US Army Training Center - Yearbook (Fort Bragg, NC)

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'WWUQ N., 'W Top left: Siclc Call at the Post Dispensary. Captain Long Seated at Table ..,. Top right: Dental Technicians At Work .... Center lett: Surgi cal Operation, Regional Hospital .... Center right: X-Raying Sinuses at Regional Hospital .... Bottom left: Guinea Pigs Used by Respira tory Disease Commission .... Bottom right: Respiratory Disease Laboratory Workers.

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Admrttrng Office Right, left to right: Col. J. N. WillIams, C. O. Regional Hospital Col. J. R. Underwood, Post Veterinariang Brig. Gen. H. C. Coburn Post Surgeon: Col. E. W. Cowan, Post Dental Surgeon. Second row Col. R. C. Tatum, Assistant Post Surgeon: Lt. Col. F. H. Herpe! Personnel Center Surgeon: Lt. Col. J. W. Nance, Executive Officer. Third row: Maj. R. L. Siegel, FARTC Surgeon: Maj. G. R. Carpenter, Medical Inspector: Capt. T. W. Long, Post Dispensary. PUST SUHGEIJ THE MEDICAL DEPARTMENT Among the basic requirements for a successful army are Officers and men in prime physical condition. The rigors of modern warfare make it imperative that the soldiers on the battlefields and the troops performing the many vital tasks behind the lines maintain the highest standards of physical robustness and health. Keeping our Army healthy, preventing and eradicating disease, treating the sick and wounded, and training skilled personnel are the special mission and responsibility of the Army's Medical Department. ' Under the direction of the Post Surgeon, Brigadier General Henry C. Coburn Jr., the Medical Department on this reservation has been expanded greatly to answer the vastly increased demands made upon its services since our country entered the war. The enlargement of the medical services here was not a haphazard improvisation, some- thing hastily thrown together. Built on the firm foundation of a Medical Department in continuous operation for more than two decades, the medical services of today have kept pace with the rapid wartime growth of the Post. The Medical Department at Fort Bragg was established at the same time this station was activated as Camp Bragg in September, 1918. The first Post Surgeon was Major Douglas W. McEnery, and the earliest medical facilities consisted of a 500 bed Base Hospital, the major portion of which was never required or utilized for patients. Few changes occurred in the hospital setup of the Post until October, 1932, when a new 100-bed brick structure was erected. In time this building became the present Regional Hospital, Section 1. A year later, the Post Surgeon assumed responsibility for the medical care of the Civilian Conservation Corps units stationed in North Carolina. Early in 1939 Colonel Coburn succeeded Colonel Phillip Huntington as Post Surgeon, the position he now holds. Colonel Coburn has since been elevated,to the rank of Brigadier General. He is assisted in the performance of his duties by Colonel Roy C. Tatum, who has also been stationed at Fort Bragg since 1939. Shortly after Colonel Coburn became Post Surgeon, the expansion program at Fort Bragg got under way. Progress at first was gradual, but, following the countryfs entry into the War emergency, the building program was rapidly accelerated. By December, 1941, hospital facilities on the Post had already been extended to care for a military population of over 75,000. Two cantonment-type hospitals were completed and occupied in 1941. These became Sections 2 and 3 of the Station Hospital, with beds for over 3,000 patients. They were placed under the command of Colonel George D. Chunn and Colonel John H. Sturgeon, respectively. Later in 19411 the two sections were combined under the com- mand of Colonel Chunn, who operated the hospital until mid-1944, when he was transferred to Cushing General Hospital and Colonel James N. Williams was made Com- manding Oflicer of the hospital. As greater facilities were made available, additional personnel-doctors, dentists. nurses, trained enlisted men, and others-were added to the Post Surgeon's staff. Plans were ready at all times to broaden the scope of the department's activities as the population of the Post increased. During one period bf the Army's wartime growth, the Station Hospital was able, by absorption of other facilities, to accommodate 9,000 patients.

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Q -I V, 3 ff? MEDICAL OFFICERS OF FORT BRAGG The Medical Departmentls record of achievement since the outbreak of the war is impressively reflected by a few salient statistics. At the hospital more than 145,000 in- dividual patients have been treated for all types of ail- ments, and 5.514 major surgical operations have been performed. The registrar of the Regional Hospital has prepared and has on Hle a clinical record of every patient admitted. These records are of the greatest importance in the proper evaluation of applications for pensions on the part of discharged military personnel, as well as a source of protection to the Government against improper claims. The X-ray Department has made over 247,000 films, while the Laboratory has completed more than 1,140,000 tests of various kinds. Six and a half million separate patient meals have been served by the messes. Since December, l941, the Dental Staff has inserted considerably more than 830,000 Fillings, extracted over 199.000 teeth, made 23,2241 dentures, and replaced more than 187,000 teeth, for a total of' approximately 604,000 patients. Seven dental clinics are now i11 full time operation in various parts of the Post. Soldiers at Fort Bragg receive the best of dental care Food consumed by military personnel has been subject to rigid inspection by the Veterinary Department. More than 12,000,000 pounds of meat have been inspected. ln- struction demonstrations in Held sanitation have been given to over 56,000 officers and men by the Sanitation Branch. The guiding aim of the Medical Department has always been that of service to the Army as a whole. A striking example of the furthering of this aim is the material con- tribution made towards the success of the vast training program that has been in progress at Fort Bragg since the outbreak of the war. Training units were relieved of the responsibility of caring for the hospitalization and major medical needs of the scores of thousands of trainees who have been prepared for military duties at this Post. The Medical Department has also furnished these units with the necessary medical supplies, and with dental, veterinary, and inspection services. Ever since the local Field Artillery Replacement Train- ing Center, was established at Fort Bragg, in 1941, the Post Surgeon has had general supervision of the medical activities of the Center through the medical officers assigned to it from his staff. Every training regiment has its own dispensary and its own complement of Medical Department officers and enlisted men furnished from the Post medical personnel. With the passage of the National Selective Service Act, Fort Bragg became one of the major Induction Cent-ers of the nation. It was here that most of the draftees of North Carolina and many from South Carolina were inducted into the Army. The doctors and dentists needed to examine this large number of prospective soldiers were furnished from the staff of the Medical Department at this station. The Post Surgeon, as a staff officer of the Commanding General, supervises the work of the Armed Forces Induc- tion Station medical examiners. ln addition to its usual medical activities, the Medical Department has conducted an extensive training program of its own, giving instruction to military personnel for duty overseas. Operating through a Provisional Hospital Train- ing Center, there have been trained at Fort Bragg, seven numbered general hospitals, twelve numbered station hos- pitals, six field hospitals, one portable surgical hospital, one medical supply company, and one sanitary company. This work represents the training of over 800 officers, 1,100 nurses, and 3,000 enlisted men.