Evening star., 1943-06-17
Flight Surgeon S Tent
Becomes Soul Clinic
To Bolster Morale
Psychiotrie knowledge
Coined Expected to
Be of Postwar Value
BY THOMAS X. HENRY,

By THOMAS r. HENRY,
Star Staff Correspondent.
STRATEGIC AIR FORCE STA
TION, North Africa tBy MsiD A
soul clinic" is the fight surgeon S
tent at an American advanced air
station.
At few spots on earth are the
secret, often subconscious, depths Of
human emotions probed 50 deeply as
during the condolences between the
flying doctor and the youthful
fighters and bombers.
In the United States, the medical
officer assigned to the air force has
received intensive specialized train
ing on medical problems peculiar to
the human organism at high alti-
tudes and great speeds, such as air
sickness, blackouts, effects of
diminishing oxygen on speed of re-
actions, and the like. Actually. in
combat zone he finds his ma jor
practice is psychiatric-keeping men
mentally and emotionally fit for
their jobs. His job is to inject
courage into hearts rather than
Serums into arms.
Surgeon Is Confidante.
Flyers come to look on him as their
best friend and confidante. His tent
is a confessional behind whose
wind tossed flaps stories are told al
most daily which would be whispered
nowhere else. Living in close con-
tact with the men, the doctor in a
few weeks comes to have an intimate
knowledge of the personalities Of
each of his charges such as an old
family physician might have of their
bodies. The flight surgeon becomes,
in fact, the apotheosis of the family
doctor.
Out Of this is developing a corps of
master psychiatrists for American
communities after the war. Psy-
chiatry in the past has been built up
largely on the case histories of ab-
normal persons. because normal folks
seldom consulted the mind doctor.
Thus great body Of data is accumu-
lating for future analysis.
Textbooks Aid Small.
ComplexeS and conflicts. which
rarely would come TO the surface in
ordinary life, are thrown up almost
daily from depths of the subconsci-
GUS by the exigencies Of air warfare
The flight surgeon has had little in
the textbooks to guide him. About
the only body of data, on which he
can draw, is the reported experience
of the British air doctors who have
gone through the same problems for
almost four years and, the American
doctors mostly agree, have done a
magnificent job.
Above all. especially in the last
six months of intensive fighting.
with shortages of equipment and
seasoned personnel. has been the
need OF being practical. 1t is not
enough for the surgeon to diagnose
correctly a case of funk" such as
may arise in the best pilots. His
job has been to make his shaken
patient ready TO f1v and fight the
next morning with the assurance
that his nerves will be equal to the
strain. Often flight surgeon will
spend all night with a case before
scheduled mission and send a man
out at sunrise with fully-reStored
confidence
He is just beginning to cross one
hurdle long since passed with his
British colleagues. although it was
one of their greatest difficulties at
the start of the war. The Ameri-
can airman comes into the war With
limited personal animosity against
the enemy The Englishman has
perhaps seen his own home de-
stroyed and has the impelling drive
of vengeance
Must Make Men Hard.
1t has been necessary for the
American doctor to find a substi-
tute for this to inject into the souls
of his charges and the possibilities
vary with each person who comes
into his tent. He must make men
hard, with due consideration for
the after effects on their characters.
He must turn pink checked COL
leee boys into hard faced killers
for the time being-a far harder
job than making them master flyers
and even more essential for the
success of an air fighter than abil-
ity to handle a plane.
Thus he is the backbone o. .he
air force. A very large part of
the courage displayed on American
missions can be traced back d;rectlv
to the fight surgeons tent. He
never gets his name in the pa apers,
But in the routine of his lob he
runs as great combat risks As any,
body. for to conscientiously advise
other men he must know himself
what they are going through ana
most fight surgeons have gone
through themselves nearly every-
thing experienced by the most dar-
ing pilot.