Achieving Medical Currency via Selected Staff

During Operations Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Iraqi Freedom, the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) contributed to the lowest “died of wounds rate” in the history of warfare (less than 10 percent).1 Cutting-edge medical care on the battlefield and revolutionary methods of transporting critically wounded patients, once miraculous, are now considered routine.2 Simultaneously, while fielded medical forces are performing in a heroic manner, garrisoned AFMS providers, particularly surgeons and some medical specialists, are struggling to maintain their required wartime skills. Relying on just-in-time training and brief in-garrison dwell times coupled with multiple deployments, medical service personnel work to sustain skill sets needed for meeting both the active duty force’s health needs and the wartime mission.