[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 97 (Monday, July 12, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Page S8294]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE AIR FORCE MEDICAL SERVICE

 Mr. INOUYE. Mr. President, this month marks the 50th 
anniversary of the Air Force Medical Service. On July 1, 1949, the Air 
Force Medical Service was created, beginning a strong and rich 
tradition of providing health care to military personnel and their 
families.
  Since the Korean War, the Air Force Medical Service has provided 
aerospace medicine support to our aviators. From ensuring pilots are 
physically fit to stand the rigors of flight to bringing physiological 
expertise to the design of fighter jet aircraft, aerospace medical 
personnel have maximized the performance and safety of our pilots.
  Aeromedical evacuation of casualties proved valuable during World War 
II, and became the preferred mode of casualty evacuation during the 
Korean War. The Air Force Medical Service is responsible for fixed wing 
aircraft evacuation and manages a world-wide system for peacetime and 
wartime aeromedical evacuation.
  Today, the Air Force Medical Service operates 37 medical center and 
hospitals and 41 clinics around the world, providing health care to a 
wide range of beneficiaries. When the Air Force Medical Services was 
created, only 4 percent of military troops had dependents. However, 
seventy percent of military personnel serving today have families. 
These dynamic changes have broadened the needs and expectations for 
medical services. In recent years, constrained resources and the 
initiation of TRICARE have added to the challenges. The Air Force 
Medical Service has always found innovative ways to ensure the mission 
was accomplished.
  I congratulate the 52,000 men and women of the Air Force Medical 
Service on this milestone. I am confident that the proud traditions of 
the Air Force Medical Service will continue as its men and women 
provide the best combat medical support, aeromedical evaluation of the 
sick and injured, and health care to Air Force communities.

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