■ U.S. WAR DEPT. FIELD LADUAL• 
' MEDICAL SERVICE OF TEE CORPS AND ARMX. 
FM $-15. FM 8-15 
WAR DEPARTMENT 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
medical service of the 
CORPS AND ARMY 
February 25,1941 FM 8-15 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
MEDICAL SERVICE OF THE 
CORPS AND ARMY 
Prepared under direction of 
The Surgeon General 
UNITED STATES 
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 
WASHINGTON : 1941 
For sale by the Superintendents of Documents, Washington, D. C. - Price 10 cents WAR DEPARTMENT, 
Washington, February 25, 1941. 
FM 8-15, Medical Service of the Corps and Army, is pub- 
lished for the information and guidance of all concerned: 
[A. G. 062.11 (11-8-40).] 
By order of the Secretary of War: 
G. C. MARSHALL, 
Chief of Staff. 
Official : 
E. S. ADAMS, 
Major General, 
■The Adjutant General. 
Distribution: 
B8(2); R8(10); IBn 8(5). 
II Paragraphs Pages 
Chapter 1. Characteristics common both to Corps 
and Army 1-4 1 
Chapter 2. Medical Service of the Corps 5-21 8 
Chapter 3. Medical Service of the Army. 
Section I. General considerations 22-26 23 
II. The army surgeon 27-34 28 
III. Army medical units 35-47 33 
IV. Medical operations 48-55 51 
V. Influence of tactical operations 
upon medical service 56-62 64 
VI. Supply 63-66 69 
Appendix I. Form for the check list of evacuees 71 
II. Form for an evacuation log 72 
Index 73 
TABLE OP CONTENTS 
III FM 8-15 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
MEDICAL SERVICE OF THE CORPS AND ARMY 
CHAPTER 1 
CHARACTERISTICS COMMON BOTH TO CORPS AND 
ARMY 
■ 1. Purpose and Scope.—This manual deals with the medi- 
cal service provided in the corps and the army. While the 
medical services of the corps and of the army differ in scope 
and in details of organization, the two have some features 
in common. To avoid repetition, this chapter is devoted to 
the broad general aspects of the medical service common to 
both echelons. The special aspects of each will be discussed 
in succeeding chapters. 
■2. Echelons of medical service.—The echelons of medical 
service do not correspond with the echelons of command and 
are not to be confused therewith. A single echelon of com- 
mand, as for example the army, may include as many as three 
echelons of medical service. The several echelons of medical 
service are— 
a. First echelon medical service is that provided by attached 
medical personnel to every unit of every arm and service 
(except medical) of the size of a battalion or larger, whether 
such unit be an element of a division, corps troops, army 
troops, or GHQ Reserve; or whether it be a separate command 
not a part of a larger tactical or administrative unit. Thus, 
first echelon medical service is to be found in every echelon of 
command. 
b. Second echelon medical service comprises the collection 
of casualties from the dispensaries and aid stations of the 
first echelon and their concentration in one or more clearing 
stations operated by the second echelon. It is a function of 
division, corps, and army medical service. 
1 2-3 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
c. Third echelon medical service comprises the evacuation 
of the clearing stations of the second echelon, with the trans- 
fer of the evacuees to, and their hospitalization in, surgical 
or evacuation hospitals operated by the third echelon. Third 
echelon medical service is not a normal function either of 
division or of corps medical service, but is usually reserved to 
army medical service. 
d. Fourth echelon medical service includes the evacuation 
of the evacuation hospitals of the third echelon with the trans- 
fer of the evacuees to, and their hospitalization in, general 
hospitals. It is a function of the medical service of the 
theater of operations. 
e. If there is further evacuation of casualties to the zone of 
the interior, such service constitutes a fifth echelon of medical 
service, and is a function of GHQ. See FM 100-10. 
■ 3. Evacuation policies.—a. Definition.—The decision ha- 
bitually to retain for definitive treatment within a command 
any class or group of casualties is the evacuation policy of that 
command. 
b. Bases upon which evacuation policies are established.— 
(1) Duration of treatment.—(a) Expected duration of treat- 
ment is the only practicable basis upon which the evacuation 
policy of a corps or army can ordinarily be established. Such 
a policy provides that all such cases that may reasonably be 
expected to be fit for full duty within a specified time shall be 
retained for definitive treatment, and all other cases evacuated 
from the command. 
(b) Obviously such classification cannot be made with ex- 
actitude, and some patients retained initially will require re- 
classification and evacuation later. Even so, the sorting of 
casualties on this basis will materially lower evacuation 
requirements. 
(2) Other bases are used in higher echelons, but are rarely 
practicable in the corps and army. In the AEF, for example, 
the basis was the expected result rather than duration of 
treatment. Only such cases were evacuated to the zone of the 
interior as were expected to be unfit for further military 
service. 
2 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
3 
(3) Another basis Is the class of disease or injury. A policy 
based upon this provides that only certain types of disease, 
such as communicable, shall be retained or evacuated; or that 
only certain types of injuries, such as fractures, head injuries, 
Injuries from chemical agents, etc., shall be retained or 
evacuated. 
c. Nontransportables.—Regardless of any established 
evacuation policy, there is usually a small proportion of 
patients who cannot be transported without grave added 
danger to life or limb. These patients are termed non- 
transportables—although, obviously, the term is relative. In 
the absence of a specific directive from the commander, the 
disposition of nontransportables is a medical decision. 
d. Decision.—The establishment of an evacuation policy is 
a command decision which may, at any time, be modified or 
abolished by the commander. It is the responsibility and 
duty of the surgeon to advise the commander in this matter. 
e. Factors to be considered in establishing an evacuation 
policy.—(l) Mobility of medical service.—The medical service 
of a command must, whenever possible, as a whole be kept 
as mobile as the command. Medical installations of mobile 
commands should never be permitted to become immobilized 
through the accumulation of unevacuated patients. 
(2) Mobility of the command.—Mobility is a relative, not 
an absolute, quality. The mobility required of the medical 
service depends upon the mobility of the command; and a 
corps, as a whole, moves less rapidly than one of its divisions; 
and the army, as a whole, moves less rapidly than any of its 
subordinate elements. Corps and army medical installations, 
therefore, need not be as mobile as those of divisions, al- 
though the corps medical service should be more mobile than 
that of the army. 
(3) Anticipation of movement.—Because of size and com- 
plexity, corps and armies must anticipate movement for 
longer times than must divisions. Several hours ordinarily 
are required in the case of corps, and the time may run into 
days in the case of an army. This allows the medical service 
time to evacuate retained cases in the higher echelons. 
(4) Transportability of short duration cases.—The physical 
condition of short duration cases, excluding those the out- 
3 3 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
come of which is fatal, is ordinarily such that they can be 
moved readily and rapidly whenever complete evacuation of 
a medical installation is necessary. 
(5) Reduction of turnover in organizations.—Until he has 
become familiar with his new organization, and his new 
commander has come to know his capabilities and limitations, 
a replacement rarely is as effective as the veteran whose place 
he takes. This is especially true in corps and army troops in 
which the proportion of technical specialists is high. 
Efficiency will be promoted by any practicable means by 
which the turnover of personnel can be reduced. 
(6) Reduction in replacement administration.—For every 
casualty evacuated, two men must be moved—the casualty 
to the rear and his replacement to the front. Obviously, 
then, for every casualty that can be returned to his organiza- 
tion within a reasonable time, the movement of two indi- 
viduals is made unnecessary. 
(7) Reduction in evacuation requirements.—Every effort 
must be made to avoid loading the chain of evacuation beyond 
its peak efficiency through evacuation of patients whose 
conditions justify returning to duty at an early date. For 
reduction in evacuation requirements, see (8) below. 
(8) World War experience in short duration cases.—The 
sources of error in the following data lie largely on the side 
of conservatism since frequently cases recovered en route or 
in intermediate installations where administrative difficulties 
precluded their immediate return to duty. For this reason 
many cases were retained on sick report longer than they 
would have been had they been treated within their own 
commands. In support of this contention it is submitted 
that the average duration of treatment of all cases of sickness 
and nonbattle injuries in the World War was—in the United 
States, where local treatment was the rule, 20 days; in the 
AEF, where a considerable proportion was evacuated, 27 days. 
4 medical service of corps and army 
4 
Duration of treatment in the AEF 
Percentage of patients 
Returned 
to duty 
in— 
Sick and 
nonbattle 
injuries 
Gunshot 
wounds 
Gas 
casualties 
5. 35 
0.10 
1.97 
1 day 
10.25 
.33 
3. 95 
2 days 
14. 75 
.66 
5. 94 
3 days 
18.91 
1.09 
7. 94 
4 days 
22.74 
1.60 
9.94 
5 days 
26.28 
2.20 
11. 94 
6 days 
29. 56 
2. 86 
13.92 
7 days 
32.60 
3.59 
15.89 
8 days 
35. 42 
4. 37 
17.84 
9 days 
38. 05 
5.20 
19. 77 
10 days 
■4. Preventive medicine.—a. Definition.—Preventive medi- 
cine includes all measures directed toward the prevention of 
disease and injury. The term sanitation is synonymous but 
common usage has largely restricted it to the control of 
environment as distinguished from personal hygiene and con- 
trol of the individual. 
b. General considerations.—(l) The conservation of mo- 
bilized manpower is one of the basic missions of the medical 
service. This is accomplished by the prevention of disease 
and injury, and by the repair of such disability as arises out 
of failure of prevention. 
(2) Physical condition is a critical factor in the combat 
efficiency of troops. Military history offers numerous ex- 
amples of battles that were lost and campaigns that failed 
solely because of sickness among the soldiery. The physical 
strain in modern warfare has increased the importance of 
physical condition. Situations will arise in every war in 
which the health of troops must be subordinated for the time 
290165°—41 2 
5 4 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
to military necessity; but consistent disregard of the health 
of troops will, as it always has in the past, lead to disaster. 
c. Responsibility.—(l) Commanding officers.—Command- 
ing officers of all grades are responsible for sanitation and 
for the enforcement of the provisions of sanitary regulations 
and orders within their organizations and the boundaries of 
areas occupied by them. Generous use should be made of 
the technical knowledge and advice of Medical Department 
officers but commanding officers retain full responsibility for 
the initiation and enforcement of suitable measures for the 
correction of sanitary defects. 
(2) Medical Department.—The Medical Department is re- 
sponsible for investigating, reporting on, and making recom- 
mendations relative to all matters affecting the health of the 
Army, including the location of camps and stations, the source 
and methods of purification of the water supply, the methods 
and efficiency of waste disposal, the food supply and the 
sanitation of messes, the suitability of clothing and housing 
of troops, efficiency of training in personal hygiene and sani- 
tation, the elimination of insects, and all other measures for 
the prevention or control of disease. 
d. Scope.—Every contact and every activity of the soldier, 
which may affect his physical fitness, is a proper concern of 
the surgeon. In this connection it must be remembered that 
injury is just as disabling as, and often more easily prevented 
than, disease. 
e. Prevention of disease.—See PM 8-40. 
