1 bags, and changing gas mask filters as
well as attaching hoods. On the negative side three and a half weeks
of two hour telephone standby, not knowing if the next day would be
the day, was very taxing on many of our people. Augmentees on the
mobility line could not answer routine questions about chemical gear;
personnel were briefed only 70 lbs. of baggage plus a 15 lb. carry-on 
bag while orders stated excess baggage was authorized; and the third
increment, which flowed two weeks after the initial deployment,
received no briefings on the area of deployment, terrorist activity,
etc. Finally, many units at our deployed location had been issued
expired antidotes. Closer scrutiny during mobility processing could
have alleviated this problem.

C. (U) ATH Marshalling - The ATH marshalling process is not as cut
and dried as many line functions due to the sensitive cargo and
refrigerated items. Medical materiel was marshalled too far in
advance. As a consequence, the prolonged exposure to the summer heat
damaged some drugs and x-ray film. Last minute tasking to procure
and build two decontamination pallets competed with medical
materiel's time for finalizing and marshalling ATH supplies and
equipment.

D. (U) Trip Over - MAC provided airlift on C-5s and C-141s.
Although some people complained of being cold, the MAC flight crews
were very hospitable and made us as comfortable as possible.

E. (U) Arrival - Arrived approximately O900 local. Although
thoroughly briefed on the rigorous environment, many people still
were not adequately prepared for the intense heat. The Deputy
Commander for Resource Management and PERSCO representatives met us
and we were efficiently transported to tent city to obtain billeting.
Temper tent billets had not been properly erected and too few
supplies for proper erection were immediately available to complete
the job self-help.

F. (U) Set up began the evening of 7 Sep 90 and we were open for
business on 12 Sep 90. One night was essentially lost when
environmental conditions forced tent erection to stop. All the work
was done at night due to the intense daytime heat. Total set-up time
was four nights. We would have benefited from an ADVON team. People
experienced in site selection and expertise in ATH erection could
have possibly resulted in a better ATH site without expenditure of



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