2 AES MEDICAL AFTER ACTION REPORT FOR EUROPEAN

File: aabpg_10.txt
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Total Pages: 18
means to assign all reserves and national guard personnel to one 
organization and not have them assigned to their units and placed
in a TDY status to their actual duty stations. 

AEROMEDICAL EVACUATION EQUIPMENT: 

a.  Observations: 

A serious shortfall of aeromedical evacuation (AE) equipment was 
evident and using hospital for use in aircraft would have
placed MTFs in a comprising positions. 

b.  Facts and Observations: 

	(1)  Turn around of equipment from CONUS took four days to 
return it to its starting point. 
	(2)  Reserve squadrons and Air National Guard units who
deployed to Europe did so without equipment and kits as they were
originally tasked to do.  This accentuated the shortage and problems
that were encountered. 
	(3)  Since assets had not been pre-positioned, crews deployed
without kits found none. available. 
	(4) Strategic and Tactical kits, and aeromedical evacuation
medical equipment were extremely limited in Europe.  Available assets
were allocated between 5 major hubs through Europe. Assets
available included the following: 

		(a)  One hundred-seven Strategic kits issued from USAFE
War Readiness Material (WRM) warehouses. Kits issued did not have all 
supplies or aeromedical medical equipment items on the updated Table of
Allowances from HQ MAC.  Equipment items are not stored in WRM
warehouses for aeromedical evacuation.  Many of the medication items
placed in WRM assets  were expired.  The owning facility commander has
the authority to waive expiration dates until kits are needed. 
However, this practice generates large number of expired medications
requiring destruction at time of deployment.  A large number of supply
items were not intact, sterile packages had ruptured or seals broken/
torn. For example:

		(1)  Upper Heyford UK aeromedical evacuation
	personnel deployed from their home stations with minimal 
	kits and equipment.  The USAFE kits were in bad condition
	that they could not be used.  Medications were 
	crystalized, expired and had other obvious visual
	changes.   Sterile supply items were old and many packages
	were damaged making them unusable.  The system set up for 
	replacement of used supplies had a sever drawback in 
	that items could not be released from the host MTF for 
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