I'm looking forward to seeing many of you in Atlanta at the 1996 AsMA Scientific
Meeting. This newsletter will be handed out at the meeting and mailed to
other members immediately after the meeting.
I've taken the initiative of creating an IAMFSP home page. Attached you
will find a registration form which will allow people to access you with
questions in your areas of expertise. For our military pilot members, please
record all military aircraft in which you have over 500 hours of time as
a pilot. All members are asked to submit abstracts of papers or presentations
which they have published or given. I think this will help us broaden our
service to the aviation and aerospace medicine communities. If you know
people who manage other related home pages, please encourage them to refer
people to our page. Access to the IAMFSP home page is available through
http://users.aol.com/iamfsp. Please try it out and let me know what you
think. The cost of the home page is $10 a month.
Again, I look forward to seeing you in Atlanta.
Greetings from San Antonio! I'm looking forward to seeing many of you in
Atlanta next week. I've just returned from a very exciting experience at
Bolling AFB in Washington D.C. Lt Gen Edgar Anderson sponsored a summit
of the USAF pilot-physicians from 8 to 12 April 1996. I will try to briefly
summarize the summit in a few paragraphs.
The purpose of the summit was to develop a strategic business plan for
the USAF pilot-physician program. Nine of Eleven USAF pilot-physicians
were in attendance. Dee Carrier could not make it due to his orthopedic
residency and Bob Munson was tied down at Farnborough preparing to PCS
back to Brooks AFB.
The attendees needed to formulate values early in the summit. All three
of the basic values of the USAF were adopted: Integrity First, Service
Before Self and Excellence In All We Do. In addition, the pilot-physicians
present adopted Teamwork as a fourth value.
The mission statement proposed by the summit is: United States Air Force
Aircrew-Physicians Provide Integrated Operational And Aeromedical Guidance,
Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT & E), Education And
Analysis To The Air Force Warfighter To Optimize Mission Capability, Performance,
Safety And Cost.
The vision of the summit is: Aircrew-Physicians Integrated In The Development
And Employment of Aerospace Systems Ensuring Optimal Warfighting Effectiveness
For The United States Air Force.
The summit identified four key product categories which USAF aircrew-physicians
provide to their customers. These are Expert Guidance, Research, Teaching
and Analysis. The attendees identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities
and threats which led to the definition of gaps between current capabilities
and future needs. In summary these gaps were the following:
1. The need to continue to institutionalize the USAF aircrew-physician
program.
2. The need for continuing education of USAF aircrew-physicians.
3. The need for aircrew-physicians to serve as educators to both the Line
and the Medical Service.
4. The need to obtain 'buy-in' from customers.
5. The need to matrix aircrew-physicians with the research community and
involve them in the early design process of system acquisition and modification.
6. The need to develop meaningful metrics which quantify the value of service
rendered to the USAF.
The process was particularly exciting because twenty Line and Medical Service
customers were interviewed and they provided some exciting, 'out of the
box,' directions for the program to grow. Two line customers saw a clear
need for a few navigator/EW-physicians to become experts on the needs of
those crew positions. For this reason, the USAF program name is undergoing
modification from the pilot-physician program to the aircrew-physician
program.
Customers helped identify aircrew-physician roles and some senior customers
expressed a willingness to fund designated aircrew-physician positions
within their organizations. The work that Pete Demitry and Tom Travis have
done at Brooks AFB has borne great fruit. Customers now see significant
value added to pilot-physicians and are willing to pay for it. Customers
also recommended assignments for USAF aircrew-physicians. The list is substantial
and includes RDT & E as well as staff positions, Operational Test &
Evaluation (OT & E) and operational flying positions.
Task development was a natural outgrowth of the summit. Initial tasks were
set out, divided into three phases of implementation and assigned to individuals
for completion with suspenses. Yours truly is working on revising the Air
Force Instruction (11-405) which governs the pilot-physician program.
We should be very grateful that Lt Gen Anderson was willing to convene
this summit which has provided some clear future challenges for the USAF
program. Appreciation is also due to Lt Col Wendy Martin who served as
the summit facilitator and Lt Col Rodger Vanderbeek who acted as the summit
chairperson.
(NOTE TO READERS, THIS SECTION GIVEN AS REPORTED BY MEMBERS)
UNITED STATES
MGen Michael Adams (CA, ANG), Ret retired from the Guard in 1993 as deputy
surgeon for ANG affairs. He is currently in private practice in Fresno,
California where he serves as the Assistant Medical Director for SECURE
HORIZONS which is a MediCare program of PACIFIC CARE. He is also an Assistant
Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco,
School of Medicine, in the Department of Medicine. A Fellow of both AsMA
and the ACP, Dr, Adams is a senior FAA Aviation Medical Examiner.
