Page 123 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Spring 2016

Figure 4 The MFST and ECCT with the French Role I and The eight-person team of conventional USAF providers
II teams in N’Djamena, Chad. supports operations and decreases risks from medical
threats to SOF in their mission to advise and assist Afri-
can partner nations in their fight against terrorism.

The USAF surgical and critical care teams have been
able to reduce the CASEVAC time for US and partner
nation casualties when forward deployed from 12 hours
to less than 4 hours, and they provide DCS and DCR in
an area of operations larger than the size of the conti-
nental United States (Figure 6).
Figure 6 A map of the continent of Africa demonstrating the
large AOR and the “tyranny of distance.”

two casualties in N’Djamena in August 2015 after a sim-
ilar incident during operations to counter Boko Haram.

As of October 2015, the eight conventional medical
providers making up the MFST and TCCET have con-
tinued to support US Special Operations in sub-Saharan
Africa with a mobile, adaptive surgical team and an en-
hanced critical care transport platform (Figure 5).

Figure 5 A member of the MFST assisting Nigerien children
during an operation with US Special Operations and a US
civil-military support element.

The long distance for CASEVAC, unique air transport
platforms, and remote location of operations in the per-
missive environment of sub-Saharan Africa create chal-
lenges to the effectiveness of conventional medical teams
such as the MFST, ECCT, and TCCET. To obtain and
maintain effectiveness, the MFST, ECCT, and TCCET
require a unique set of skills gained from tailored prede-
ployment training, equipping, sustainment, and currency
platforms. Based on real-time and after-action reports
from the teams, predeployment training, manning, and
equipping of the teams evolved to provide effective direct
and area support for US and partner forces. By applying
limited CASEVAC assets and regional medical support
tailored to fluid mission requirements, the MFST, ECCT,
and TCCET, throughout their deployment in SOCFWD-
NWA, developed unique and evolving capabilities,
Conclusion
demonstrating that conventional medical forces can be
It is an axiom of SOF that most special operations require deployed and are essential to support SOF missions.
non-SOF assistance. The continuous deployment of con-
ventional medical officers on MFST, ECCT, and TCCET Disclosures
teams to the sub-Saharan region of Africa since No-
vember 2014 in support of SOF exemplifies this axiom. The authors have nothing to disclose.

USAF Medical Providers Supporting SOCAFRICA 107