Michael's Dispatches

It's difficult to understand, the Surgeon General,far removed from real danger, thinks it's acceptable for Medevac helicopters to be targets, or perhaps he doesn't, he passes the buck, leaving himself openings to go either way. Add assistant chief of vacillation to his title.

I enjoyed the comments by the Army's Surgeon General on the Geneva Convention and how it applies to Air Ambulances.
He is stating that using a helicopter as an ambulance automatically makes it subject to the Geneva Convention. Nothing could be further from the truth. By not marking Air Ambulances with the Red Cross symbol you allow flexibility of use of that aircraft. The commander can choose to arm or not arm the ambulance as you would have no restrictions. This is entirely a turf war by the office of the Surgeon General. Note in the last paragraph where he states that he “retains visibility over these units”. He’s telling everyone that “HE” is in charge and that “HE” is making the call. Not the commander on the ground.
This is where the fight is and this needs to be pointed out and the Army needs to stop painting Red Crosses on any air ambulances and arm all of them. That way an air ambulance can land into a hot zone and extract the wounded Soldier without having to have additional supporting aircraft.

GEN Thurman is a former aviator. It would be interesting to see what his reply was to this memo, assuming it is in writing.

Note that Schoomaker's letter leaves the division commander and XVIII Airborne Corps commander off his distribution. That's pretty cowardly. Why these generals get away with bringing up the canard of the Geneva Convention eludes me. You cannot have only one side in a war subscribing to the Geneva Convention! It is like one hand clapping. I suppose that General Schoomaker is also in favor of unilateral disarmament. I assume that the current Army Surgeon General is just as venal and stupid.

Did anyone see a reference to wounded soldiers in the letter or saving lives in general?

Although I wish harm on nobody, it would be a real test of the General's resolve if his son/ daughter/ or loved ones found themselves in desperate need of emergency attention in the wilds of Afghanistan. I wonder whether he would adhere to the pablum he currently adheres to or whether or not he would wait for backup or whether he'd do everything possible to save precious life? While I don't know, something tells me he'd wouldn't even think of Geneva Convention "restraints".