/. Prevention of injury.—(1) Nonbattle injuries.—Careless- 
ness in the handling of animals and materiel is productive of 
a high injury rate. The surgeon should examine the admis- 
sions to sick report, by cause by organization, to determine 
the sources of avoidable injuries; study, in collaboration with 
organization commanders, the causes of injuries; and advise 
his commander regarding measures to reduce accidents. 
(2) Battle injuries.—Battle injuries can be reduced without 
interfering with the primary missions of troops. One notable 
example of this type of prevention is the steel helmet. The 
high proportion of head injuries in the World War, due to 
6 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
4 
the combined effects of fragmenting missiles and trench war- 
fare, led the medical services of all armies to suggest that 
measures be taken to protect the head. The gas mask is 
another example. It is a responsibility of medical service 
to study this problem. 
g. Inspections.—lt is a staff responsibility of the surgeon to 
insure, by inspections and reports, that the directives of the 
commander in the field of preventive medicine are being 
enforced in all subordinate echelons. 
7 MEDICAL SERVICE OP THE CORPS 
CHAPTER 2 
■ 5. Definition.—The term corps is used to designate two 
entirely different types of military organization—administra- 
tive and tactical. When used in connection with administra- 
tive organization, it refers to a group of personnel with com- 
mon characteristics, training, and missions; such as the 
Coast Artillery Corps, the Air Corps, and the Medical Corps. 
When used in connection with tactical organization, however, 
it refers to the highest subordinate echelon of command in an 
army and is commonly designated as an army corps. Unless 
specified in each instance, the latter definition obtains 
throughout this manual. 
■ 6. General characteristics of the corps.—a. General func- 
tions.—The corps is primarily a tactical unit of execution and 
maneuver. It is an agency for the coordination of the tactical 
operations of such divisions as may be assigned to it, directing 
their actions and supporting them with additional means at 
its disposal. 
b. Organization and special functions.—(1) The permanent 
organization of a corps consists of a headquarters and of 
certain corps troops. Divisions are not permanent components 
of a corps. 
(2) Corps headquarters.—The command posts of the chief 
of artillery and engineer are usually established at or near 
the forward echelon of corps headquarters. 
(3) Corps troops.—Permanently assigned to the corps are 
units of— 
(a) Cavalry.—One regiment of horse and mechanized 
cavalry for reconnaissance, security, and such other cavalry 
missions as may be required. 
(b) Field Artillery.—To undertake Are missions associated 
with the action of the corps as a whole; to engage in counter- 
battery and interdiction fires, so as to permit the bulk of the 
division artillery to devote its efforts to direct support of the 
infantry; and to reinforce the fires of the division artillery. 
8 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
6 
The corps artillery includes a field artillery brigade composed 
of a headquarters, a headquarters battery, two regiments of 
155-mm howitzers, one regiment of 155-mm guns, and an ob- 
servation battalion. 
(c) Coast Artillery Corps (antiaircraft).—To provide anti- 
aircraft protection to the divisions and to corps troops and 
installations. The corps antiaircraft artillery consists of one 
antiaircraft regiment and one separate battalion of 37-mm 
antiaircraft guns. 
id) Corps of Engineers.—Two regiments of combat engi- 
neers and one topographic company to perform engineer tasks 
in the corps area in rear of division boundaries; to undertake 
in division areas special tasks beyond the capabilities of divi- 
sion engineers; to reinforce division engineers; and for 
mapping. 
(e) Air Corps.—An observation group of three squadrons for 
reconnaissance and other observation missions for the corps 
or its divisions. 
(/) Signal Corps.—A signal battalion to construct, maintain, 
and operate the signal communications of the corps. 
(g) Military police.—One military police company to con- 
trol the corps area in rear of division boundaries, and to re- 
lieve the divisions of their prisoners of war. 
(h) Ordnance Department.—For the supply and main- 
tenance of the ordnance materiel of corps troops, and for the 
maintenance of division ordnance. Ordnance troops include 
a headquarters detachment and three medium maintenance 
companies. 
(i) Quartermaster Corps.—A service company, a gasoline 
supply company, a light maintenance company, and two truck 
companies for the supply of corps troops; for the maintenance 
of corps and division motor transport; and to supplement divi- 
sion motor transport when necessary. 
(j) Medical Department.—A medical battalion for the sec- 
ond echelon medical service of corps troops. The battalion 
comprises a battalion headquarters detachment, three collect- 
ing companies, and one clearing company. 
(4) Divisions.—(a) Divisions are assigned to and relieved 
from a corps by the army commander. The number of divi- 
sions assigned to a corps varies with the situation and the 
9 6-7 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
mission. The number may be changed during the course of 
any operation, divisions being added or taken away as the 
situation indicates. 
(b) The type army corps is one of three divisions. Because 
the type corps is used generally in instruction, it must not be 
inferred that the corps is a fixed unit of this size. The prin- 
cipal characteristic of the organization of a corps is its flexi- 
bility with respect to the number of divisions that it controls. 
■ 7. Administrative responsibility of the corps.—a. Gen- 
eral.—The corps, when part of an army, is not a link in the 
chain of supply, evacuation, and replacements for its di- 
visions, except in the supervision of requisitions for and 
allocations of ammunition and personnel. See FM 100-10. 
Its trains normally carry no reserve supplies for its divisions. 
Its administrative functions are limited to those incident to 
the requirements of corps troops. When a corps is detached 
from the army for both operations and administration, it 
becomes in effect a small army with all the administrative 
functions normally performed by the army. In such a situa- 
tion it requires a considerable reinforcement in service units. 
See chapter 3. 
b. Personnel.—The strength returns of divisions pass 
through corps headquarters, since strength is an important 
limiting factor in tactical operations. Replacements are 
ordinarily allocated to the corps and the corps indicates the 
distribution desired among corps troops and the divisions. 
Except those for corps troops, however, such replacements are 
not reported in person to the corps, but are reported directly 
to the divisions in the numbers, grades, and branches indi- 
cated by the corps commander. 
c. Supply.—Supplies that are intimately associated with 
tactical operations, such as ammunition and engineer mate- 
rials, are usually allocated to the corps. The corps indicates 
their distribution on the basis of the situation and the mis- 
sions of the several subordinate elements; and, except those 
destined for corps troops, such supplies are distributed 
directly to divisions which send their own organic transporta- 
tion direct to supply points or depots to obtain the desired 
items. 
10 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
7-9 
d. Evacuation.—Unless otherwise arranged by higher 
authority, or assumed by the corps commander in the interest 
of tactical success, the responsibility of the corps for medical 
service is limited to that in connection with corps troops. 
This includes first echelon service in the units of corps troops, 
and second echelon service by the corps medical unit. 
■ 8. General organization of the medical service of the 
corps.—The medical service of the corps is organized into 
two echelons, namely— 
a. The attached medical personnel comprising the medical 
detachments of the units of corps troops. 
b. The corps medical service which, in turn, is composed 
of— 
(1) The headquarters corps medical service, which includes 
the corps surgeon and his commissioned and enlisted assist- 
ants through which he exercises his staff and command 
functions. See paragraph 9b. 
(2) The corps medical battalion, which is an element of 
corps troops. 
■ 9. Corps surgeon.—a. Selection.—See FM 8-55. The corps 
surgeon is the senior officer of the Medical Corps assigned to 
the corps medical unit. 
b. Staff responsibilities peculiar to the corps.—For the staff 
responsibilities common to surgeons of all larger units, see 
FM 8-55. In addition, the corps surgeon must— 
(1) Keep the corps commander advised of the medical 
situation in all divisions of the corps insofar as it exerts any 
influence upon tactical operations. The corps commander 
ordinarily has no responsibility in connection with the ad- 
ministrative functions of his divisions, which includes medi- 
cal service. However, when administrative matters impose 
limitations upon tactical plans, they come within the proper 
scope of interest of the corps commander. The corps sur- 
geon must, therefore, keep himself informed and the corps 
commander advised of the needs of division medical services 
to meet problems imposed upon them by corps plans. 
(2) Be prepared to elaborate the details involved in the 
discharge of any responsibility for division medical service 
11 9-11 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
which may be placed upon the corps commander. When the 
corps is operating independently, this includes all the func- 
tions of the army surgeon (see chapter 3). In other situa- 
tions, certain responsibilities of army service may be decen- 
tralized to corps. 
(3) Be prepared to arrange and reinforce division medical 
services from the corps medical service at such times as rein- 
forcements cannot be had from the army medical service. 
Such action will be of the nature of meeting an emergency 
since the bulk of the corps medical battalion, in the usual 
situation, will be occupied with the medical service of corps 
troops. 
c. Command responsibilities.—The corps surgeon com- 
mands—not directly as in the case of the division surgeon, 
but through unit commanders in a subordinate echelon of 
command— 
(1) The corps medical battalion, 
(2) All other medical units which may be assigned or 
attached to the corps and which are not, in turn, assigned 
or attached to a subordinate element of the corps. 
d. The corps surgeon is accounted for on the returns of 
corps headquarters. 
■ 10. Relations of the corps surgeon to division sur- 
geons.—a. The relations of the corps surgeon to division sur- 
geons depend upon the administrative organization pre- 
scribed in the army. Operating as part of an army, the 
corps has no responsibility for division medical service. 
b. However, when the army decentralizes any of its re- 
sponsibility for evacuation to the corps, or when, because 
of its bearing upon tactical operations, the corps commander 
assumes any control of division medical service, as a staff 
officer of the corps commander the corps surgeon exercises 
technical supervision over division medical services to the 
extent that the corps commander is interested or responsible. 
In no case does the corps surgeon exercise command author- 
ity over division surgeons. 
■ 11. Headquarters corps medical service.—a. General.—(l) 
The purpose of the headquarters corps medical service being 
to assist the corps surgeon in the discharge of his staff duties, 
12 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
11-12 
it follows that Its organization should be based upon the prin- 
cipal functions of the corps surgeon. While no details of this 
organization have ever been prescribed, the major staff re- 
sponsibilities of the corps surgeon fall into certain well-defined 
categories which may be made to serve as the basis of the 
organization of the headquarters corps medical service. 
(2) Listed in succeeding subparagraphs are the general 
functions and responsibilities that may be allocated to divi- 
sions or subordinate sections. Limitations in personnel may 
require that two or more major functions be consolidated into 
one division. Furthermore, the importance of certain func- 
tions will vary with the location of the theater of operations 
and the general military situation, and this may require a 
redistribution of personnel. For these reasons, no fixed or- 
ganization can, or should be prescribed, and the discussion 
that follows is intended merely as a guide to the organization 
of the headquarters corps medical service. 
b. Administrative division.—Routine general administration, 
personnel administration, coordination of other divisions, and 
all miscellaneous matters that do not come within the scope 
of another division. 
c. Preventive medicine division.—All matters pertaining to 
the prevention and control of disease, including supervision 
of sanitation, hygiene of food and water, field investigations, 
and statistics of diseases and nonbattle injuries. This is an 
important division under all conditions. 
d. Operations and training division.—Medical operations, 
training of medical troops, evacuation and hospitalization, re- 
ports and returns of battle casualties. 
e. Dental division.—The corps dental surgeon and his as- 
sistants. 
f. Veterinary division.—The corps veterinarian and his 
assistants. 
g. Supply division.—Medical supply requirements of corps 
troops, supply inspection, and, when authorized, the allocation 
of supplies or supply credits among divisions and corps troops. 
