The 506th Expeditionary Medical Squadron at Kirkuk AB, Iraq, recently added a computed tomography scanner to its arsenal of life-saving equipment. With it, medical personnel will be able to ascertain at the base what is occurring within a patient’s body without having to cut them open. This is not as easy with traditional X-ray machines. “Sometimes we’ll have a patient who is pretty stable, and we’re not exactly sure they are bleeding,” said Maj. Loyal Stierlen, a general surgeon with the unit, who is deployed from Tinker AFB, Okla. “With the CT scanner, we’ll be better able to observe if they’re bleeding internally so we can perform the appropriate operations in a timely manner.” In the past, such patients had to be transferred off-base for diagnosis. The machine cost about $700,000. (Kirkuk report by SrA. Eric Schloeffel)
Due to the prolonged delay in deliveries of the Tech Refresh 3 version of the F-35 fighter, Denmark is pulling six of its TR-2-configured F-35 jets stationed in the U.S. back to home base in order to consolidate aircraft and get better training for its pilots and maintainers, the Danish…