Air Force flig
ht surgeons have been teaching a four-week course to a total of seven Iraqi air force and army flight surgeons at New Al Muthana AB, Iraq, to give these medical personnel the training so that they can assume aerospace medical responsibilities for their respective services. Upon graduation, these Iraqis will be able to conduct physicals on student pilots, attend to current pilots, and also support aeromedical evacuation missions. “This will add to the strength of the Iraqi military,” said Col. William Dodson, a coalition air force training team surgeon serving with the Multi-National Security Transition Command-Iraq. For example, as part of the training, the Iraqis learned how to convert the UH-1 helicopter and C-130 transport to aeromedical configurations with litters. The current course does include some Iraqi instructors, but Dodson said the next course is expected to be taught entirely by Iraqi physicians. (New Al Muthana report by SSgt. Tim Beckham)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.