H 12. Corps medical battalion.—a. Organization.—Same as 
that of the medical battalion of a triangular division. See 
figure 1 and FM 8-5. 
290165°—41 3 
13 12 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
See T/0 8-65 
Collecting 
Company 
5-0 101-EM 
Collecting 
Company 
5-0 101-EM 
Collecting 
Company 
5-0 101-EM 
Headquarters 
1-0 16-EM 
Station Platoon 
2-0 17-EM 
Bearer Section 
1-0 41-EM 
Ambulance 
Seci 
1-0 27-EM 
Figure I.—Corps medical battalion. 
Corps Medical Battalion—34-0 476-EM 
Detachment Head- 
quarters Section 
1-0 14-EM 
Battalion Head- 
quarters Section 
4-0 13-EM 
Supply Section 
1-0 11-EM 
Motor Mainte- 
nance Section 
1-0 7-EM 
Headquarters 
2-0 20-EM 
Clearing Platoon 
5-0 54-EM 
Clearing Platoon 
5-0 54-EM 
Headquarters 
Detachment 
7-0 45-EM 
Clearing 
Company 
12-0 128-EM 
14 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
12-14 
b. Command.—It is commanded by the senior officer of the 
medical corps assigned and present for duty therewith. The 
chain of command is—the corps comander, the corps surgeon, 
and the medical battalion commander. 
c. Functions.—(l) General.—The corps medical battalion 
furnishes to corps troops a medical service similar to that 
furnished divisions by division medical regiments or bat- 
talions. See PM 8-10. 
(2) Second echelon medical service.—lt collects the sick 
and injured from the aid stations and dispensaries of corps 
troops and evacuates them to the corps clearing station(s). 
See paragraph 14. 
(3) Medical supply.—The headquarters detachment of the 
corps medical battalion includes the operating agency for 
the medical supply of all corps troops. See paragraph 20. 
(4) Reinforcement of division medical services.—See 
paragraph 9b(3). 
■ 13. Attached medical personnel of corps troups.—The 
medical detachments of units of corps troops correspond both 
in organization and functions to their counterparts in the 
division. When their units are engaged in combat they 
furnish primary combat medical service. When their units 
are not engaged actively in combat, and many units of corps 
troops are employed habitually in rear areas, they furnish a 
dispensary service. For details, see FM 8-10. 
■ 14. Medical support of corps troops.—a. General.—The 
general principles governing the medical support of units of 
corps troops are identical with those governing the medical 
support of units of the division. For details, see FM 8-10. 
Casualties are given first aid by unit medical detachments, 
and collected, sorted, and evacuated by supporting medical 
troops. The details of the latter operations depend upon the 
location and nature of employment of the unit. 
b. Corps troops employed in division areas.—The establish- 
ment of more than one chain of evacuation within a limited 
area is both uneconomical and productive of confusion. For 
this reason, whether attached to the division or not, units of 
corps troops operating within a division area normally are sup- 
ported by that division medical service. However, particu- 
15 MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
larly when such corps units are not attached to the division, 
the division surgeon concerned must be informed of the 
presence of the corps units within his area and instructed 
concerning his responsibilities therefor. 
c. Corps troops employed outside division areas.—(l) Col- 
lection.—(a) Since the aid stations and dispensaries of units 
of corps troops operating in rear areas ordinarily can be 
evacuated directly by ambulances, the establishment of col- 
lecting stations by the corps medical service for this purpose 
is rarely indicated. Since, however, ambulance elements are 
incorporated in corps collecting companies, the responsibility 
for this evacuation rests with the collecting companies. 
(b) When collecting stations are established by the corps 
medical battalion, the same principles of organization and 
operation govern as in the case of division collecting stations. 
For details of the employment of collecting units and of evac- 
uation of aid stations and dispensaries by ambulances, see 
FM 8-10. 
(2) Clearing.—(a) Clearing is an essential function of 
all second echelon medical service. However, the scope of the 
functions of a corps clearing station may, under certain 
conditions, be extended to include the temporary hospitaliza- 
tion of short-duration cases. The corps, as a whole, may be 
expected to move less rapidly than any one of its divisions. 
This permits the corps medical service to devote more time 
to the sorting of casualties and, under average conditions, to 
retain for definitive treatment for a reasonable time such 
patients as give promise of early recovery. It must be em- 
phasized, however, that the corps clearing station, no less 
than that of a division, must not be permitted to lose es- 
sential mobility through undue accumulation of patients. 
It is only that the mobility required of the corps medical 
services is ordinarily less than that required of division 
medical service that any accumulation of patients in the 
corps clearing station can be considered. In some situations 
it may be as imperative to clear the corps of casualties as 
it is to clear a division. See paragraph 18. 
(b) Corps clearing stations should be located so as to be 
most convenient to the bulk of the troops they support. The 
16 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
14-16 
essential characteristics of their sites are the same as those 
of division clearing stations. For details, see FM 8-10. 
■ 15. Position of the corps medical service in the army 
chain of evacuation.—The corps medical service and division 
medical services are in the same medical echelon, which is 
to say that the casualties of divisions normally are not evacu- 
ated through corps medical installations but that the casual- 
ties both of divisions and of the corps are evacuated by the 
army medical service. 
■ 16. Special employment of the corps medical battalion.— 
a. General.—lt must be remembered that the corps medical 
battalion is designed primarily to furnish second echelon 
medical service to corps troops, and that its capabilities or- 
dinarily are exhausted by the discharge of that function. 
However, situations may arise in which other functions of 
medical service become of greater importance to the corps 
commander than the prompt evacuation of his casualties 
from rear areas. In such cases, he may decide to reduce the 
second echelon medical service of corps troops, or to arrange 
with the army to take over a part of that function, and to 
employ a part of the corps medical battalion on other 
missions. 
b. In support of divisions in reserve.—When divisions of a 
corps are held in reserve, it may be advantageous to collect 
and evacuate their casualties with elements of the corps medi- 
cal unit operating under corps control, thus permitting the 
division medical services to retain full mobility. When this 
support is undertaken, reports of casualties evacuated must be 
furnished the divisions concerned. 
c. In support of security detachments.—For a detailed dis- 
cussion of the medical service of security detachments, see 
PM 8-10. When a security detachment is operating under 
corps control, the corps is responsible for its medical service 
unless the corps commander specifically places such responsi- 
bility upon a lower echelon. Division medical services may be 
reinforced by the corps in order to provide more medical serv- 
ice for division security detachments. 
d. In pursuit.—(l) The rapid assembly of an encircling 
force often presents difficulties, particularly as regards service 
17 16-17 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
elements. The medical elements of an encircling force, other 
than attached medical personnel, may be furnished from the 
corps medical unit when withdrawal of such elements from 
division medical services is not practicable. 
(2) As soon as communications are established with the 
encircling force, it may be advantageous to evacuate this 
force with ambulance elements of the corps medical unit to a 
clearing station in rear of the direct pressure force where such 
casualties can be delivered to the army medical service. 
e. In rapid displacements of division clearing stations.—ln 
rapid advances or retrograde movements, clearing elements 
of the corps medical unit may assist divisions in the estab- 
lishment of successive echelons of clearing stations. For such 
purpose they may be attached to divisions as reinforcements; 
or, when indicated, they may be operated under corps control, 
but coordinated with division medical services. 
■ 17. Reinforcement of division medical services.—a. Gen- 
eral.—The normal source of reinforcements for division medi- 
cal services is the army. The medical needs of the several 
divisions, as indicated by the situation and their respective 
missions, are estimated when corps plans are prepared. Any 
additional medical means required are requested of the army, 
and, if such medical reinforcements be allocated to the corps, 
the corps distributes them among the divisions in accordance 
with their needs as foreseen. 
b. In special situations.—When the army is unable to fur- 
nish all the medical reinforcements required, or when a neces- 
sity arises that could not be foreseen in time for the army to 
furnish them, parts of the corps medical battalion may be 
used for this purpose. In this connection, see paragraph 24a. 
However, the corps commander ordinarily is not responsible 
for the evacuation of divisions, and he may hesitate to assume 
any such responsibility unless the inadequacy of a division 
medical service is exerting an adverse influence upon its tacti- 
cal efficiency. In this latter event, division medical service 
becomes a tactical consideration and hence a matter of proper 
concern to the corps commander. 
c. Organization of reinforcements.—(1) Army medical 
units.—Medical reinforcements furnished by the army ordi- 
18 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
17-19 
narily will be in the form of complete administrative units 
such as companies. The corps may allocate such complete 
units to divisions, or may distribute them as indicated in (2) 
below. 
(2) Corps medical unit.—Subordinate elements of the 
corps medical unit may be attached to a division in the 
form of a complete unit, or a smaller tactical unit such as 
a platoon or section, or as detchments of mixed units such as 
one composed of a litter bearer platoon and an ambulance 
section, or as detchments of individuals. All other consid- 
erations being equal, regardless of how small the reinforce- 
ment, command control will be facilitated if tactical 
organization is preserved in attaching reinforcements. 
■ 18. Evacuation policy.—See paragraph 3. The proper 
evacuation policy for a corps depends entirely upon the situ- 
ation. A safe policy will, in any event, be one which pro- 
vides for retention for treatment of fewer cases than 
provided for in the army evacuation policy. But even so 
conservative a policy as a 2-day policy will appreciably 
reduce the number to be evacuated. 
■ 19. Preventive medicine and sanitation.—See paragraph 4. 
a. Extent of responsibility.—The responsibility for preven- 
tion and control of disease and injury parallels the respon- 
sibility for other aspects of medical service. In general, the 
responsibility of the corps is limited to corps troops and to 
such parts of the corps area as lie outside of division bound- 
aries. The army may decentralize td corps the supervision 
of division sanitation; and when the incidence of disease is 
reflected in the combat efficiency of a division, it becomes 
a matter of tactical concern to the corps commander and 
hence falls within the scope of his responsibilities. 
b. Organization.—This phase of medical service is under 
the direct supervision of the preventive medicine division of 
the headquarters corps medical service, headed by the corps 
medical inspector. When not required in combat, the col- 
lecting elements of the corps medical unit may be employed 
in the field work incident to sanitation. For the nature and 
scope of such employment of collecting units, see FM 8-10, 
19 20 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
■ 20. Supply.—a. Eclcelons.—The corps medical service is 
concerned with two different echelons of supply, namely, the 
medical supply of all corps troops, and all classes of supply 
for the corps medical battalion. The fact that all these 
supply operations center in the supply section of the head- 
quarters detachment of the corps medical battalion must 
not be permitted to obscure the sharp distinction, both in 
responsibility and in scope, between these two functions and 
the important differences in administration. 
b. Responsibility.—(l) Corps medical supply.—The corps 
commander is responsible for all supply of corps troops, and 
the corps surgeon is his staff officer in charge of medical 
supply. 
