Medical After Action Report

File: 970207_aadcr_012.txt
Page: 012
Total Pages: 15


                 (3) Recommendation: Consideration should be given to
         defining what patient loads at what intervals determine when an ASF
         is needed and an AELT would be overburdened.
                 
         13. Commander Summary:  

        Considering the circumstances of Operation Desert Storm that a 
        tactical ASF had never been operational prior to this contingency, 
        that after a seven day sojourn to get to our deployed site, that we
        built the ASF out of 2X4's and plywood and stocked it with MASF
        packages, that we were operational within 96 hours of being there
        and that included building our own bunkers, that we admitted and
        prepared over 2000 patients for air evacuation without a serious
        incident, that we were challenged with and resolved innumerous 
        problems, not the least of which was that hardly anyone knew what
        a TASF was or how it functioned: I think we did an outstanding job
        in accomplishing our mission-operating the 31st TASF, King Fahd
        International Airport, Saudi-Arabia.  

        Although we had personnel problems and those were my greatest
        challenge as commander, I had some outstanding personnel whose
        ingenuity, creativity, dedication and expertise in working a  
        system, that was fluid, ever-changing and had demands placed on 
        it from every direction, enabled us to procure resources and
        support that otherwise would not have been available. I am proud
        and honored to have served with those individuals for without them
        the performance of our mission would have been seriously hampered.

            Now that we have thi.s experience behind us, we are in a
         position to rewrite the book as far as a TASF and APSS are
         concerned and this work is being pursued by MAC. Changes in
        mission statements, UTC's, training and table of allowance are all
        hopefully forthcoming for they are truly necessary. Each  
        individual APSS needs to refocus their training to prepare them for
        operating a TASF such as utilized in Operation Desert Storm.
        Hopefully this training will provide them with the ability to be
        better prepared to perform their mission. Hopefully, it will also
        provide more contact with air evacuation squadrons and Air Force,
        Army and Navy MTF's to enable the entire system to work smoothly as
        everyone becomes more familiar with their role and the role of
        other units in the care and air evacuation of patients out of a
        tactical environment.

        More emphasis needs to be placed at a command level (AFRES, MAC
        and TAC) on the training and support needs of APSS. Services
        consideration should be given to the creation of a position
        (possibly IMA) at these commands to ensure there is no loss of
        corporate memory and that APSS needs are championed and monitored
        on a reguIar basis by someone who has experienced a TASF in a
        contingency situation such as Operation Desert Storm. As APSS's
        are likely to be always an interface between MAC and TAC when