Preface i

Call Sign - DUSTOFF

A History of U.S. Army 

Aeromedical Evacuation 

from Conception to 

Hurricane Katrina

by

Darrel Whitcomb
ii Call Sign – Dustoff

Borden Institute Editorial Staff: Marcia A. Metzgar

Martha K. Lenhart, MD, PhD, FAAOS Volume Editor

Colonel, MC, US Army

Director and Editor in Chief Douglas Wise

Layout Editor

The opinions or assertions contained herein are the personal views of the authors 

and are not to be construed as doctrine of the Department of the Army or the 

Department of Defense.

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RESTRICTIONS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

NO COPYRIGHTED PARTS OF THIS PUBLICATION MAY BE REPRODUCED 

OR TRANSMITTED IN ANY FORM OR BY ANY MEANS, ELECTRONIC OR 

MECHANICAL (INCLUDING PHOTOCOPY, RECORDING, OR ANY INFORMATION STORAGE AND RETRIEVAL SYSTEM), WITHOUT PERMISSION IN 

WRITING FROM THE PUBLISHER OR COPYRIGHT OWNER.

Published by the Office of The Surgeon General

Borden Institute

Fort Detrick

Frederick, MD 21702

 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Whitcomb, Darrel D., 1947-

 Call sign “Dustoff” : a history of U.S. Army aeromedical evacuation from Conception to 

Hurricane Katrina / by Darrel Whitcomb.

 p. cm.

 Includes bibliographical references and index.

 Summary: “Explores the conceptualization of the initial attempts to use aircraft for 

evacuation, reviews its development and maturity through conflicts, and focuses on 

the history of the MEDEVAC post-Vietnam through Hurricane Katrina”--Provided by 

publisher.

1. Helicopter ambulances--United States--History. 2. United States. Army--Transport of 

sick and wounded--History. 3. United States. Army. Medical Service Corps--History. I. 

Title.

 UH503.W44 2011

 355.3’45--dc22

 2011001043
Preface iii

Contents

Foreword v

Preface vii

PART ONE

Fulfilling a Need: From Conception to Combat 1

Chapter One 

An Honorable Heritage 3

Chapter Two

From Korea through Vietnam 25

PART TWO

Domestic Duties & Contingency Operations 57

Chapter Three

Quiet Years, 1973–1980 59

Chapter Four

New Challenges: Near and Afar, 1981–1990 93

PART THREE

An Angry Decade 137

Chapter Five

Desert Shield/Desert Storm, 1990–1991 139

Chapter Six

Force Reductions, 1992–1995 167

Chapter Seven

The Balkans, 1992–Ongoing 199

PART FOUR

Into the Millennium: New Challenges, at Home and Abroad 227

Chapter Eight

To 9/11, 2000–2001 229
iv Call Sign – Dustoff

Chapter Nine

Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 245

Chapter Ten

Aviation Transformation and Domestic Operations, 2002–2005 303

Chapter Eleven

Warriors of Compassion 343

APPENDICES

A: List of MEDEVAC Units xv

B: Typical History of an ARNG MEDEVAC Unit xxi

C: MEDEVAC Losses Post–Vietnam Era through Operation IRAQI 

FREEDOM 1 xxv

Abbreviations and Acronyms xxvii

Endnotes xxxiii

Bibliography lxv

Index lxxxvii
Preface v

Foreword

DUSTOFF Medic, SFC Brian “Papa” Brockett, knelt over his patient, doing his 

normal assessment, checking for unknown wounds and asking “Are you okay?” 

to check his alertness. The young Marine Infantryman merely wiped the blood 

from his face, where he had taken a round as he burst through the door of an 

Iraqi home in search of insurgents. He smiled and replied, “I’m okay. I knew 

you’d come.” As “Papa” retold this story, his eyes filled with tears, and his voice 

waivered with the return of the emotion of knowing the faith our Warriors place 

in DUSTOFF crews to be there for them in their time of need. This story was told 

in 2008; however, it resonates with the same fervor as did Major Charles Kelly’s 

last words of 1 July 1963, “When I have your wounded.” 