(2) Unit supply of the corps medical battalion is a re- 
sponsibility of the battalion commander, and his staff in- 
cludes a battalion supply officer (S-4) who is in direct charge 
of the details thereof. 
c. Organization for supply.—(l) General.—All supply 
operations, as distinguished from planning and control, are 
centered in the supply section of the headquarters detach- 
ment of the corps medical battalion. This section is organ- 
ized into two distinct groups—one concerned with corps 
medical supply (see (2) below), and the other with all supply 
of the medical battalion (see (3) below). 
(2) Corps medical supply.—The corps surgeon, acting by 
the authority of the corps commander, plans and controls 
the medical supply of the corps. His assistant in direct 
charge of operations is the corps medical supply officer who 
is, at the same time, the unit supply officer of the corps 
medical battalion and the commanding officer of the head- 
quarters detachment thereof. Administrative details are 
handled by the corps medical supply group described in (1) 
above. 
(3) Unit supply of the corps medical battalion.—The bat- 
talion supply officer (see (2) above) is in direct charge, and 
administrative details are handled by the unit supply group 
of the supply section of the headquarters detachment. 
d. Procurement.—(l) Corps medical supply.—Requisitions 
for medical supplies are submitted through channels by all 
unit supply officers of corps troops, including the unit supply 
20 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
20 
officer of the corps medical battalion. The corps surgeon, 
by the authority of the corps commander, approves or modi- 
fies such requisitions and sends them to the corps medical 
supply officer. The corps medical supply officer consolidates 
the requirements and procures the supplies by one of two 
methods, namely— 
(a) Submits through channels a consolidated requisition 
upon the army medical supply officer. 
(b) If depot credits have been set up in favor of the corps, 
he draws directly upon such credits. 
(2) Unit supply.—The unit supply officer of the corps 
medical battalion consolidates the requirements of the sev- 
eral subordinate elements thereof by procuring branches 
(quartermaster, engineer, ordnance, medical, supplies, etc.), 
and submits, through channels, such consolidated requisi- 
tions to the proper branch supply officer of the corps. In 
the case of medical supplies, and for administrative reasons, 
he submits, as battalion supply officer, through the corps 
surgeon to himself, as corps medical supply officer, the requisi- 
tions for medical supplies required by the medical battalion. 
The administrative details are, however, handled by the two 
separate groups of the supply section of his headquarters 
detachment. (See c above.) 
e. Distribution.—(l) Corps medical supply.—Upon receipt 
of the supplies, the corps medical supply officer distributes to 
the several unit supply officers the quantities that they have 
requisitioned. 
(2) Unit supply.—Upon receipt of the supplies, the bat- 
talion supply officer issues, upon memorandum receipt, to the 
several subordinate elements of the battalion, the amounts 
of the several classes of supplies that they have requested. 
f. In combat.—The method of distribution of medical sup- 
plies in combat is most informal. Every consideration is sub- 
ordinated to the objective of keeping medical units supplied. 
The corps medical dump is established in a central location— 
usually at, or near, the corps clearing station. Requests for 
supplies are sent there by ambulances or by special mes- 
sengers, and no formal procedure is required. 
290165°—41 4 
21 21 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
■ 21. Plans and orders.—a. Definitions.—See FM 8-55. 
b. The corps medical plan.—(l) Responsibility.—The corps 
surgeon is responsible for the preparation of the corps medical 
plan. 
(2) Preparation.—The basis of the plan is the basic 
decisions of the commander together with supplemental 
decisions that may be published by, or obtained from, the 
corps general staff. The plan is drawn by the operations and 
training division of the headquarters corps medical service. 
Tentative decisions required during preparation are made by 
the corps surgeon, who approves the final form in which 
the plan is submitted for approval. 
(3) Approval.—The medical plan is tentative until it has 
been approved by the corps commander. This approval 
ordinarily is given by G-4 by the authority of the corps 
commander. When approved and published in administra- 
tive instructions, it becomes the basis for all medical dis- 
positions and is equally binding upon all elements of the 
command. 
(4) Scope.—The scope of the corps medical plan is gov- 
erned by the extent of the medical responsibility of the corps 
commander. In the simplest case it is limited to the details 
of the medical supply and evacuation of corps troops only, 
including such other arrangements as may be necessary to 
carry out these details. If additional medical means be 
allocated to the corps, the corps medical plan provides for 
their employment, either under corps control or by further 
allocation to divisions. 
(5) Form.—Many forms have been proposed for a medical 
plan. In this connection, however, it must be remembered 
that the primary purpose of the medical plan is to furnish 
a draft of instructions pertaining to the medical service for 
inclusion in the commander’s orders. For this reason, the 
items of the medical plan should follow the form and gen- 
eral arrangement of the order into which they will be drafted 
so that each paragraph of the order can be compiled readily 
by combining, as subparagraphs, the appropriate items of the 
several staff plans. See FM 8-55. 
22 CHAPTER 3 
Paragraphs 
Section I. General considerations 22-26 
11. The army surgeon 27-34 
111. Army medical units 35-47 
IV. Medical operations 48-55 
V. Influence of tactical operations upon medical 
service 56-62 
VI. Supply 63-66 
MEDICAL SERVICE OF THE ARMY 
Section I 
GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 
■ 22, Definition.—The army is the largest tactical unit in 
the military forces of the United States, the basic organization 
of which is prescribed and relatively permanent. Larger 
tactical commands are formed by grouping two or more 
armies into a combination designated as a group of armies. 
■ 23 General characteristics of the army.—a. General 
functions.—The army is the fundamental unit of strategical 
maneuver. It has territorial, tactical, and administrative 
functions. 
b. Organization and special functions.—(1) The permanent 
organization of an army consists of a headquarters and of 
army troops. Two or more corps, consisting of two or more 
divisions each, complete the organization. While the organ- 
ization of an army is no more fixed than that of a corps, the 
strategical nature of its missions ordinarily precludes fre- 
quent or important changes in the organic means allotted to 
it. However, by varying the allocation of divisions to corps 
to meet changing tactical situations, the army alters its in- 
ternal organization as the commander sees fit. 
(2) Army headquarters includes the commander and his 
commissioned and enlisted assistants. It is organized into 
two echelons. 
(a) The forward echelon includes the commander and his 
aides, the general staff section, field artillery section, anti- 
aircraft artillery section, engineer section, aviation section, 
signal section, ordnance section, medical section, and a chem- 
ical warfare section (for tactical matters). 
23 23 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
(b) The rear echelon includes the adjutant general’s sec- 
tion, inspector general’s section, quartermaster section, judge 
advocate’s section, and finance section, chemical warfare sec- 
tion (for supply and maintenance), and a chaplain’s section. 
(3) Army troops.—Permanently assigned to the army are 
units of— 
(a) Coast Artillery Corps (antiaircraft).—One antiaircraft 
brigade of three regiments for the antiaircraft protection 
of army installations and to augment the antiaircraft artil- 
lery of subordinate echelons. 
(b) Corps of Engineers.—For general engineer tasks in 
support of the army as a whole and for reinforcing the or- 
ganic engineers of subordinate echelons: for such special 
tasks as bridging, map making, camouflaging, and the sup- 
ply of water and engineer materials. 
Army engineer units include— 
-3 regiments, general service. 
6 battalions, separate. 
2 companies, dump truck. 
2 battalions, heavy ponton. 
4 companies, light ponton. 
1 battalion, topographic. 
1 battalion, camouflage. 
1 battalion, water supply. 
1 company, shop. 
1 company, depot. 
(c) Signal Corps.—For the construction, maintenance, 
and operation of army signal communications of all types; 
photography: intercepting enemy radio communications and 
locating their radio stations; and for the supply of signal 
materials. 
Army signal units include— 
-2 signal battalions. 
1 radio intelligence company. 
1 pigeon company. 
1 photographic company. 
1 depot company. 
(d) Air Corps.—One reconnaissance squadron. 
(e) Chemical Warfare Service.—For the detection and 
identification of chemical agents; the decontamination of 
24 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
23 
vital areas and materiel; the impregnation of clothing and 
other materiel with protective agents; and for the supply and 
maintenance of chemical warfare materials. 
Army chemical warfare units include— 
-1 chemical field laboratory. 
3 chemical decontamination companies. 
1 chemical impregnating company. 
1 chemical maintenance company. 
1 chemical depot company. 
(/) Ordnance Department.—For the supply and mainte- 
nance of ordnance materiel, including ammunition. 
Army ordnance units include— 
-1 maintenance battalion, consisting of two medium 
and one heavy maintenance companies. 
2 ammunition battalions, consisting of six companies 
each. 
1 depot company. 
(g) Quartermaster Corps.—For the operation of the gen- 
eral army motor transport, and for the maintenance of all 
general motor transport in the army; to provide bathing and 
laundry facilities; and for quartermaster supply. 
Army quartermaster units include— 
-1 regiment, truck. 
1 company, car. 
3 battalions, light maintenance. 
1 battalion, sterilization and bath. 
6 battalions, service. 
1 battalion, gasoline supply. 
1 company, depot (motor transport). 
1 company, depot (supply). 
(h) Medical Department.—For the medical service of army 
troops, and for the evacuation of all subordinate echelons. 
Army medical units include 
3 medical regiments, 
10 evacuation hospitals. 
4 surgical hospitals. 
1 convalescent hospital. 
1 veterinary company, separate. 
1 medical laboratory. 
1 supply depot. 
25 23-24 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
(i) Military police.—One military police battalion to 
control such parts of the army area as are not controlled by 
the military police of subordinate echelons, and to relieve 
subordinate echelons of their prisoners of war. 
(?) Infantry, antitank.—Three antitank battalions. 
(k) Headquarters company, field army. 
(4) Additional army troops.—Additional troops of any or 
all arms and services may be assigned from GHQ Reserve. 
This is almost invariably the practice in the case of Field 
Artillery, as it will be noted in (3) above, that no field artillery- 
units have been provided. Additional army troops are pro- 
vided as the mission of the army and the situation indicates, 
and, when provided, they are controlled by their particular 
arm or service section in army headquarters. 
(5) Corps.—To the army may be assigned any number of 
corps greater than one. The type army, used as a basis of 
organization and for purposes of instruction, is one of three 
corps; but this must not be construed as fixing the number 
of corps in an army. 
(6) Divisions.—Any number of divisions, greater than 
three, may be assigned to an army. The type army is one 
of nine divisions—three corps of three divisions each. The 
army commander assigns divisions to the corps and relieves 
them therefrom. He may assign all his divisions to corps, 
or he may retain some directly under his own control without 
corps organization. 
