67 COMBAT SUPPORT GROUP TRIP REPORT

File: 110796_aacad_10.txt
Page: 10
Total Pages: 14
           
           responded to the accident before we got there and were all over
           the place before we even arrived or established an on- scene
           commander. Col Vanmeter became the on-scene commander luckily or
           those remains wouldn't have been marked on a grid or completely
           recovered, they wanted the big pieces and the Army physicians
           wanted to get an ID from the guy immediately. I almost screamed
           when I arrived and we immediately yanked those folks away and let
           our team do the job we were trained to do, even though the Army
           fought us. Those docs, including some Air Force reserve docs
           with no SAR backround still picked up pieces after we told them
           not to. It was like a zoo, we really had to get hostile but
           finally they all left and we recovered approx 130 lbs of remains
           back to the morgue. The grid map was completed,  remains
           inventoried and sent to Daharan. No other Air Force fatalities
           occurred in our region during our presence.
           
           Lessons Learned
           
           -Tell the boss about your job in Mortuary early- Every commander
           we had at KKMC had no clue about Sesrch and Recovery or war time
           mortuary. They weren't going to ask either. The Army should have
           been briefed that all Air Force fatalities were Air Force
            responsibility as briefed to us by HQ Mortuary in Daharan.  They
           should have steered clear of the A-10 accident and let us do our
           job. We didn't have a morgue tent for about 4 weeks but
           eventually convinced CES they better give us one soon, despite
           the severe need for billeting tents. We used a dining hall refer
           and supplies that were delivered to us from Daharan Mortuary.
           
           -Take mortuary supplies with you - As mentioned before, I took a
           Search and Recovery bag and used every item in it. We eventually
           received body bags, baggies,  tags etc...but not initially and not
           soon enough. We also received three transfer cases to hold us
           over but we were located near the Army Casualty Collection Point
           and they had plenty. Take supplies even though not in PRIME RIBS
           team kit they will be used. Take ice chests if possible,  they
           came in very handy in the hot climate to keep parts cool.

           G.  Laundry was an item everyone complained about constantly. The
           Hirvest Falcon laundry units arrived but we didn't have the power
           or water supply to run them the entire time we were there,  much
           less the manpower. Thus handwashing was the order of the day
           Even if we bad had a Contracting office initially, we were too
           isolated for service so we hooked on to the Army laundry plant.
           They agreed to clean and dry uniforms only and fold them if we
            provided labor.  We certainly didn't have the manning in SVS so we
           took it to the other units and they turned it down saying it wes
           our problem, thus we had no service. Eventually the Army gave in
           and cleaned it for no cost and we dropped it off and packed It up
           with a four day turnaround. I put our 645x0 in charge of laundry
           exchange since there wasn't a supply function on the base at that
           time.  Our 702x0 became the camp postal clerk since he didn't
           posess any admin skills and we certainly did not need a 702 in