And so it is today. The current DUSTOFF crews run to their aircraft, confident 

that they can—and will—face the dangers that await them over the next hill and 

then they go where others dare not. They cross mine fields, face incoming fire 

from those who would do harm to their comrades in arms, and willingly risk 

their own lives to medically evacuate others. They are the Warriors of compassion, standing on the shoulders of Soldiers like Charles Kelly, Pat Brady, Mike 

Novosel, Steve Hook, Tiny Simmons, Charles Allen, John Temperilli, Ernie Sylvester, Doug Moore, Paul Bloomquist, Hank Tuell, and thousands of others who 

earlier flew the medical evacuation helicopters. 

The inevitable consequence of war is the production of casualties. After World 

War II, visionaries like Spurgeon Neel recognized the efficacy of using helicopters to evacuate casualties from the battlefield. He and others led the fight to develop the MEDEVAC helicopters into the single greatest lifesaving system developed by our Armed Forces. Neel realized that this capability could also provide a 

greater national service. He was instrumental in creating the Military Assistance 

to Safety and Traffic (MAST) Program, which provided this service to our nation’s towns and rural areas. Neel’s innovative and creative ideas led directly to 

the use of helicopters as a part of the medical health care delivery system. 
vi Call Sign – Dustoff

This book captures the story of DUSTOFF from its conception. It reviews its 

development and use in both Korea and Vietnam, but focuses on the post–Vietnam years that saw almost constant transformation of unit structure, doctrine and 

structural command and control, and the development and adaptation of new aircraft and lifesaving equipment. It also chronicles the transfer of the MEDEVAC 

units from medical to aviation control, a most traumatic event that presented the 

MEDEVAC community with another set of challenges.

What held steadfast through these times of change was the immutable fact that 

brave American Warriors on the battlefield executed the nation’s wars with the 

faith that comes from knowing that should they become casualties, the DUSTOFF 

crews would come. Their heroic efforts were recognized during our nation’s military missions in Panama, Desert Storm, Provide Comfort, Bosnia, Afghanistan, 

and Iraq; the almost continuous support for MAST operations across the nation; 

and innumerable responses to domestic crises, Hurricane Katrina most prominent among them. Theirs is a stellar legacy, one well recognized and now, well 

recorded. 

Darrel Whitcomb has expertly captured the story of this national treasure—the 

face of hope in scenes of chaos—the story of the Warriors of compassion. All 

captured in two quotes – “When I have your wounded” and “I knew you’d come.”

Daniel W. Gower, Jr.

Colonel, U.S. Army Retired

Executive Director, DUSTOFF Association
Preface vii

Preface

There is a very interesting togetherness between medicine and aviation with 

which I have been fascinated over the years. 

- Maj. Gen. (ret) Spurgeon Neel, USA1

Much has been written about U.S. Army aeromedical evacuation—or MEDEVAC—as it has come to be known, and deservedly so. Most works have focused 

on the war in Korea or Vietnam. This project has a larger interest. It will explore 

the conceptualization of the initial attempts to use aircraft for evacuation, review 

its development and maturity through those conflicts, and then focus on the history of MEDEVAC post–Vietnam to the transformation of the MEDEVAC units 

from medical to aviation command in 2003, and the response to Hurricane Katrina in 2005. 

By MEDEVAC, I specifically mean the utilization of helicopters to pick up 

wounded soldiers and rapidly move them to medical facilities in the rear area. I 

acknowledge that ground vehicles can also perform this function, and those units 

are also an important part of the story of medical evacuation. The focus in this 

work will be on the unique use of helicopters to accomplish this mission. It is a 

fascinating story of the development of a uniquely American innovation, although 

other nations also conduct it now for their troops.