■ 24. Administrative responsibility of the army.—a. Gen- 
eral.—The army has full administrative responsibility, includ- 
ing that of supply and evacuation, for all of its component 
units. It is the next administrative echelon above the division, 
and it deals directly with divisions in all administrative mat- 
ters. 
b. Personnel.—The army is responsible for all matters 
affecting the strength, morale, and mobility of its troops. It 
maintains a replacement depot, or depots, from which it fills 
the requisitions of its subordinate elements. The strength of 
replacement depots is maintained at established levels by 
periodic requisitions on the theater of operations. Replace- 
ments are furnished directly to divisions, for units of divisions; 
26 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
24-25 
to corps, for corps troops; and to units, for army troops. For 
the responsibility of corps in the allocation of replacements, 
see paragraph lb. 
c. Supply.—The army is responsible for all classes of sup- 
plies, furnished by all arms and services, for its component 
elements. Each supply arm and service, represented in the 
army, maintains one or more depots. The army commander 
determines the levels of stockage to be maintained in army 
supply depots. The standard unit of measure of stockages is 
a day of supply. For a definition of a day of supply, see PM 
8-55. Levels are maintained in army depots by drawing upon 
depots in the theater of operations, either by requisition or 
against established credits. Consolidated requisitions are sub- 
mitted to the army directly by divisions, for their subordinate 
elements; by corps, for corps troops; and by units, of army 
troops. Each such requisition is limited to the supplies fur- 
nished by one arm or service, and may further be restricted 
to one class of supplies. Supplies are distributed through the 
same channels—delivery ordinarily being made at army de- 
pots or railheads. For the responsibility of corps in the 
allocation of certain supplies, see paragraph 7c. 
d. Evacuation.—See Section IV. 
■ 25. Missions of army medical service.—The basic missions 
of army medical service are to— 
a. Relieve corps and division medical services of continued 
care and treatment of their sick and injured in such a manner 
that ther own organic medical services retain full mobility. 
b. Furnish direct medical support to the unit medical serv- 
ices of army troops operating outside the zones of responsibility 
of corps and division medical services, 
c. Collect into army installations all evacuees in the army 
area, there to sort them, continue their care and treatment, 
and prepare such as require it for further evacuation. 
d. Reinforce the medical services of divisions in situations 
wherein they require greater medical means than are organi- 
cally provided them. 
e. Institute and supervise, through proper channels, all 
practicable measures that can be directed toward the con- 
servation of the physical fitness of the able-bodied. 
27 25-28 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
f. Discharge all functions, comparable to the foregoing, in 
connection with the animals of the army. 
g. Procure for and distribute to all elements of the army 
the items of supply furnished by the Medical Department. 
■ 26. General organization of the medical service of the 
army.—The medical service of the army is organized into two 
echelons— 
a. The attached medical personnel comprising the medical 
detachments of the units of army troops. 
b. The army medical service which, in turn, is composed 
of— 
(1) The medical section of army headquarters, which in- 
cludes the army surgeon and his commissioned and enlisted 
assistants, through which he exercises both his command 
and staff functions. 
(2) Army medical units, consisting of those units enumer- 
ated in paragraph 23b(3)(h). 
THE ARMY SURGEON 
Section II 
■ 27. General.—a. Selection.—The army surgeon is specially 
selected and appointed to his position. He should be senior to 
all other medical officers of army troops, taut it is not necessary 
that he tae senior to corps and divisions surgeons. See PM 
8-55. 
b. Status.—The army surgeon is a special staff officer cf the 
army commander, and he also commends certain medical 
troops. See c and d below. 
c. Command responsibilities.—The army surgeon commands 
all medical units in the army that are not assigned or at- 
tached to a subordinate element. He is not, however, assigned 
to a tactical unit, but is accounted for on the returns of the 
medical section of army headquarters. See paragraph 30. 
d. Staff responsibilities.—See FM 8-55. 
■ 28. Relations with surgeons of corps and divisions.—a. 
General.—The relationship of the army surgeon with the 
surgeons of lower echelons will depend, in large measure, 
upon the policies of the army commander. In all cases, how- 
28 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
28-30 
ever, the army surgeon directly supervises all medical service 
for which the army commander is responsible; and this func- 
tion requires that he exercise full authority over the technical, 
as distinguished from the command, aspects of the medical 
service of lower echelons. 
b. In preventive medicine.—Policies directed at the pre- 
vention and control of disease and injury are command 
decisions. However, the army surgeon must coordinate and 
direct the technical activities of this nature which are under- 
taken in compliance with the policies or specific instructions 
of the army comander. For example, he may prescribe 
laboratory methods, criteria for diagnosis, and methods of 
immunization; but he may not, of his own authority, pre- 
scribe measures which involve command responsibility, such 
as quarantine. 
c. In treatment of the sick and injured.—The army surgeon 
may prescribe methods of treatment and of preparation of 
casualties for evacuation to be followed in lower echelons, 
such as the use or avoidance of certain therapeutic agents, 
appliances for and means of fixation of fractures, and manner 
of moving certain classes of casualties. He may define the 
nontransportables to be retained in surgical or other types 
of hospitals. 
d. In evacuation.—While, in strict procedure, arrange- 
ments for evacuation are made through command chan- 
nels—ordinarily by the G-4’s of the interested echelons—the 
details normally are arranged between the army surgeon and 
the surgeons of lower echelons. This requires close liaison 
during periods of active operations. See paragraph 51/ (1) 
(d). 
■ 29. Relations with unit surgeons of army troops.—The 
army surgeon exercises technical supervision, but no com- 
mand control, over the surgeons of units of army troops, 
■ 30. Relations with commanders of army medical units.— 
The army surgeon is the immediate superior of each com- 
mander of an army medical unit. Each such unit, however, 
is autonomous in its internal administration and the army 
surgeon exercises his control through unit commanders. All 
290165°—41 5 
29 30-33 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
orders and instructions from a higher to a subordinate unit 
are given to the commander thereof, and all orders and in- 
structions for any element or elements of a subordinate unit 
emanate from the immediate commander of such unit. By 
this means alone are authority and responsibility definitely 
fixed and the channels of command definitely established. 
■ 31. Relations with the general and special staff of the 
army.—See FM 8-55. 
■ 32. Relations with the regulating officer.—The regulat- 
ing officer is the direct representative of the commander of 
the theater of operations and is responsible only to him. One 
of the staff assistants of the regulating officer is an officer of 
the medical corps, called the medical regulator, who is re- 
sponsible for the coordination of evacuation. While the offi- 
cial channel of communication between the army surgeon 
and the regulating officer is through the army commander, 
it is almost essential that there be close, cooperative relations 
between the army surgeon and the medical regulator. The 
army surgeon should keep the latter informed of the numbers 
and location of casualties awaiting evacuation, and pass on 
to him such information of anticipated developments in the 
medical situation as is permissible. The medical regulator 
should be the informal contact of the army surgeon with the 
regulating station in matters of medical supply as well as of 
evacuation; for, although the medical regulator is not con- 
cerned with the forwarding of supplies, being on the ground 
he may be able to expedite the shipment of needed medical 
supplies and, in an emergency, to forward them on hospital 
trains. 
■ 33. Relations with the chief surgeon, theater of opera- 
tions.—The relations of the army surgeon with the chief 
surgeon, theater of operations, are similar to the relations of 
the division surgeon with the army surgeon (see paragraph 
28). There must be close liaison between the two, with the 
army surgeon keeping the chief surgeon fully informed of 
the medical situation in the army; but there are no direct 
command relations between them. When a communications 
zone is established, most of the contacts of the army surgeon 
30 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
33-34 
with the medical service of the theater will be with the sur- 
geon, communications zone. 
■ 34. Medical section of army headquarters.—a. Composi- 
tion.—The medical section of army headquarters consists of 
the army surgeon, his commissioned assistants, and a small 
enlisted clerical and administrative detachment. 
b. Functions.—To elaborate the details, and to supervise the 
execution of the plans and orders of the army surgeon; ad- 
vise the army surgeon, particularly in specialized technical 
matters; make such inspections as the army surgeon directs; 
collect and compile information for the army surgeon; re- 
lieve the army surgeon of the burden of routine administra- 
tion; and assist the army surgeon in any other way he may 
direct. 
c. Organization.—No internal organization of the medical 
section of army headquarters is prescribed, nor can any rigid 
rule be laid down that will meet the requirements of all situa- 
tions in which an army may find itself. However, the major 
functions of the army surgeon should be reflected in any 
organization which he adopts for his office. The relative 
importance of these functions may vary with the location of 
the theater of operations, the mission of the army, and other 
factors. These factors should determine in each case the 
exact organization and the distribution of the personnel 
among the subdivisions of the medical section of army head- 
quarters. The following outline is intended as a general guide 
only, which may be expected to satisfy the requirements of 
the average situation: 
(1) Administrative subsection.—To be headed by the 
executive officer. It may be charged with all routine ad- 
ministration of a general nature, with personnel administra- 
tion, with all other matters which do not fall within the 
scope of the responsibilities of another subsection, and with 
the coordination of the activities of the other subsections. 
(2) Operations and training subsection.—To be headed by 
a medical officer specially qualified in the military aspects of 
medical service. Under average conditions this will be the 
largest of the subsections since, because of interrelationships, 
it is preferable to group several of the functions of the army 
31 34 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
surgeon under one of his principal assistants rather than to 
divide them among independent operating departments. 
Furthermore, such an organization is more flexible and more 
economical of personnel, since operations and training rarely 
are of equal importance at the same time. The functions of 
this subsection should include— 
(a) Training, both of medical units and of all units in 
hygiene and first aid. Training policies, programs, and in- 
spections. 
(b) Employment of army medical units; location of army 
medical installations; assignment of medical tasks; allocation 
of reinforcements to lower echelons; movements of medical 
units. 
(c) Evacuation, both of lower echelons by the army 
medical service and of army installations by higher echelons; 
evacuation policies. 
(d) Hospitalization. Policies governing the care and 
treatment of the sick and injured. Utilization of existing 
structures and facilities. 
(e) Consultants. Because the functions of the consultants 
assigned to the medical section of army headquarters are 
largely associated with the care, treatment, and evacuation 
of the sick and injured, and because experience has shown 
that it is essential that the activities of the several consult- 
ants be coordinated and that their combined activities be 
harmonized with the military situation, it is preferable that 
they be assigned to this subsection. Their services, however, 
must be made available to all other subsections. 
(3) Preventive medicine subsection.—To be headed by the 
army medical inspector. All matters pertaining to the pre- 
vention and control of disease and injury. Supervision of 
the army medical laboratory. 
(4) Dental subsection.—Headed by the army dental surgeon 
All matters pertaining to dental service. 
(5) Veterinary subsection.—Headed by the army veteri- 
narian. All matters pertaining to veterinary service. 
(6) Supply subsection.—To be headed by an officer of the 
Medical Department specially qualified in supply, but who is 
not the army medical supply officer. All matters pertaining 
32 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
.34-37 
to finance and medical supply, and to all supply for the 
medical section of army headquarters. Supervision of army 
medical depots. Credits in theater depots. Supply policies. 
This is a staff subsection, however, and not an operating 
agency in supply. See also FM 8-55. 
(7) Other subsections.—The injection of new factors into 
the medical problem may indicate the creation of additional 
subsections, either to supervise new functions or to devote 
more specific attention to old functions, previously allocated 
to other subsections, which have assumed increased impor- 
tance. Some examples are—a civil affairs subsection to 
supervise all medical activities among the civil population of 
occupied territory; a hospitalization subsection, if definitive 
hospitalization becomes necessary; and a personnel subsec- 
tion, if personnel problems assume sufficient importance to 
warrant their separation from general administration. 
Section 111 
■ 35. Chain of command.—The chain of command of every 
army medical unit is from the army commander to the army 
surgeon to the commander of the army medical unit. 
