Spring 07 front cover - United States Special Operations Command

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Peter J. Benson, MDLTC, USACommand SurgeonThe Special Forces Command Surgeon’s Officeis continuing to define the scope and direction of its efforts.One upcoming task is to look into the developmentof Army Special Forces with regard to health service support(HSS) capabilities, staffing, and support. A workinggroup sponsored by HQ, USASOC is currently underwaywhich will examine the TO&E manning and equipmentallocations of all USASOC units for necessaryupdates and changes. After almost seven years of combatin the Global War on Terror (GWOT), it is absolutelyvital to look at our Group structure in depth. One of thegoals of the USASFC Surgeon’s Office is to ensure thatthe medical composition and capability of Special Forcesmeets our deployment requirements in support of the NationalDefense Strategy.Development of the medical force means notonly inculcating the lessons learned on the battlefieldtoday, but looking toward the future medical requirementsof Special Forces in the GWOT. Continued refinementof tactical clinical medicine is a necessary pieceof sustaining the force. Evolving “best practice” guidelines,regularly updating protocols like TCCC, and fieldingnew equipment will keep our Special Forces MedicalSergeants and Special Operations Combat Medics thebest in the world. One area that certainly needs widerdiscussion is the provision of higher level resuscitativesurgical and medical support to our units in the austere,far-forward environment. The unique ability of SpecialForces to prosecute operations across the spectrum of unconventionalwarfare (UW) and irregular warfare (IW)makes the provision of HSS to the force in the austere environmenta critical mission enabler. The focus of SpecialForces’ HSS has long been solely on SFMS tacticalskills, to the exclusion of the wider aspects of HSS at theregional and theater level. As the scope of the GWOTevolves, the structure and requirements of HSS for SpecialForces need to develop in order to support the Forcewithin the National Defense strategy.With a medical focus on the direction and developmentof Special Forces, I would like to emphasizeagain how important it is to capture lessons learned fromoperations. The use of the Joint Lessons Learned InformationSystem (JLLIS) from USSOCOM needs to beemphasized at all levels of the Special Forces Group medicalstructure. I challenge all Special Forces providers toensure that lessons are captured and relevant After ActionReports are forwarded to higher levels, including theUSASFC Surgeon’s Office. Feedback on the needs ofthe force and its development are vital to establishing theprograms needed to ensure the correct HSS training,equipment, doctrine, and staffing for the future.18Journal of Special Operations Medicine Volume 8, Edition 2 / Spring 08
The Joint Staff and Combatant Command Internship Program:A Win-Win SituationKevin Cooper, Medical Logistics Officer, USSOCOM Surgeon’s OfficeThe Army Medical Department (AMEDD) publishesits Long Term Health Education and Training(LTHET) message each year which identifies degree-producingand non-degree programs that select AMEDD officerscan apply for. One of the non-degree producingprograms, the Joint Staff and Combatant Command(COCOM) Internship Program, is a one-year internshipdesigned to train field grade officers for positions withinthe Surgeon’s Office at the Joint Staff and COCOM level.Each year approximately three AMEDD officers are selectedfor this program. The LTHET message delineatesthe eligible AMEDD career fields for this training. Eligiblecareer fields include: 70H (Operations), 70B (MedicalField Assistant) and 70K (Medical Logistics).Currently, the Office of the Command Surgeon, U.S.Special Operations Command, has both an Army 70Hand 70K intern working within the Operations and Logisticssections, respectively, as well as an Air Force operationsintern. This internship provides a structuredforum for participants to learn the skills required to effectivelywork at a joint command. Interns are affordedthe opportunity to attend structured educational opportunities,deploy in support of a Theater Special OperationsCommand (TSOC), and benefit from inclusion in “onthe-job”real-world learning opportunities within the US-SOCOM Surgeon’s Office (SOCOM/SG).As part of the SOCOM SG curriculum, internsmust complete a multitude of courses that provide thenecessary groundwork for working in a joint environmentand at the COCOM level. Attendance at suchcourses as the Joint Medical Planners Course and theJoint Special Operations Medical Officers OrientationCourse prepares interns to effectively function as medicalplanners serving on a COCOM staff, at a ComponentHeadquarters of COCOMs, on Joint Task Forces, or at aService Headquarters level. With the knowledge andskills gained by attending courses such as these, theSOCOM/SG interns are able to apply health supportplanning principles in joint and combined operations andhone their skills at planning for contingency and crisisaction planning situations.In addition to the training value of the classroomenvironment, recently, I, MAJ Kevin Cooper, the SOCOMSG medical logistics intern, was able to deploy in supportof Special Operations Command Central (SOCCENT). Itis the SOCOM Command Surgeon’s intent to allow internsto deploy in support of real-world operations at leastonce during the internship year so that they can see firsthandhow a TSOC operates and apply health support planningprinciples obtained from classroom instruction. Mytime spent at SOCCENT provided an excellent venue tonot only work internal staffing actions within the CombinedForces Special Operations Component Command(CFSOCC) and SOCCENT, but also to directly supportSOCCENT’s deployed forces. Issues such as medical logisticssupport to forward