BRIEF OVERVIEW OF AIR FORCE MEDICINE

Mr Vaughn Cavender

22 years as Air Force Medic

Before September 18 1947 there was the Army Air Corp.

The Army Air Corp provided both ground and air capabilities.

On September 18 1947 The Air Force Became it’s own branch

of armed service. Only a few enlisted Airman were allowed

to transfer from the Army Medical Service to the newly

formed Air Force.

With the inception of the newly formed Air Force the need

to build a new medical force was established. Most of the

enlisted medical training was conducted at Sheppard

Air Force Base in Wichita Falls Texas which has since been

moved to Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio Texas.

The Air Force was responsible for most of the Air Power,

radar stations, and nuclear assets. In the mid 1950’s

training programs were established to meet the requirements

for more skilled medical personnel at radar sites,

and in the missile fields to take care of the 100 or less

personnel assigned .

Since there were less than 100 personnel assigned at these

sites it was neither cost-effective nor practical to send

a physician or dentist or other health care professional to

every site. But since it was essential to have medical care

available, The IDMT’s were assigned to fill this need.

After the end of the Cold War in the late 1980’s, the

number of sites requiring Independent Medical support

Drastically decreased. However, the 1990’s introduced

new operational doctrine including military operations

other than war. When operations Enduring Freedom,

and Iraqi Freedom began, the Need For IDMT’s at bare base

locations increased.

Today four out of the five branches of service have their

own medical services. The Marines are the only branch

of military that does not have it’s own medical service.

The Marines belong to the Department of the Navy and

utilize the Navy’s medical assets.

Military Medical personnel have special protections

afforded to them from the Geneva Convention.

Medical personnel will carry a special ID card that

identifies them as medical personnel. Medical personnel

are classified as non-combatants and by international

law cannot be targeted by hostile forces. Medical

personnel are allowed to carry a weapon but can only

utilize it in a defensive posture. They can use the

weapon in defense of themselves, their patient or defense

of their medical supplies. If medical personnel are embedded

with a combat unit and are doing offensive operations they lose

the protection afforded to them. If medical personnel are

captured by law they can not be held in a prisoner of war status.

Medical personnel must be returned as soon as possible and

allowed to treat their own troops for any medical care.

They can also be utilized to provide medical care of the enemy.

Medical personnel also have to wear a white armband with

a red cross on it identifying them as medical personnel.

In the early 1970’s returning Vietnam medics that were

highly trained had no where to put their skills to use.

Because of this the Physician’s Assistant program was

created. The PA program put these skills to use and allowed

a new medical profession to treat patients. In front of the

PA school at the University of Utah there is a statue

dedicated to the military medic for without them there would

never have been a PA.

The Air Force has just about every medical profession

to provide medical for all Active Duty, their dependents,

and retired personnel and their dependents. There are

two other entities that the uniformed services provide

care for. The United States Public Health Service, and

NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration).

The only medical service that the Air Force does not provide

Is Veterinarian services the Army provides this service.

The Air Force Medical Service has two different career

paths to follow Enlisted and Officer.

The Enlisted provide the bulk of the non-professional

Medical Service. The jobs that the Air Force offers are

varied and they can be anywhere from direct patient care

to administrative jobs. The Air Force provides it’s own

training program for these enlisted jobs. Some medical

jobs like Radiology Technician and Pharmacy Technician

offers licensure in the respected fields which transfer

to the civilian career market.

The Officer career path are for the professionals such as

Physician, Nurse, Dentist, Radiologist to name a few.

The Air Force has a program to where they will pay for

a students medical school for a commitment of service.

The path I chose was the Enlisted route, when I went into

the Air Force I was a 902x0 Medical Services Specialist.

This job I was a nursing assistant and preformed a wide

variety of tasks and skills. I worked in the in patient units,

Critical care, Emergency room. The career field has been

redesiginated to 4N0x1 Aerospace Medical Technician.

I did this job for about 10 years and decided I needed more

of a challenge so I became an IDMT (Independent Duty

Medical Technician).

To get into IDMT school one had to be recommended by their

supervisor, chief nurse, senior medical technician and then

by the SGH which is the chief doctor. One must also have had

a wealth of experience in the inpatient units, critical care

and emergency rooms and also have at least the rank of E-5.

After having interviews with all of the above people your

paperwork is then submitted for approval at the Air Force

level to attend IDMT school.

What is an IDMT exactly? Well the IDMT is an enlisted

Medical Provider or Physician Extender. The duties of

an IDMT are Provide direct patient care, see patients

diagnose, write prescriptions, perform medical laboratory

testing and interpreting lab tests, dentistry, medical admin,

Veterinarian care to Military Working Dogs, Public Health

duties to include food inspections, shop visits for hearing

conservation programs, disease tracking. Bio which does the

water, soil and air sampling and interpreting results. The

IDMT has a wide variety of tasks and is usually the only

Medical provider at smaller sites. With some IDMT jobs they

Are embedded with a combat unit and provide total care for

their assigned unit.

Air Force IDMT school is 12 weeks but you have at least

Four years of experience before going to school. The Navy

has Independent Duty Corpsmen (IDC) they function the

same way Air Force IDMT’s do except the Navy learns

Shipboard water systems. The Army has the 18 Delta

which is classified as a Special Forces Medic, the Coast

Guard goes through the Air Force IDMT School.

Being in military medicine also offers some additional

training that one would not receive outside the military.

Some of the unique training that one receives is very

extensive training in Chemical, Biological and Nuclear.

You learn about how to wear the chemical protective suit, how

Chemical, Biological and Nuclear weapons affect the body

and how to detect and care for patients that have been exposed

to these agents.

After the events of September 11th

I carried Cipro in case of

an Anthrax attack. I also had to ensure that everyone in my

unit were given the proper anti malaria medications because

our new location was a Malaria zone.

Today’s IDMT deploys all over the world and augments

the medical mission. When the IDMT is not deployed they

are back at their home base training and getting their

unit ready for the next deployment.

I joined the Air Force in 1985 and stayed in for 22 years retiring

in 2006.I have been all over the world and participated

in many operations. Some of the operations I have participated in.

Panama

First Gulf War

Somalia

Bosnia

Global War on Terrorism

I was in Kuwait when September 11th

occurred and went to

forward location to support operations in Afghanistan.

Being a military medic is challenging, rewarding and at times

very hard on you both physically and mentally. Too Many times

have I had to witness horrible things that take place in

combat that I will never forget, and take care of some people

that I have become friends with that were a casualty of

direct combat actions that have died in front of me. The

rewarding parts is working with other branches of service

and other countries militaries and earning the respect of

them and earning the title of Doc. Frequent deployments can

also take a toll on family members that are left back home.

This was just a small slice of what military medicine offers

whatever you decide to pursue in the medical field may it

be a good journey.

Any Questions?