ARMY MEDICAL UNITS 
■ 36. Supply.—There is a unit supply officer on the staff of 
the commander of each larger administrative unit, such as 
a medical regiment or separate battalion, and a mobile hos- 
pital. The unit supply officer, governed by decisions or poli- 
cies of the unit commander, consolidates the requirements of 
subordinate elements into unit requisitions upon proper army 
depots, which requisitions normally are forwarded through 
command channels. Upon receipt of the supplies, the unit 
supply officer distributes them in accordance with the require- 
ments. He is the only accountable officer in the unit, the 
subordinate element commanders who receive the supplies 
being responsible only, and he maintains no reserve stocks 
other than a small rolling reserve of medical supplies. 
■ 37. Collecting units.—a. Organization.—Collecting units 
may include ambulance elements, or they may be composed 
33 37-38 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
exclusively of collecting station and bearer elements. Basic 
collecting units, such as companies, may be incorporated in 
composite larger administrative units, such as battalions or 
regiments, or the larger administrative units may be com- 
posed exclusively of collecting elements with necessary serv- 
ice elements. For details, see PM 8-5. 
b. Employment.—(l) In other than combat situations.— 
When not engaged in combat, collecting units—except am- 
bulance elements: see paragraph 38b—may be employed upon 
interior guard duty, and in the supervision of the sanitation 
of such portions of the army area as have not been allocated, 
for sanitary control, to subordinate echelons. Collecting units 
are not labor units, and their employment in sanitation is 
limited to instruction and demonstration; to the supervision 
of the operation of sanitary appliances and installations, 
such as incinerators, garbage disposal plants, etc.; sanitary 
surveys; and to furnishing assistance to the medical in- 
spector. Employment of collecting units in other than com- 
bat must not be allowed to interfere with combat training 
and readiness for action. 
(2) In combat.—(a) In support of army troops.—Army 
troops, engaged within corps or division areas, ordinarily will 
be supported by the local medical service. It will be an un- 
usual situation when ambulances cannot evacuate directly the 
aid stations of army units in rear areas. For this reason, 
collecting units rarely will be used in direct support of army 
troops operating in rear areas. 
(b) To reinforce subordinate echelons.—See paragraph 55. 
c. Transport.—Collecting units have sufficient transport to 
move all of their materiel and part of their personnel. The 
remainder of the personnel normally is transported by am- 
bulance units. 
■ 38. Ambulance units.—a. Organization.—Ambulance units 
may consist of platoons within collecting companies or of 
companies which are incorporated either in composite medi- 
cal units or into larger administrative units composed ex- 
clusively of ambulance companies and service elements. For 
details, see FM 8-5. 
34 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
38-39 
b. Employment.—(l) General.—Army ambulance elements 
routinely provide ambulance service for— 
(a) Collection of the sick and injured from the aid stations 
and dispensaries of army troops. 
(b) Evacuation of army clearing stations, and the local 
ambulance service that is needed in the evacuation of army 
mobile hospitals, such as for movements of evacuees from the 
hospital to the hospital train. 
(c) Evacuation of the clearing stations of subordinate 
echelons. 
(2) Allotment of tasks.—lnsofar as practicable, tactical 
unity should be preserved in the allotment of tasks to ambu- 
lance units in order to fix responsibility and insure proper 
supervision. Two or more tasks may be given to a battalion 
which it, in turn, should distribute among its companies. A 
company may allot a task, or a prescribed part of a task, to 
a platoon or to a section. 
(3) Methods of operation.—ln the collection of casualties 
from the aid stations and dispensaries of army troops, ambu- 
lances ordinarily are operated as single vehicles, or in small 
groups if more than one be required at one time. In the 
evacuation of division, corps, and army medical installations, 
however, it is customary to operate ambulances in convoys. 
(4) Attachment to other army medical elements.—Ambu- 
lance elements may be attached to other elements, either to 
constitute a composite detachment of medical troops for a 
special purpose, or to assist another medical element in per- 
forming a mission, such as the attachment of ambulances to 
an evacuation hospital to assist in loading hospital trains. 
(5) To reinforce, subordinate echelons.—See paragraph 55. 
c. Transport.—Ambulance units have sufficient organic 
transport to move their personnel and materiel and can, in 
addition, transport the bulk of the personnel of a comparable 
collecting unit. 
■ 39. Clearing units.—a. Organization.—Army clearing 
companies may be incorporated into composite medical bat- 
talions or regiments, or may be organized into larger admin- 
istrative units composed exclusively of clearing companies 
with the necessary service elements. The basic tactical unit 
35 39 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
is the clearing company. Each company is self-sustaining, 
and the functions of larger units are limited to administra- 
tion, training, and the control of clearing stations operated 
by two or more companies. 
b. Functions.—Army clearing companies may be em- 
ployed to operate clearing stations in support of army 
troops; reinforce the medical services of subordinate eche- 
lons; and in emergencies, to substitute for surgical and 
evacuation hospitals. 
c. Army clearing stations.—(l) Location.—The primary 
consideration in the location of an army clearing station 
is convenience to the units that it serves. The number of 
army clearing stations required will depend upon the dis- 
tribution of army troops. Under ordinary circumstances, all 
dispensaries and aid stations of army troops should be within 
10 miles of an army clearing station. Ordinarily these sta- 
tions will be located in that part of the army area that lies 
in rear of corps rear boundaries; but the situation and dis- 
tribution of army troops may indicate locations within an 
area allocated to a corps. 
(2) Site.—Distance from the front makes protection from 
artillery fire of relatively minor importance in most situa- 
tions; otherwise the requirements in site are the same as those 
for a division clearing station (see FM 8-10). The large ex- 
tent of the army area usually will include a number of suitable 
locations from which choices can be made, thus permitting 
local facilities to exercise considerable weight in the selec- 
tions. Because of this, tentage rarely will be used. 
(3) Organization.—Each army clearing station may be 
operated by the clearing company, or two or more companies 
may be united under one command to operate one clearing 
station. Additional companies may be added to a station at 
any time. 
(4) Control.—Regardless of location, all army clearing sta- 
tions are controlled by the army surgeon. This control may 
be direct, or it may be exercised through an intermediate 
medical commander. 
(5) Operations.—(a) Source of patients.—Army clearing 
stations admit patients from dispensaries and aid stations 
of units of army troops for which the army medical service 
36 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
39-40 
is responsible, and receive others by direct admission from 
the vicinity. 
(b) Technical functions.—To sort all patients admitted, 
returning to duty such as are fit; to retain for definitive 
treatment such as fall within the evacuation policy; and to 
prepare all other patients for further evacuation. 
' (c) Disposition of patients.—Patients fit for duty are 
disposed of— 
1. By return to their organization whenever this be 
feasible. 
2. By return to duty in an army replacement battalion 
of casuals separated from their organizations. 
3. Patients requiring no further active treatment, but 
who are not yet ready for full duty, are trans- 
ferred to an army convalescent hospital. 
4. Patients requiring further treatment are evacuated 
by army ambulances to an evacuation hospital. 
d. Transport.—Clearing units have sufficient organic trans- 
port to move their personnel and materiel. 
e. Mobility.—A well-trained company will be able to es- 
tablish station and be ready to receive patients within 3 hours 
of arrival at the site. It will require an average of 2 hours, 
after all patients have been evacuated, to close the station and 
pack and load the materiel. 
■ 40. Surgical hospitals.—a. Organization.—Each surgical 
hospital is an independent, self-supporting unit under the 
direct command of the army surgeon. They are rarely 
grouped either for administration or operations. 
b. Functions.—(l) Surgical hospitals are mobile units de- 
signed primarily to furnish, as far forward as practicable, 
facilities for major surgical procedures for a limited number 
of cases of serious injury, and to relieve division clearing 
stations of nontransportable casualties. Its facilities are re- 
served for— 
(a) Cases in which immediate surgical intervention of con- 
siderably greater scope than first aid is necessary to save 
life or limb. 
37 40 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
(b) Cases in which immediate movement to an evacuation 
hospital would gravely endanger life or limb. 
(2) Surgical hospitals may be used in emergencies to sub- 
stitute for evacuation hospitals. 
(3) Detachments of technical personnel of surgical hos- 
pitals, such as operating teams, may be used to reinforce other 
medical units at station. 
c. Employment.—(l) Allocation.—Corps plans set forth re- 
quirements for support and reinforcement by the army, in- 
cluding support by surgical hospitals. Surgical hospitals or- 
dinarily are allocated in accordance with the requirements 
of the several corps as approved by the army commander. 
As in the case of other administrative requirements (see par. 
1), however, the allocation is made by the army directly to 
divisions rather than through the corps medical service. 
(2) Location.—Whenever possible, surgical hospitals are 
■established immediately adjacent to the clearing station of 
the division which they support. This is to reduce to the 
minimum any delay in the transfer of serious cases and the 
facilities for effecting such transfer. They are equipped with 
tentage and require no more local facilities than a clearing 
station. 
(3) Control.—Regardless of their location in the area of a 
division or a corps, surgical hospitals normally operate di- 
rectly under the control of the army surgeon, and the re- 
sponsibility for patients admitted thereto passes from the 
lower echelon to the army. In special situations, their at- 
tachment to subordinate elements of the Army, may be indi- 
cated. 
d. Operations.—(l) Source of patients.—Surgical hospitals 
receive patients— 
(a) Prom the clearing station of which they are in direct 
support. 
(b) Prom other clearing stations conveniently located. In 
this case, the movement of the patient is a local responsibility 
and not an army responsibility. 
(c) In emergencies, directly from aid and collecting sta- 
tions. In such case the records of the patient must be cleared 
through the proper clearing station. 
38 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
40 
(2) Technical functions.—See b above. The facilities of a 
surgical hospital are inadequate for the care of any great 
proportion of the battle casualties of a division severely en- 
gaged, and admissions must be limited to cases urgently in 
need of these special facilities. Definitive treatment, as such, 
is not to be undertaken in a surgical hospital although the 
emergency measures may have definitive value. Treatment 
of shock, control of stubborn hemorrhage, and the recon- 
stitution of blood following hemorrhage are of the greatest 
importance. Fixation of fractures that are too complex to be 
handled in a clearing station is another function. But it 
must be clearly realized that treatment in a surgical hospital 
must be limited to emergency measures, regardless of their 
scope, if that hospital is to accomplish its mission. Measures 
not of immediate importance should be postponed until the 
patient reaches an evacuation hospital. 
(3) Disposition of patients.—Since patients who will re- 
cover promptly rarely will be admitted to a surgical hospital, 
the great bulk of survivors are evacuated by army ambulances 
to an evacuation hospital as soon as their conditions permit. 
For obvious reasons, the case fatality rate will be relatively 
high. 
e. Closing a surgical hospital.—Under ordinary circum- 
stances a surgical hospital suspends admission of new cases 
when the clearing station(s) it is supporting move(s) to 
new location (s); and, if required, other surgical hospitals 
are established at the new location(s). Evacuation of a 
closed surgical hospital proceeds as rapidly as possible. 
Personnel and materiel may be, and should be, withdrawn 
piecemeal as the patient population decreases, if there is 
danger of the unit being caught in a fluctuation of the lines. 