Dr. Chuck Antonio reports that he continues to work in research and development
of night vision devices. He is studying testing, training and mishap investigation
issues. He reports recent work on an Air Force mishap investigation board
investigating an A-10 mishap at Eielson AFB in Alaska which occurred on
a Night Vision Goggle (NVG) sortie. He is currently working on cockpit
night vision goggle lighting evaluations for F-16, F-15, A-10 and C-130
aircraft. Dr. Antonio writes training lessons for USN and USMC NVG training
courses. He supports various NVG tactical testing and evaluation efforts
and occasionally still flies T-33's.
CAPTAIN Bruce Bohnker, USN reports that he will leave COSECONDFLT this
summer to become the XO of Naval Hospital Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He reports
that working as a command surgeon (numbered fleet surgeon) for the Navy
has been interesting. He has served as the Joint Task Force surgeon for
two Joint Task Forces and as the COMSTRIKFLTLANT surgeon for NATO roles.
Captain Dwight Holland, USAFR has been selected as a NASA/Stanford University
Faculty Fellow during a competition from all over North America. He is
currently a Cunningham Fellow at Virginia Tech and has been invited to
give the Spring 1996 Distinguished Fellow Lecture to the Corps of Cadets
at Virginia Tech. He has designed a new Human Factors Engineering Course
during his stay at Virginia Tech.
RADM Daniel Lestage, USN (ret.) has been promoted to Vice President of
Medical Operations for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida. The Florida
Blues are the States largest health care insurer. In early 1995, he was
elected to the Board of Directors of the Florida Academy of Family Physicians
and President of the Florida Society for Preventive Medicine. He continues
to work in Jacksonville at the headquarters of Florida Blue Cross &
Blue Shield. He lives in Orange Park, Florida.
Colonel Paul H. Lilly, USAF currently serves as the Commander of the 95th
Medical Group at Edwards AFB, CA. He is qualified as the Weapon System
Officer of the Strike Eagle (F-15E) and serves as an Aero Club FAA Certified
Flight Instructor with single & multiengine as well as instrument ratings.
Major Robert P. Ryan writes that he is still serving in the Texas ANG as
a flight surgeon with OH-58's. He recently purchased a Grumman Albatross
(HU-16B) which had been on display at Lackland AFB from 1973 to 1994. He
says it is undergoing 'depot level maintenance/restoration' and should
return to flying condition sporting 1957 vintage MATS Air Rescue Service
colors by late summer 1996. {editors note: having restored two airplanes
myself and knowing that IAMFSP members are eternal optimists, I will take
odds on 1997 for a first flight of this gorgeous classic warbird.}
Lt Col Quay C. Snyder is the Chief of Aerospace Medicine for the 140th
Fighter Wing of the Colorado Air National Guard. He is also serving as
the Associate Aeromedical Advisor to the Air Line Pilots Association which
is a union of 45,000 U.S. airline pilots. His duties range from supporting
individual pilots by advising them and representing them before the Federal
Aviation Administration to consulting on issues of duty time, flying time
and alcohol and drug testing. He continues to instruct cadets at the United
States Air Force Academy in all levels glider flying, about 250 sorties
annually.
Major Bill Tarver, USAF will complete the USAF Aerospace Medicine Residency
in June of 1996. He is looking forward to a follow on assignment in Kunsan,
Korea.
Dr. Stephen V. Blizzard retired from the Department of Civil Aviation Medicine
where he served as Senior Consultant, Safety & Human Factors and Chief
of the Civil Aviation Medicine Unit on 16 June 1995. He is now working
as a consultant in aviation medicine and is providing primary ophthalmologic
care as well.
FROM THE UNIFORMED SERVICES UNIVERSITY OF THE HEALTH SCIENCES IN BETHESDA,
MARYLAND, USA. - 2LT Will Hallier, USAF
The class of 1998 at the Uniformed Services University counts nine military
pilots among its members. (Each class has about 160 members) As our class
finishes the last of two long years of basic medical sciences, flying airplanes
and helicopters is something that most of us miss a lot. However, with
the National Boards coming up, we are all looking forward to starting on
the wards this summer. Brief biographies of the military pilots follow.
2LT John Combs, USA graduated from West Point in 1987 with a degree in
civil engineering. He served as an OH-58 pilot in Germany and an instructor
pilot at Fort Rucker. John logged 1,500 hours in the OH-58 and has a substantial
amount of Night Vision Goggle experience. He is undecided about which specialty
he would like to pursue but is leaning towards radiology.
2LT Will Hallier, USAF graduated from the United States Air Force Academy
in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in political science. He completed
Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams AFB in Arizona with the class
of 88-06 and then stayed on at Williams as a T-37 instructor pilot. He
was also stationed at Randolph AFB, Texas where he served as an instructor
trainer, spin pilot and standardization/evaluation flight examiner. He
has 2,100 hours and would like to serve as a pilot-physician. His medical
specialty interests include emergency medicine and general surgery.
