Photo By Alex Da Silva | Air Force Medical Service Vietnam War Veterans Day graphic. (U.S. Air Force graphic by...... read more read more
By the summer of 1968, involvement of the Air Force Medical Service in the Vietnam War rose to an all-time high to support operations in Southeast Asia. About 1,900 Air Force medics were deployed in the region, representing about 5 percent of the 41,000 military personnel assigned to the AFMS worldwide.
In the early stages of the war, there were inadequate stationary medical facilities for Air Force medics to attend to wounded service members. By mid-1966, the Air Force began to ship modular steel boxes, measuring 10 by 40 feet, which were converted into fixed medical units at airfields in Vietnam. The hospital at Cam Ranh Bay Air Base became the largest in-country Air Force facility and the second largest hospital in the Air Force with 745 operating beds and a 100-bed casualty staging facility, effectively functioning as the aeromedical hub for Southeast Asia.
Throughout the duration of the Vietnam War, aeromedical evacuation improved in capability, rapidity, and efficiency compared to what was possible in previous conflicts such as the Korean War.
Helicopters and jet transport responded to rapid evacuation of wounded service members from the battlefields of Vietnam, many of whom were from the Army and Navy. The Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) major command oversaw in-country aeromedical service and a transoceanic jet service to Air Force hospitals at Clark Air Base in the Philippines, and Yokota and Tachikawa Air Bases in Japan. The Military Airlift Command (MAC), now a deactivated major command, transported casualties from the Pacific theater to hospitals in the United States.
Although ordinary transport planes outfitted with litters, or stretchers for safe patient transport, carried out most aeromedical missions - the Air Force eventually introduced its first specially designed aeromedical jet in August 1968, the C9-A Nightingale. Its initial deployments in Southeast Asia began in March 1972, improving the safety and capability of Air Force medics to conduct patient transfers and in-flight medical care.
Developments in Air Force medicine and aeromedical capability ultimately came as a response to the needs of service members during the Vietnam War, demonstrating the U.S. Air Force’s continued commitment to providing the highest quality of care for its warfighters who sacrifice their lives to protect the nation.
Editor’s note: Information from this article was adapted from portions of “100 Years of Excellence: The History of the Air Force Medical Service” by Judith Taylor et al, and “Medics in ‘the Nam’” by James S. Nanney, PhD.
| Date Taken: | 03.29.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 03.28.2025 14:34 |
| Story ID: | 494026 |
| Location: | FALLS CHURCH, VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 8 |
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This work, AFMS honors Vietnam War Veterans Day, advancements in AE from the battlefields of Vietnam, by Maristela Romero, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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