Some definitions are needed: 

MEDEVAC: Medical evacuation is performed by dedicated, standardized medical evacuation 

platforms, with medical professionals who provide timely, efficient movement and en route 

care by medical personnel of the wounded, injured, or ill persons from the battlefield and other 

locations to medical treatment facilities.2

Similar and frequently confused with MEDEVAC is:
viii Call Sign – Dustoff

CASEVAC: A term used by nonmedical units to refer to the movement of casualties aboard 

nonmedical vehicles or aircraft.3

As the definitions show, MEDEVAC is much more than CASEVAC. It is a key 

component of the overall medical system of the Army that has as its primary mission the conservation of military manpower.

“Necessity,” said the Greek philosopher Plato, “is the mother of invention.” 

Military commanders have long recognized the need to move casualties from the 

field of battle as quickly as possible. Alexander the Great had a medical corps of 

litter bearers who brought in the wounded and teams of surgeons and medics who 

practiced the medicine of the day as best they could. The result was fewer deaths 

and more men returned to duty. 

Later armies followed variations of this theme. As the technology of medicine 

itself advanced, so did the ability to collect the wounded. Armies took advantage 

of technological progress to facilitate the process. French armies of the 18th century developed special wagons. They called them “Ambulance Volante” or “Flying Wagons,” and the lumbering vehicles followed closely behind the battle lines 

to collect the inevitable result of increasingly lethal warfare. 

An evolution of this system was created by United States Army Maj. Jonathan 

A. Letterman. After witnessing the carnage and lack of good care for Union soldiers in the first year of the Civil War, he was empowered by Maj. Gen. George 

McClellan, commander of the Army of the Potomac, to establish an evacuation 

system based on an ambulance corps for the Army of the Potomac to collect 

the wounded and provide initial care. It would be equipped with ambulances, 

horses, and necessary supplies and manned by medical technicians who would 

then deliver the casualties to divisional field hospitals. Specially detailed officers 

would administer this system, thus allowing the doctors to focus on caring for the 

wounded. Eventually, they would also use ships and trains to move the wounded 

to general hospitals in the rear areas. The system worked well and was soon adopted for the entire Army through Army regulations and then an Act of Congress. 

It established a chain of evacuation that still exists. 

As the technology of transportation advanced, so did the implements of medical 

evacuation. Any new invention was—within a short time—drafted for evacuation duties. Ships, trains, trucks, and automobiles were all adopted, and medical 

personnel put aboard, thus extending medical capability forward so that casualties 

could more quickly receive care. When the airplane was developed into something that could carry more than just a pilot, it too was detailed to evacuation 

duties. It was only natural that the helicopter, with its unique ability to land in 

nearly any location, would be assigned to MEDEVAC duties. It held the promise 

of further decreasing the time required to move critically wounded from the point 

of injury to critical medical care. It seemed to be the perfect device to answer the 

necessity that spawned the chain of evacuation.

Yet every child has two parents, and while necessity is the mother of MEDEVAC, aviation is its father. He is a stern father with immutable laws of physics that 

define what those wonderful MEDEVAC helicopters and crews can and cannot
Preface ix

do. Helicopters do facilitate moving the wounded through the chain of care more 

quickly than other vehicles, but the physical limits of flight cannot be overridden 

by medical necessity. 

Helicopters can only go so fast and so far, and there are places where helicopters cannot go. These may be defined by weather, terrain, or a vengeful enemy, but 

those rules are inviolate—no amount of necessity can override them. Any user of 

helicopters must obey those rules or be prepared to pay a terrible price. This reality has been traced in blood many times over. 

These rules apply to any practitioners of the art of aviation. Long ago, aviation 

pioneers realized that airplanes and their use must be controlled by aviators who 

understood the reality of flight. Perhaps recognizing this, during the Korean War 

the Army designated a small number of Medical Service Corps (MSC) officers to 

attend flight school and become MEDEVAC helicopter pilots. It was—and still 

is—a good match. 