However, so long as any nontransportables remain, personnel 
and materiel necessary for their care must remain in posi- 
tion, even though this may result in capture. 
/. Transport.—No surgical hospital is entirely motorized, 
since its headquarters and hospitalization units have only 
sufficient transport for their internal economy. The mobile 
surgical unit contained in each surgical hospital, however, 
possesses sufficient integral transport for its own personnel 
and materiel. In some instances, this organic transport may 
39 40-41 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
consist of ordinary trucks; in others it may consist of special 
bus type motor vehicles, in which are permanently installed 
the necessary functional elements of this unit. 
g. Mobility.—The mobility of the mobile surgical unit is 
comparable to a clearing company. The headquarters and 
two hospitalization units require approximately the time to 
open and close as an evacuation hospital. 
■ 41. Evacuation hospitals.—a. Organization.—Each evac- 
uation hospital is an independent, self-supporting unit under 
the direct command of the army surgeon. However, two or 
three units frequently are grouped together at station to 
form one large hospital. In such cases it is usually pref- 
erable to place all units at station in the same location under 
one command—either under the senior unit commander or 
under an assistant of the army surgeon who is senior to all 
unit commanders at that station. 
b. Functions.—Evacuation hospitals are mobile units de- 
signed to— 
(1) Provide, as near the front as practicable, facilities for 
major medical and surgical procedures in the care and treat- 
ment of all casualties. 
(2) Provide facilities for the concentration of evacuees 
in such numbers and at such locations that mass evacuation 
by common carrier can be undertaken economically. 
(3) Provide opportunity and facilities for the beginning of 
definitive treatment as early as practicable. 
(4) Continue the sorting of casualties, under conditions 
more favorable for observation, and to remove from the chain 
of evacuation such as are, or soon will be, fit for duty. 
(5) Prepare evacuees for extended evacuation to general 
hospitals at some distance to the rear. 
c. Employment.— (1) Allocation. Evacuation hospitals 
normally are not allocated to subordinate echelons. They 
are usually echeloned laterally in order to reduce distances 
from flank units, and this echelonment may correspond to 
the tactical or territorial organization of the army, that is, 
one or more evacuation hospitals may be established in rear 
of each corps or independent division, but such arrange- 
ment should not be regarded as a rule or a principle. It 
40 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
41 
must always be remembered that the corps is not an admin- 
istrative echelon—army evacuating divisions without regard 
to any tactical control by corps—and that flexibility is an 
essential characteristic of medical service. For these rea- 
sons, corps and division boundaries must not be considered 
as limiting the sources of patients for evacuation hospitals. 
(2) Location.—Whenever possible, evacuation hospitals 
should be located at established loading points on common 
carriers, such as railroads and canals or other waterways. 
This is not always possible, and the next best location is 
on an improved highway where further evacuation can be 
undertaken with motor buses and heavy de luxe ambulances. 
When further evacuation is to be by rail, siding capacity 
sufficient for a hospital train is essential if the trackage is to 
be used for any other traffic. Loading platforms of proper 
height are highly desirable. Comparable dock facilities are 
to be sought when evacuation is to be by water. 
The equipment of an evacuation hospital includes tentage, 
but, if suitable existing buildings are available, they are usu- 
ally preferable. 
With respect to the front line, the location of an evacua- 
tion hospital depends upon the situation, the road net, and 
the rail net. No evacuation hospital should be located 
within the range of enemy artillery, and all should be near 
enough the front that casualties can be evacuated promptly 
from divisions and without undue discomfort or danger. 
Good motor roads increase the permissible distance from 
the front; poor ones decrease it. If there be danger of 
enemy penetration, the distance should be increased. While 
there is no rule, under ordinary circumstances evacuation 
hospitals should be located somewhere between 12 and 30 
miles behind the front line. 
(3) Grouping.—The general principle is that the number 
of locations of evacuation hospitals should be kept to the 
minimum consistent with effective support of the medical 
services of subordinate echelons. Adequate capacity is pro- 
vided by grouping two or more evacuation hospital units at 
one station. The individual units in such a group may be 
specialized if the situation warrants—each unit admitting 
designated types of cases. Such specialization, however, re- 
41 41 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
quires additional sorting of cases prior to admission since 
division clearing stations cannot be expected to sort their 
evacuees in such a manner. Under normal circumstances, it 
is preferable to place all units in such a group under one 
command. See a above. 
(4) Control.—Evacuation hospitals are under the control 
of the army surgeon—exercised directly over the unit com- 
mander when the unit is operating independently—and 
through the group commander when groups are formed. 
d. Operations.—(l) Source of patients.—Evacuation hos- 
pitals receive patients— 
(a) From the clearing stations of divisions, corps, and army; 
usually via army ambulances. 
(b) Prom surgical hospitals; usually via army ambulances. 
(c) From dispensaries and aid stations of units in the 
vicinity: usually by army or unit ambulances. 
id) By direct admission. 
(2) Technical functions.—See b above. While definitive 
treatment should be instituted in evacuation hospitals, it must 
be remembered that these are mobile units and that no treat- 
ment should be undertaken therein which will immobilize 
the patient for a considerable period unless it be absolutely 
necessary. Involved procedures, requiring elaborate after- 
treatment, should be postponed whenever possible until the 
patient reaches a general hosptial. Evacuation by air of se- 
lected cases will aid in solving this problem. 
(3) Disposition of patients.—Evacuation hospitals dispose 
of their patients by— 
(a) Returning to duty such as are fit for duty, direct to their 
organizations when feasible, or to an army replacement unit 
when contact with the organization has been lost. 
(b) Transfer to a convalescent hospital of such cases that 
require no further active treatment but are not yet fit for 
duty. 
(c) Further evacuation of all others to a general hospital 
to the rear. See PM 100-10. 
e. Closing an evacuation hospital.—The first step in the 
closing of an evacuation hospital is the suspension of admis- 
sion of new cases. Evacuation is continued and, as the patient 
population decreases, wards and departments are closed 
42 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
41-42 
and the equipment packed. Adequate personnel and ma- 
teriel are kept in service until all patients have been disposed 
of. If more than one unit be at station in one location, one 
unit may be closed rapidly by the transfer of patients to 
another. In such case there may be an exchange of equip- 
ment so that patients do not have to be moved. 
/. Transport.—The organic transport of evacuation hospi- 
tals is insufficient to move their personnel and materiel. 
They are ordinarily moved by common carrier to their des- 
tination, and their materiel requires so much time to load 
that, whenever possible, evacuation hospitals in reserve are 
kept loaded on trains or other carriers, in readiness to move 
upon short notice. The army is responsible for their move- 
ment. 
g. Mobility.—After arrival at its location, an evacuation 
hospital should be unloaded and set up ready to receive pa- 
tients in from 4 to 6 hours. After evacuation, it should be 
closed, packed, and loaded in from 8 to 12 hours. 
■ 42. Convalescent hospital.—a. Organization.—One con- 
valescent hospital is included in the medical service of a 
type army. It is so organized, however, that its capacity may 
be expanded without serious difficulty to meet unusual 
requirements. 
b. Function.—The convalescent hospital is a mobile unit 
designed to care for such short-duration cases as require no 
further active treatment but that are not yet ready for duty. 
It is an expansion tank for the evacuation policy of the army. 
c. Employment.—(l) Location.—lt is usually located 
centrally but well to the rear of the army area, in a place 
that is convenient both to evacuation hospitals and to army 
replacement units. It may even be located at a distance in 
rear of the army rear boundary, although remaining under 
army control. 
(2) Control.—The convalescent hospital is under the direct 
control of the army surgeon. 
d. Operations.—(l) Source of patients.—The convalescent 
hospital receives patients— 
(a) Prom evacuation hospitals; usually via army ambu- 
lance. 
43 42-43 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
(b) From army clearing stations; usually via army ambu- 
lances. 
(c) It may admit patients directly from units in the vicin- 
ity, especially from replacement units with which it should 
operate in close liaison. 
(2) Technical functions.—Except in the case of active 
cases admitted from local sources, its technical functions are 
limited to the rapid restoration of convalescent patients to 
full physical fitness. 
(3) Disposition of patients.—The convalescent hospital 
disposes of its patients by— 
(a) Returning to duty such as are fit for duty, usually to 
an army replacement unit; although local admissions may 
be returned directly to their organizations. 
(b) Returning to an evacuation hospital such as relapse 
and require further active treatment. 
e. Closing a convalescent hospital.—The convalescent 
hospital normally remains active throughout the campaign. 
When it is necessary to move it, however, it is moved by 
echelon. A proportion of the personnel and materiel are 
withdrawn from service and moved to the new location to 
establish the new hospital. When the new hospital is ready 
to receive patients, the old one suspends admissions. The 
movement proceeds gradually from the old to the new loca- 
tion as the patient population decreases in the former and 
increases in the latter. 
/. Transport.—The organic transport of a convalescent 
hospital is insufficient to move its personnel and materiel. 
It is ordinarily moved by common carrier to a point con- 
venient to its location, and thence by motors. The army is 
responsible for its movement. 
g. Mobility.—The convalescent hospital has approximately 
the mobility of an evacuation hospital. 
■ 43. Medical laboratory.—a. General.—The medical labo- 
ratory is a mobile unit designed to provide the army medical 
service with facilities that are immediately and constantly 
available for laboratory examinations and investigations. It 
is organized into one stationary and three mobile laboratory 
sections. 
44 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
43-44 
b. Control.—The medical laboratory is under the direct 
control of the army surgeon. However, for reasons that 
appear in c(2) below, it usually will be preferable for the 
army surgeon to place it under the immediate control of the 
army medical inspector. 
c. Employment.—(l) Location.—The stationary section is 
located well to the rear of the army area where it will not 
become involved in minor movements and where it is readily 
accessible. While it can establish and operate in any loca- 
tion, an existing civil laboratory is highly desirable, such as 
that of a school, a public health agency, or a commercial 
organization. The mobile sections are designed to be sent 
into corps or division areas and are especially useful in 
epidemiological investigations. When not so employed, the 
mobile sections remain with the stationary section. 
(2) Technical functions.—Because of the limited capacity 
and the location of the medical laboratory, it is not contem- 
plated that it engage in routine clinical examinations re- 
quired by the several army hospital units, and these hospital 
units all include an organic laboratory section for this func- 
tion. However, special examinations may be referred by 
army hospitals, and the army medical laboratory routinely 
prepares special reagents for distribution to the clinical lab- 
oratory sections of the hospitals. Its principal technical 
functions are associated with preventive medicine, such as 
the examination of food and water and epidemiological 
investigations. 
■ 44. Medical depot.—a. Organization.—The army medical 
depot is a mobile unit organized into three subordinate sec- 
tions, each of which may, when indicated, operate an inde- 
pendent depot. 
b. Functions.—This unit is the operating agency of the 
medical supply of the army. It procures, stores, and issues 
all medical supplies required by the army. 
c. Employment.—(l) Location.—Depending upon the sit- 
uation and the rail and road net, the army medical depot 
may be operated in one, two, or three different locations 
(see (3) below). Each location must be on a line of com- 
munications to the rear—rail, water, or highway—and should 
45 44 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
be readily accessible to all subordinate elements to be served. 