operating bases, level II surgicalrequirements support planning, and customer supportvisits to combined joint Special Operations task forces reinforcedthe benefits obtained from the Joint Staff andCOCOM internship program.Probably the most beneficial learning opportunityderived from the internship program is the day-to-daystaffing interaction within the SOCOM/SG office andwith that of the various service components, centerswithin SOCOM, and external agencies that supportSOCOM. Involvement in preparing and staffing variousactions, attendance and participation in working groups,and daily contact with various service components and theSOCOM staff provides an “informal” education that nostructured curriculum or program of instruction could provide.In most cases, officers selected for the Joint Staffand Combatant Command Internship Program do not haveexperience at the COCOM level and are unfamiliar withthe staffing processes and nuances of working at thatlevel. Spending a year fully integrated into theSOCOM/SG staff provides these officers with the “toolkit” necessary to succeed in future joint assignments.The Joint Staff and Combatant Command InternshipProgram is a win-win situation for both the officersselected to participate and for SOCOM. It professionallydevelops interns for future assignments as Joint staff officersand provides them with exposure to the unique worldUSSOCOM Medical Logistics UpdateThe Joint Staff and Combatant Command Internship Program: A Win-Win Situation19
Page 3: Spring 08 Volume 8, Edition 2From t
Page 6 and 7: From the Command SurgeonWARNER D.
Page 9 and 10: Participants of the first USSOCOM C
Page 12 and 13: Component and TSOC Surgeons, and wh
Page 14 and 15: Jay Sourbeer, MDCAPT, USNCommand Su
Page 17 and 18: Ricardo Ong, MDLTC USASOCCENT Surge
Page 19 and 20: Wm. John Gill, PA-C MPASLTC USASOCS
Page 21: MG Salvatore F. Cambria, commanding
Page 25 and 26: For the RG-33 MRAP SOF Variant vehi
Page 27 and 28: USSOCOM Education and Training Upda
Page 29 and 30: OCONUS LTT requires all the same pr
Page 31 and 32: Better Training Through Lessons Lea
Page 34 and 35: mans, though thoracocentesis would
Page 36 and 37: am sure someone will read it and wi
Page 38 and 39: also litter Urgent based on the EOD
Page 40 and 41: ISSUE: MAST pantsRECOMMENDATION: I
Page 42 and 43: use and amount of carried hemostati
Page 44 and 45: France, Britain honor U.S. woman wh
Page 46 and 47: Degree plan for 18D Soldiers announ
Page 48 and 49: 44 Current Events
Page 50 and 51: 46Journal of Special Operations Med
Page 52 and 53: Necessity of Medical Personnel on t
Page 54 and 55: Aside from the nuisance that flies
Page 56 and 57: spondence in NEJM 352:2651-2653 Jun
Page 58 and 59: Tympanic Membrane Perforation in IE
Page 60 and 61: overall picture of wounds received,
Page 62 and 63: than did IEDs. We may conclude that
Page 64 and 65: gesic medications, tourniquets, spl
Page 66 and 67: dog was included in the unit CASEVA
Page 68 and 69: aged four therapy sessions per week
Page 70 and 71: DOD. There are approximately 30 per
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Air Force Special Operations Comman
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surgical care for up to ten surgica
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function as the OR circulator durin
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gaged at one time. With long term s
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Clinical Diagnoses in a Special For
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noses assigned, some conditions exi
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MAJ Jim Lynch, MD, MS, is a 1989 gr
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Recombinant Activated Factor VII In
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The Value of Conservative Treatment
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Acute Mountain Sickness: Influence
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Paramedic Perceptions of Challenges
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From Warrior to Healer: 99 True Sto
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Needle Thoracostomy in the Treatmen
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patients (2.45%) a 4.5cm needle cou
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Chest Wall Thickness in Military Pe
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Figure 3. Plot of horizontal versus
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Rescue Training, Inc.9-A Mall Terra
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AVIATION MEDICINE AND PATIENT TRANS
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Center for Disaster and Humanitaria
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Rare Diseases: http://www.raredisea
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Med Anthro Tutorial http://anthro.p
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Drug Information Online: http://www
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SEARCH AND RESCUEConfined Space Res
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SOCM GLENN MERCERINTRODUCTION“…
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on supplements for this unit of one
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OBSERVATIONSFigures 2 depicts the a
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Photo 3Photo 4Photo 5MED Quiz 121
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ANSWERSQuestion 1:Morphology: these
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Meet Your JSOM StaffEXECUTIVE EDITO
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Special Forces Aidman's PledgeAs a
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Spring 07 front cover - United States Special Operations Command

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