It is evident that in the modern world of aviation and medicine, the MEDEVAC 

pilots have to serve both masters. They must understand the medical imperative 

of their task, yet perform it within the limits of physics. They must honor both of 

their parents to be successful. 

In a microcosmic way, the four-person crew of the MEDEVAC helicopter 

represents this melding of two disparate sciences. In the cockpit, the two pilots, 

commissioned or warrant officers, understand both specialties. In the back of the 

aircraft, the crew chief focuses on the operation and care of the aircraft, while his 

cabin-mate, the flight medic, is the medical technician. His focus is on the application of medical care as necessary to evacuate the casualties to higher levels of 

medical capability. It is a time-tested system that brings together the best of both 

specialties. 

But which is primary: aviation or medicine? It is a beguiling question. To 

whom should that crew answer, the medical command that controls the chain of 

evacuation and medical supplies, or the aviation command that provides the organization and support necessary to facilitate flight? 

That appears to be the dilemma, the yin and yang of this story. Is it, in the end, 

the right question? 

One immutable point is crystal clear. That wonderful force of MEDEVAC helicopters and crews is a national treasure that serves our nation in both peace and 

war. 

This story is presented chronologically. Part I looks at the heritage of MEDEVAC from its beginnings in World War II through the bitter battles in Korea, 

the interwar years, and the long struggle in Vietnam. Part II covers the 1980s, a 

time of domestic duties and contingency operations. Part III looks at the turbulent 1990s with the end of the cold war, a hot war in the Persian Gulf, dramatic 

military force reductions, and a call to duty in the Balkans. Part IV stretches into 

the millennium, covering the terrible events of 9/11, further conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Aviation Transformation Initiative that moved MEDEVAC from 

medical to aviation control, and the national response to Hurricane Katrina. In 

general, after Part I, a thematic approach is used, and the chapters are organized 
x Call Sign – Dustoff

with interweaving sections covering doctrine (Service and joint), organization, 

and operations.

One explanation is necessary. I will mention many specific U.S. Army units in 

this work. Divisions and larger units will be referred to by their full title, as will 

medical units down through battalion. Combat battalions will be referred to as 

per the Combat Arms Regimental System. The MEDEVAC units that are medical 

companies (Air Ambulance) and medical detachments (Helicopter Ambulance) 

will be addressed as Med Co (AA) and Med Det (HA), respectively, such as the 

57th Med Det (HA) or the 45th Med Co (AA). As the story will explain, in 2005, 

the MEDEVAC units were reorganized and moved from medical to aviation command and control. At that point, they lost their heritage designations such as the 

498th Med Co (AA), and each unit became the Charlie company of a general support aviation battalion like Charlie Company, 2d Battalion, 3d Aviation Regiment, 

abbreviated as C/2d/3d. These simplifications are in the interest of brevity. 

This work has brought me into contact with many wonderful people who have 

facilitated its creation. I would be remiss not to mention them. 

My first research effort took place at the Armed Forces Medical Library in 

Falls Church, Virginia, where I was well supported by Patrick Walz, Emily Court, 

and Diane Zehnpfennig. One of the first books that they gave me to read was 

DUSTOFF: Army Aeromedical Evacuation in Vietnam, which was written by Peter Dorland and James Nanney and published in 1982. It is a fine piece of history 

that effectively tells the evolutional story of MEDEVAC in that conflict, and it 

helped me set my course to discover the later story. 

My next stop was Fort Rucker, Alabama. I attended the 2CF7 Medical Evacuation Doctrine Course at the U.S. Army School of Aviation Medicine (USASAM). 

I met Lt. Col. Vinny Carnazza, Maj. Ken Koyle, 1st Sgt. Michael Stoddard, and 

Sfc. Jim Burbach at the USASAM, and conducted interviews with fellow students 

in the 2CF7 course. 