Ensign Dave Lesser, USN graduated from Annapolis in 1985 with a Bachelor
of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He completed pilot training
at Corpus Christi in September of 1987 and served as a 'Greyhound' pilot
with VRC-50 "Foodogs" and VRC-40 "Rawhides." He was
placed in charge of the Fujairah, UAE Detachment and has over 2,000 hours
of flying time and over 100 carrier traps on twelve different carriers
to his credit. At one point, Dave had traps on every one of the Navy's
commissioned carriers including the Lexington. He is interested in the
U.S. Navy's dual designator program and emergency medicine.
2LT Pat Lowry, USAF graduated from Westminster College in Salt Lake City,
Utah in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science degree in physics. He graduated
from Undergraduate Pilot Training at Laughlin AFB, Texas with the class
of 87-06 and stayed on as a first assignment instructor pilot in T-38s
where he acquired almost 1,000 hours. He moved to E-3A's at Tinker AFB
in Oklahoma for over 1,000 hours and is a senior pilot with over 2,000
hours total flying time. He is interested in the pilot-physician program
as well as psychiatry and internal medicine.
Ensign Wendell Mew, USN graduated from Annapolis in 1984 with a Bachelor
of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He completed pilot training
in October of 1986 and flew the S-3A "Viking" for over 2,000
hours with VS-30 in Jacksonville, Florida and VX-1 at Patuxent River, Maryland.
He is interested in flight medicine.
2LT Bill Mueller, USAF graduated from the United States Air Force Academy
in 1987 with a Bachelor of Science degree in astronautical engineering
and completed Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams AFB in Arizona with
the class of 88-07. He flew RF-4C's at Zweibrucken AB in Germany and then
became a T-37 instructor pilot at Sheppard AFB in Texas. He has 1,100 hours
of flying experience and is interested in becoming a pilot-physician as
well as a family practitioner.
2LT John Steele, USAF graduated from The Citadel in 1986 with a Bachelor
of Science degree in electrical engineering. He attended Undergraduate
Pilot Training at Reese AFB in Texas and acquired 1,500 hours as a T-37
instructor pilot. He is interested in the pilot-physician program and orthopedics.
2LT Rich Wilkins, USA graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
(Fort Rucker) in 1992 with a Bachelor of Science degree in professional
aeronautics. A graduate of Undergraduate Helicopter Training Class 84-31
at Fort Rucker, Rich has flown the CH-47 "Chinook" for over 3,100
hours in Korea, at Fort Lewis and at Fort Rucker where he was an instructor
pilot. He is interested in everything at this point.
2LT Rawson Wood, USAF graduated from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
(Daytona Beach) in 1988 with a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical
engineering. He subsequently earned a Master of Applied Science degree
in aviation management from Embry-Riddle. He completed Undergraduate Pilot
Training at Williams AFB in Arizona with the class of 90-02 and stayed
at Williams as an instructor pilot until 1992 when he moved to Reese AFB
in Texas. Rawson has 1,200 hours of flying experience and is interested
in the pilot-physician program and family practice.
Now I'll put on my treasurer hat and provide the current financial status
of the IAMFSP. As of today, 30 April 1996, we have $494.67 in savings and
$1,766.58 in checking. This will decrease slightly with the cost of this
newsletter and the cost of the home page but we seem to be on solid ground
and the last newsletter brought a tremendous response in payment of past
dues.
This newsletter is being sent to the address which AsMA shows as your current
one. Non-AsMA members can only get their addresses updated if they personally
notify the secretary-treasurer. Technically you have to be an AsMA member
to belong to IAMFSP so make sure you keep your dues current and keep the
folks in Arlington advised as to your address. Please take the time to
fill out and return the attached membership information update page.
Congratulations to Major Bill Tarver, USAF who was promoted in May of 1995.
LtCol Bob Munson will be replacing LtCol Tom Travis in the crew technology
division of the Human Systems Center at Brooks AFB in San Antonio, Texas
in the summer of 96.
Colonel Warren S. Silberman has become the commander of the Bliss Army
Community Hospital as of 19 May 1995.
The following members have paid dues through 1996 or later:
MGen Michael Adams Dr. Joseph Antonio
LT Kris Belland Dr. John Chambers
Lt Col. Byron Hepburn Dr. David Jones
Maj. Phil Levalee Col. Gerald Muelberger
Maj. Robert Ryan Col. Warren Silberman
LtCol. Pete Mapes RADM Daniel Lestage
If your name is not on the above list, please remit $10.00 (U.S. dollars)
to IAMFSP. If you are more than one year out of date the fee is $10.00
per year. 96 dues are due at the May Scientific Program of the Aerospace
Medical Association. All IAMFSP members should keep their AsMA dues current
as well.