PHYSICIANS ON THE FRONT LINE
want to know about when I tell them I was a flight doc), it also en-
tailed public health and medicine. Interestingly, as a flight surgeon,
I was responsible for preventive health on base. This included occu-
pational medicine programs, making sure every military member
was protected from hazards such as noise, laser, radiation and
chemical exposures. We took charge of public health: we operated
the tuberculosis program on base, oversaw our bioenvironmental
staff who tested pool water on base, completed mosquito surveil-
lance, and did food inspections.
Flight surgeons are also responsible for the primary care of
pilots, special operational duty personnel, and their families. They
make sure that aircrew are safe to fly by performing rigorous exams
and by completing waivers to ensure those who develop medical
conditions are safe to continue flying. Flight surgeons are essential
to keep the Air Force mission--Fly, Fight, Win--going.
As a flight doc, I traveled everywhere with my squadron—to
training exercises (Utah and Las Vegas to name a few spots) and
to deployments. I earned their trust through spending hours at the
Squadron—sometimes hanging out at the bar, other times chasing
squadron mates with flu shots. It wasn’t unusual to have one of my
guys or gals show up on my doorstep on a Saturday afternoon to
ask for medical advice or for me to stop by a squadron member’s
house to check on their family during or after an illness.
In January 2006, just six months out of internship and four
months out of Air Force Flight Surgeon school, I deployed to Al
Udeid Air Base, Qatar. It was a bit terrifying, because I did not know
what resources would be available to me overseas, or what other
medical personnel would be deployed with me. It turned out to be
a great experience, though very eye-opening.
I performed aeromedical evacuation evaluations to ensure in-
jured or sick servicemembers were safe to fly on aircraft back to
Germany. I provided everything short of surgery in my clinic,
including diagnosing unusual diseases, managing frequent sched-
ule-induced sleep issues, and even treating a British airman for a
lightning strike. Perhaps my most memorable encounter with our
Allied airmen was playing along with a practical joke orchestrated
by a British flying squadron on one of their new pilots. Imagine
someone wearing a chucks pad as a diaper, blindfolded, standing
on one leg, counting backwards from 100 by sevens and touching
their finger to their nose! Deployments weren’t all work.
Between deployments, I had many other adventures in the
military. I flew sorties with my squadron, learning about the phys-
ical stressors of flying a fighter on hot days. I learned that being a
Weapons System Officer (WSO)—a back seater in an F15E--was
NOT what I was cut out to be and realized my squadron valued me
much more for my medical skills!
I was able to fulfill my childhood dream of flying in an F-16
when I attended Top Knife, a course for flight surgeons to learn
more about fighter aircraft and aerospace physiology. I was part
of a mishap investigation in Fresno, Calif., responsible for investi-
gating the potential contribution of human error to the crash of an
F-16 in a Guard Unit there. I learned the intricacies of the accident
chain and that many things can align in just the right way to result
in catastrophe.
I attended Air Force Water Survival training, perhaps my most
terrifying moment in the military. Being afraid of heights, I was not a
fan of being placed in a parachute at 800 feet over Pensacola Bay and
being released to parachute. But I found my way into my one-man
life raft and swam to my helicopter rescue when it arrived overhead.
I took part in combat readiness training for physicians and other
military personnel at the Center for the Sustainment of Trauma and
Readiness Skills (C-STARS), which involved my working 120-hour
weeks for three weeks at Baltimore Shock Trauma to experience
something close to what might occur while I was deployed.
These experiences taught me things no civilian job could have
matched, and prepared me for my next deployment to Bagram
Air Base, Afghanistan, just 18 months after the first. I was the sole
physician in our Air Force Camp Cunningham on base, operating
our flight medicine clinic with two Air Force medics and one In-
dependent Duty Medical Technician.
As a flight surgeon, I was responsible for public health functions,
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