I also spent fruitful time at Fort Rucker with Steve Maxham and Dick Tierney at 

the U.S. Army Aviation Museum and with Col. Dave MacDonald and his coworkers at the Medical Evacuation Proponency Directorate. 

Dr. John Dabrowski, the Army Aviation Branch Historian, gave me a great deal 

of his time, as did Jill Redington, Jean Southwell, and Janice Haines, who helped 

me dig through the massive data available in the Aviation Technical Library. 

I made several very productive visits to the U.S. Army Center for Military History at Fort McNair in Washington, DC, where I worked with Mr. Stephen Everett and Ms. Patricia Ames. Their help in deciphering Army force structure was 

invaluable.

The National Archives in College Park, Maryland, are a rich source of information. There, I was well assisted by Rich Boylan and Susan Francis-Haughton who 

patiently helped me find archival information on units and operations.

I traveled to Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Ms. Donna Barr Tabor, the historian for 

the XVIII Airborne Corps, helped me recover data on the MEDEVAC units that 

have served in this unit or at this post. Lt. Col. Scott Putzier of the 56th Medical 
Preface xi

Evacuation Battalion helped me find data on that unit. I attended the inactivation 

ceremony for the 57th Med Co (AA). It was sad to watch as the guidon was cased 

on this unit that has existed since the Korean War era. Perhaps more than any 

other unit, it represents the spirit of MEDEVAC. 

The medical warriors at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, hosted me for two weeks as 

I conducted interviews and did primary research on doctrine and force structure 

in the AMEDD Directorate of Combat and Doctrine Development. Col. Mark 

Hegerle and his personnel were graciously generous in their support. I must specifically thank Ms. Cecily Price and Mr. Ken Sutton for allowing me to call on 

their vast historical knowledge of this mission and its doctrine. I also went to Fort 

Hood, where I visited the 507th Med Co (AA) and the 36th Medical Battalion 

(Evacuation), two units key to this history. 

Several individuals have given me critical “vectors” in this venture. Col. (ret) 

Dan Gower of the DUSTOFF Association has guided me with invaluable background and historical information, and he has been absolutely selfless in helping 

me to find and interview key participants in this mission. This project could not 

have happened without his beyond generous support. His absolute love for and 

dedication to this mission and community of real heroes is truly humbling. 

Col. Randal Schwallie has served as my conduit into the Army Reserve community. The Army Reserve’s story of great service as part of the MEDEVAC community has received little recognition. 

My work allowed me to visit several more MEDEVAC companies, both active 

and National Guard. All commanders were wonderful hosts and gave me open access to their histories and troops. Interviewing them was a truly enriching experience. Over the years, there are or have been more than110 units. I could not visit 

them all or their descendents. But I would like to especially thank 2d Lt. Jasmine 

Chase of the 112th Med Co (AA), Maine ARNG, who generously shared her unit 

history with me. 

The U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, is 

a rich source of information, and I spent two very productive days there under the 

expert guidance of Mr. Dave Keough.

Capt. Jim Page hosted me for two days at Fort Campbell as I dug into the history of MEDEVAC at that huge post, home to the famous 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). It is the location for two MEDEVAC units now, the Charlie 

Companies of the 6th and 7th Battalions of the 101st Aviation Regiment, formed 

from the remnants of the inactivated 542d and 50th Med Cos (AA), respectively. 

This visit was critical to understanding MEDEVAC and the key role that “Eagle 

Dustoff” played in this saga. 

I traveled to Germany and visited the pre-transformation 159th Med Co (AA) 

at Wiesbaden Air Base, the 236th Med Co (AA) at Landstuhl, the 45th Med Co 

(AA) at Ketterbach, and the MEDEVAC alert facility at Hohenfels. Additionally, 

Mr. Bruce Siemon, the U.S. Army Europe Historian, hosted me at his office in 

Heidelberg for a very productive visit to that rich trove of documents.

