Message to Warfighters Historical Perspective on Combat Medicine

Abstract

Combat medial support ranks right up there with apple pie and motherhood as one of those inherently good things. But the commander, be it at the tactical, operational or strategic level, must pay for that care with spaces on an aircraft, in rear area protection or in dollars that could otherwise be spent on major weapons systems. The historical perspective provides examples where, over and above the inherent goodness, medical support has made it possible to prosecute a specific campaign, sustain a prolonged war, claim operational success. History also provides the corollary, where inattention to medical support has led to operational failure. If it is true that we will fight as we train, then medical support is an asset that the line commander must think about up-front if he is to be successful in combat.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 17, 1988
Accession Number
ADA195025

Entities

People

  • James B. Peake

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil War
  • Classification
  • Health Services
  • Hospitals
  • Management Personnel
  • Medical Personnel
  • Military Hospitals
  • Military Medicine
  • Physicians
  • Second World War
  • Security
  • War
  • War Colleges
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Defense Acquisition Program Management
  • Educational Psychology
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies

Technology Areas

  • Space