LESSON 3
FIELD FORCES/FIXED INSTALLATION
Section I. MEDICAL THREAT TO FIELD FORCES
3-1.
GENERAL
Army preventive medicine may be thought of as functioning in two major areas or
situations--in combat (field) operations or in fixed installations. Although some
preventive medicine functions overlap in these two areas, there are differences in
emphasis because of the variations in organizational structure and logistic support in
field operations as opposed to fixed installation (garrison) activities. This section will
focus upon the preventive medicine problems and activities which are of primary
concern to units operating under field conditions.
3-2.
UNIT-LEVEL PREVENTIVE MEDICINE
a. Responsibilities. The commander of any military unit is responsible for the
health of his command. It is obvious, however, that the maintenance of health in a
command is not a one-man job. It requires the wholehearted support of every officer,
noncommissioned officer, and enlisted man in the unit. An Army unit--company,
battery, or troop--does not normally have any assigned medical personnel; therefore,
the tasks of unit-level preventive medicine fall directly upon the shoulders of unit
personnel. When a military unit operates under field conditions, it must also assume
responsibility for some of the tasks performed by engineer repair and utility personnel in
garrison, such as water purification, waste disposal, and spraying against insects and
other arthropods.
b. Field Sanitation Team.
(1) The primary source of assistance to the unit commander in
implementing a program of preventive medicine is the field sanitation team. AR 40-5
requires that each company, battery, or similar unit commander appoint a field
sanitation team, consisting of at least two men, one of whom must be a
noncommissioned officer. Members must have a minimum of six months of remaining
duty with the unit at the time of appointment. Since the duty is a non-TOE function in
addition to regular duties and since the field sanitation team functions primarily under
field conditions, the selection of team members should be made from personnel whose
normal field duties will allow them to devote sufficient time to field sanitation activities.
Personnel MOS that requires full-time operation under field conditions (such as cooks,
clerks, and mechanics) should not be appointed members of the field sanitation team.
Team members undergo a 16-hour course of training, conducted by members of
preventive medicine units (para 1-20), in the importance of basic sanitation in reducing
the incidence of preventable disease, to include the following:
MD0008
3-2