While visiting Seattle, Washington, I met with Mr. Mark Hough. Mark never 
xii Call Sign – Dustoff

served in the military, but has developed a strong and enduring interest in MEDEVAC. He has published the best single book chronicling the individual histories 

of MEDEVAC units, United States Army Air Ambulance. He generously shared 

his voluminous files with me and gave me a “tour” of his collection of more than 

500 unit patches.

In Atlanta, I spent a day with Lt. Col. Al Koenig, a historian assigned to the First 

Army. He is leading the effort to capture the U.S. Army response to Hurricane 

Katrina, and generously shared his extensive files with me. The next day, I visited 

Lt. Col. Pete Smart at the Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, Alabama. He works in 

the Aviation Utility Helicopters Project Office, and he gave me an excellent tutorial on the MEDEVAC fleet of helicopters. 

My office mates at the Office of Medical History have been unselfish in their 

support. Our archivists, Will Edmondson and Lisa Wagner, provided great support 

in digging out documents from our extensive collections. Tom Gray and Annita 

Ferencz provided the administrative structure that made the office run. Maj. Lew 

Barger and Maj. Rich Prior were our active Army counterparts and served as the 

critical link to our forces operating daily around the world. Drs. Sanders Marble, 

Jonathan Hood, and Lisa Budreau are all experts in their fields and possess that 

innate capability to always ask the provoking question. All of this was directed by 

Dr. John Greenwood, a preeminent historian who, with more than 30 years experience as a prolific historical writer, set the standard for the rest of us. I sincerely 

thank the team for their support, and Dr. Greenwood for his leadership and guidance. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, I must also thank my dear wife, Chris, 

for her generous and loving support as my transcriber, editor, and chief taskmaster 

for this effort. I just could not have done it without her.

This project also gave me the opportunity to become familiar with a very special individual, Maj. Gen. Spurgeon Neel. He—perhaps more than any other single person—created MEDEVAC. As a young major in the late 1940s, he saw the 

rich potential that helicopters represented as aerial ambulances, and never lost the 

passion of that vision through the many assignments of his long and distinguished 

career. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2003. But he was a prolific writer and 

penned many articles, staff studies, and reports on the subject. Additionally, he 

granted several recorded and transcribed interviews that are rich in detail, and 

track so much of the mission as it developed during his career. He is truly the 

patron saint of MEDEVAC.

I offer a sincere salute to the dozens of soldiers and civilians I interviewed for 

this project. Their patience is appreciated. There was no way to meet with all of 

the men and women who have been members of this great community. I do believe that I have interviewed a truly representative slice of them. My interviewees 

make up four distinct groups: (1) the “old lionhearts” from the Vietnam War; (2) 

the post–Vietnam transitionals; (3) the post–Desert Storm “zealots,” who are the 

commanders of today; and (4) the young men and women who are the current 

MEDEVAC force. I have done my utmost to properly record and use their words 

as accurately as possible, and I hold in confidence those “background” discussions 
Preface xiii

so vital to understanding. To all my interviewees I say, “Your words are the essence, the heart of the story.” 

Some individuals I asked to interview refused because the memories are too 

strong. I respect that and accept it. Much of this story is about war. That endeavor 

touches all who experience it. Some soldiers love it. Some soldiers hate it. All are 

changed irrevocably by the experience.

And lastly, I offer a dedication.

I dedicate this work to the men and women of MEDEVAC. First of all, it is their 

story. Most importantly, it is offered for all that they do. Day and night, they are 

there. Good weather and bad, they are there. Enemy or no enemy, they are there. 

They give far more than their nation has a right to expect. Their efforts humble us 

all. They represent the best of our nation, and we must never forget that.

And right now, they are out there at so many locations, 

waiting for that call.

Suffused as they are with a focus, a determination, a will that has been 

forged in the fire of compassion.

Pray that it should always be so.
xiv Call Sign – Dustoff