Publication:Chattanooga Times Free Press
Date:Friday, June 10, 2005
Section:Front Page; Page:1

DISPATCH Iraq

Docs on Call 'Round the Clock

By Edward Lee Pitts, Military Affairs

CAMP CALDWELL, Iraq -- Trained in trauma care, these 278th Regimental Combat Team soldiers are there for every mission that goes out the gate.

Their fellow troops hope they never have to call on one, but "medic" is usually the first word shouted by a soldier when trouble starts.

One platoon of 1st Squadron medics can claim to have gone on more missions than any other platoon in the squadron.

"When the regiment announced 1,000 combat patrols, our platoon had already done 500," said Sgt. 1st Class Jeff "Smoke" Dahlin, 56, of Reliance, Tenn., who is an Ocoee River guide in civilian life.

Now these 14 enlisted men and three officers have racked up more than 1,000 missions, with medics averaging nearly 80 trips each outside the camp.

The medics have to go against their instincts as soldiers in a firefight and give up the option to strike back while helping others survive, Sgt. 1st Class Dahlin said.

So far, the medics have rendered aid during roadside bombings, small-arms firefights, rocket-propelled grenade attacks and large-scale firefights such as the one in April south of Balad Ruz. Two Americans, two Iraqis and 17 insurgents died in that battle.

That day, Sgt. Shawn Dalton, 30, of Tellico Plains, Tenn., endured firing from as close as 30 meters away and patched battle wounds on both American and Iraqi soldiers.

Sgt. Dalton said his job as an emergency medical technician in Monroe County prepared him for the sight of graphic injuries, but he saw wounds more severe than any he had seen previously.

While doling out morphine and trying to talk to the wounded to calm them down, he used 15 magazines of bullets with his own weapon, Sgt. Dalton said. Seven medical evacuation helicopters landed at the firefight scene to take the wounded away, he said.

"There are going to be hundreds of memories stuck in my head," Sgt. Dalton said. "I think about it every day now."

For his help attending to the wounded for 28 uninterrupted hours, Sgt. Dalton has been recommended for the Silver Star, according to Lt. Andy Gienapp, 35, of Chattanooga, the medical platoon leader.

CARRYING A HEAVY LOAD

Sgt. Edward Washington, 32, of Cleveland, Tenn., said that while not all medics have been in such combat, each one has learned the power they began carrying once the Tennessee-based National Guard unit deployed here last November.

"In our bags now we have stuff for sustaining life," Sgt. Washington said. "We have trauma (equipment) in it. Back in the states we mainly had stuff for sick call in the bag."

Medics said there is an art to packing their bags using the right types and amounts of medicines they might need once they are in the desert miles from the nearest hospital. Medics said they pack and repack their bags to get the right combination based on the latest needs and on-the-ground experiences.

The medics must remain in shape in order to carry a packed bag, which typically might add 40 pounds to their load. Medics wear the same body armor and carry the same rifles as the other soldiers. Sgt. Dalton said he weighs an extra 86 pounds after strapping on his full medic regalia.

And when other soldiers go down, the already overburdened medics must be able to carry or drag their fallen comrades to safety, said Sgt. Adam Duggan, 25, of Etowah, Tenn.

But the medics scoff at any notion that the risks they take to do their jobs require above-normal strength.

Asked why he went through a minefield to help a soldier who eventually lost a foot from a roadside bomb explosion, Sgt. Michael Greene, 37, of Friendsville, Tenn., shrugs.

"I didn't know it was a minefield at the time," he said

Sgt. Greene is up for a bronze star with a "V" designation for valor, officials said.

With six more months in Iraq to go, the medic unit could come home as one of the most decorated squadrons of the deployment. But medics said they feel safe on the job. Sgt. Duggan said soldiers watch out for the medics, as they are a valuable commodity on any patrol. Soldiers do not hesitate to surround medics if Iraqi locals get too close, he said.

"It is a big responsibility having somebody's life on your hands," Sgt. Duggan said.

EARNING RESPECT

When trust develops, soldiers begin to call a medic "doc," considered the ultimate form of respect they can bestow on a medic who is not really a licensed physician, according to Sgt. Erin Bankes, 32, of Knoxville.

"If they gain enough confidence in you, they bring you into their family," said Sgt. Bankes, a medic. "It is their life. They will tell you, 'If something happens to me, doc, I want you by my side.'"

Sgt. Albert Howard, of Ocoee, Tenn., who at 59 is the elder statesman of medics here, said he learned a long time ago the important spot that a combat soldier holds in his or her heart for a medic.

"Next to God, a grunt's best friend is a medic," said Sgt. Howard, a Vietnam veteran.

Sgt. 1st Class Dahlin said the bond he observed 30 years ago between soldiers and medics is what made him want to become a medic during his second stint with the military.

"When I was in Vietnam the most respected soldier was the medic," he said. "They are willing to go into practically any situation to help a soldier when he's down. It takes a different kind of attitude."

Spc. Caleb Martin, 20, of Englewood, Tenn., the unit's youngest medic, said each medic receives 16 weeks of instruction beyond basic training. The medic learns the same pre-hospital life support measures as a civilian emergency technician, but Army medics get ramped-up lessons on combat injuries, Spc. Martin said.

Lt. Gienapp said that, in addition to going out on missions, medics must handle sick call on base, maintain their ambulances, keep up to date on their medical skills and pass on that knowledge to Iraqi army soldiers.

HELPING THE IRAQIS

Whenever patrols are out, the local Iraqis often cry "doctor, doctor" to the 278th troops in an effort to get treatment for themselves or their family members, medics said. Some medics said they have developed a rapport with locals who show up for on-the-spot treatment time after time.

"It took us all off guard the amount of contact and help that has been requested by the Iraqis," Lt. Gienapp said. "We've dealt more with the Iraqis than we have our own soldiers, thank God."

Language barriers with the Iraqis can impede treatment, while cultural differences often create more misunderstandings, medics said. Sgt. Duggan said other soldiers still tease him after an Iraqi man showed his gratitude for treatment by kissing him.

But viewing a broken world with unimaginable suffering and medical ailments often leaves medics helpless despite the pleas from the people, they said.

"Sometimes they want to just touch you because they think that might even help," Sgt. 1st Class Dahlin said.

The medics treat Iraqi illnesses and gunshot wounds, but often there is not much they can do for those who appear with birth defects or severe burns, they said. Sgt. Washington said the best medicine often is the attention they give. Sgt. William Cagle, 41, of Athens, Tenn., said he likes to let children listen to their own heartbeats using his stethoscope.

The job even requires the occasional treatment of four-legged allies. Medics here had to set a couple of broken legs and administer an intravenous solution after a dog in Balad Ruz who likes to go on foot patrols with 278th soldiers got hit by a car.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

On the Web - Photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika of the 278th Regimental Combat Team are available on the Times Free Press Web site. Visit http://www.timesfreepress.com/kp

U.S. Army Photo by Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika - Medics with the 278th Regimental Combat Team treat a wounded Iraqi at Camp Caldwell.

U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Albert Howard - A 278th Regimental Combat Team medic hands candy to an Iraqi boy.

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