Existing structures should be fully utilized; preferably ware- 
houses on railroad sidings, docks, or improved highways. 
Such sites should be far enough to the rear to be safe from 
enemy ground action without being inaccessible. 
(2) Control.—Army medical depots are controlled by the 
army surgeon, ordinarily through the supply subsection of 
his office. 
(3) Echelonment.—ln the usual situation, when it is nec- 
essary to establish more than one army medical depot, they 
are echeloned laterally for convenience to units served. In 
special situations, it may be advisable to echelon them in 
depth, with one or two advanced depots close behind divi- 
sions and another well to the rear. Stockages of the ad- 
vanced depots will be determined by the situation, but will 
invariably be less than that of the rear depot, and will be 
maintained by the rear depot at prescribed levels. 
d. Operations.—(l) Procurement.—The depot commander 
procures medical supplies from the next higher medical sup- 
ply echelon, ordinarily the communications zone, by one of 
three methods— 
(a) By formal requisition, which must be approved by the 
higher echelon. 
(b) In emergencies, by informal request, which must also 
receive the approval of the higher echelon. 
(c) By drawing against credits established in its depots 
by the higher echelon. Requisitions against credits require 
no individual approval. When exhausted, credits must 
either be renewed or other means of supply substituted. 
(2) Storage.—Depot stocks are maintained at prescribed 
levels so that the requirements of corps and divisions may be 
met promptly. Subordinate medical echelons maintain 
only a small rolling reserve of medical supplies and are un- 
able to tolerate the delay incident to procuring their re- 
quirements from the communications zone. 
(3) Issue.—lssue is made at the medical depot, either di- 
rectly to subordinate supply officers who bring their own 
transport or by shipment by common carrier to the railheads 
of divisions and corps. 
46 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
44-45 
e. Transport.—The organic transport of medical depot 
units is insufficient to move its personnel and materiel. They 
are moved by common carrier, if practicable, and if their 
movement by motor be necessary, the transport must be 
obtained from other sources. 
■ 45. Veterinary company, separate.—a. Organization.—The 
veterinary company, separate, is a mobile unit organized into 
a headquarters and five evacuation platoons, each of which 
is capable of functioning alone. 
b. Functions.—This unit is to veterinary service what army 
ambulances are to medical service. It is primarily an evacua- 
tion unit designed to conduct animal evacuees from subor- 
dinate echelons to veterinary evacuation hospitals, veterinary 
convalescent hospitals, army remount depots, or to railheads 
for evacuation to veterinary installations in the communica- 
tions zone. 
c. Employment.—i. 1) Control.—Depending upon the nature 
of the tasks, the company may be employed as a pool of 
means of evacuation, or each platoon may be assigned to 
operate one chain of veterinary evacuation. Insofar as prac- 
ticable, tactical unity should be preserved in the allotment 
of tasks. 
(2) Operations.—When divisions are provided with a sec- 
ond echelon of veterinary service, as in the case of (horse) 
cavalry divisions, elements of the veterinary company, sepa- 
rate, take over the animal evacuees at the division veterinary 
clearing station. Otherwise, evacuees must be taken over 
at unit veterinary aid stations. The veterinary company, 
separate, conducts such animal evacuees by means of lead 
lines and veterinary ambulances to the rear, disposing of them 
as set forth in h above. 
(3) .As reinforcements to subordinate echelons.—Platoons 
may be attached to subordinate echelons when their opera- 
tion by the army veterinary service is impracticable, or when 
reinforcement of the veterinary service of subordinate eche- 
lons is indicated. 
d. Transport.—The veterinary company, separate, is 
equipped with sufficient organic transport to move its per- 
sonnel and materiel. 
47 46 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
■ 46. Veterinary evacuation hospitals.—a. General.— 
Veterinary evacuation hospitals are units of the GHQ Re- 
serve and are not included organically in the army medical 
service. When, however, the animal strength of the army 
justifies it, they may be attached to the army in the numbers 
required; and in this event, control passes to the army medi- 
cal service. 
b. Organization and functions.—Veterinary evacuation 
hospitals are mobile units designed to relieve lower echelons 
of their animal casualties and to treat definitively short dura- 
tion cases. 
c. Employment.—(l) Control.—When attached to the 
army, veterinary evacuation hospitals are under the direct 
control of the army veterinarian who is, in turn, responsible 
to the army surgeon for their operation. 
(2) Location.—They are located as far forward in the army 
area as the situation will permit, and with regard to the cen- 
ters of animal population and to the operations of animal 
units. If possible, they should be located on a railroad with 
siding capacity sufficient for one stock train; and near enough 
to a remount depot that stock trains bringing remounts for- 
ward may be used to evacuate the animal casualties. An 
abundant water supply is essential, and shade and pasturage 
are desirable. 
(3) Allocation.—The normal allotment of veterinary evac- 
uation hospitals is one per corps and per cavalry division. 
d. Operations.—(l) Source of patients.—Veterinary evac- 
uation hospitals receive patients— 
(a) From the veterinary clearing stations of divisions and 
corps, when such are in operation. 
(b) Prom the veterinary aid stations of such units as are 
not supported by division veterinary services. 
(c) From the veterinary dispensaries of army remount 
depots. 
(2) Technical functions.—In the chain of animal evacua- 
tion, the veterinary evacuation hospital occupies a location 
midway between those of a surgical and an evacuation hospital 
in the chain of evacuation of human casualties. An economic 
limit is reached in the care and treatment of animal casual- 
(d) By direct admission from units in the vicinity. 
48 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
46-47 
ties beyond which extended evacuation is not justifiable until 
the cost of remounts rises accordingly. For this reason, the 
functions of a veterinary evacuation hospital contemplate 
more definitive treatment with fewer evacuations than is 
practiced in its counterpart for human casualties. 
(3) Disposition of patients.—The veterinary evacuation 
hospital disposes of its patients by— 
(a) Return to duty with their organizations, when such 
disposition is feasible. 
(c) Transfer to the army veterinary convalescent hospital 
of such as require no further active treatment but which are 
not yet ready for full duty. 
(b) Return to duty in an army remount depot. 
(d) Evacuation to a veterinary general hospital farther 
to the rear. 
(e) Destruction of such animals as are not economically 
salvageable. 
e. Closing a veterinary evacuation hospital.—(l) When its 
services can he suspended.—Admissions are suspended and 
the patients on hand are evacuated as rapidly as possible. 
As the materiel is released, it is loaded on the organic trucks 
of the unit. 
(2) When it must continue to function during movement.— 
A detachment is withdrawn, with a portion of the materiel, to 
open station at the new location. As soon as patients can 
be received at the new location, admissions are suspended at 
the old and the patients on hand are disposed of as rapidly 
as possible. A greater proportion of salvageable animal 
casualties are ambulant than is the case with human casual- 
ties, and some patients may be transferred from the old to the 
new location. Personnel and materiel are moved by echelon 
as the situation indicates. 
f. Transport.—The unit is equipped with sufficient organic 
transport to move its personnel and materiel. 
■ 47. Veterinary convalescent hospital.—a. General.—The 
status of this unit is identical with that of the veterinary 
evacuation hospital. See paragraph 46a. 
b. Organization and functions.—The veterinary convalescent 
hospital is a mobile unit designed to furnish care for such 
49 47 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
salvageable animals as require no further active treatment in 
a veterinary hospital but that are not yet ready for full duty. 
c. Employment.—(l) Control.—Same as that of a veterinary 
evacuation hospital. See paragraph 46c(1). 
(2) Location.—The veterinary convalescent hospital is con- 
veniently located both with regard to the veterinary evacua- 
tion hospitals and to the army remount depot. Rail facilities 
are not so essential as in the case of the veterinary evacuation 
hospital, but other desiderata in the selection of a site are the 
same for both installations. 
d. Operations.—(l) Source of patients.—The veterinary con- 
valescent hospital receives patients from— 
(a) Veterinary evacuation hospitals. 
(b) Veterinary dispensary of the army remount depot. 
(2) Technical functions.—The technical functions of a vet- 
erinary convalescent hospital include— 
(c) Veterinary dispensaries of units in the vicinity. 
(a) Care and treatment of convalescent animals that re- 
quire little active treatment. 
(b) Careful sorting of patients, with destruction of such 
as will either never be fit for full duty or whose ultimate 
recovery will be delayed beyond the economical limit of 
care. The final results of treatment ordinarily can be deter- 
mined with greater accuracy in this installation than in a 
veterinary evacuation hospital. 
(3) Disposition of patients.—A veterinary convalescent 
hospital disposes of its patients by— 
(a) Return to duty with their organizations, when such 
disposition is feasible. 
(b) Return to duty with the army remount depot. 
(c) Return for further treatment to a veterinary evacua- 
tion hospital. 
e. Closing a veterinary convalescent hospital.—Same as 
in case of a veterinary evacuation hospital. See paragraph 
46e. 
(d) Destruction. 
f. Transport.—The organic transport of a veterinary con- 
valescent hospital is insufficient to move its personnel and 
materiel. The army is responsible for its movement. medical service of corps and army 
48 
MEDICAL OPERATIONS 
Section IV 
■ 48. Army chains of evacuation.—a. For evacuees of corps 
and divisions.—The clearing stations of divisions and of 
corps are in the same echelon of evacuation so far as army 
medical service is concerned. The responsibility for evacuees 
passes from corps and divisions, when the evacuees are 
turned over at these stations, to the army medical service. 
Such of the evacuees as are transportable are moved at once, 
normally to an evacuation hospital. Army ambulances, 
operated in convoys, are the usual transport; but in special 
situations, other means of transport may be either necessary 
or desirable. If a surgical hospital be in direct support, non- 
transportables are transferred from the clearing station to 
it; but since surgical hospitals are operated under army con- 
trol, the responsibility for such cases passes to the army just 
as in the case of evacuees. If no surgical hospital, or sub- 
stitute therefor, be in support, nontransportables must re- 
main in clearing stations until they may be moved safely, 
even though this immobilizes a portion of the unit. As soon 
as any nontransportables can be moved safely, they are placed 
in the same chain of evacuation as other evacuees, although 
they may be moved individually by special means. 
b. For evacuees of units of army troops.—(l) Units of army 
troops operating within corps or division areas ordinarily 
will be supported by the medical service of such units, and 
their casualties will be placed in the chains of evacuation 
of such corps or divisions. If for any reason this is not 
desirable, such units as are organically equipped with ambu- 
lances may, when practicable, send their casualties to an 
army clearing station; but the army medical service ordi- 
narily does not furnish direct support to army units oper- 
ating within the zone of responsibility of a lower medical 
echelon. 
(2) The army medical service, normally with its ambu- 
lances, collects the casualties in the dispensaries and aid 
stations of all small units in rear of corps rear boundaries, 
including elements of subordinate echelons that may be cas- 
51 48 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
Division Medical Service 
Corps Medical Service 
Army Medical Service 
Figure 2.—Chains of evacuation within the army 
52 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
48-49 
ually there, and transports them to an army clearing station. 
The evacuees of an army clearing station for the most part* 
enter the army chain of evacuation and are taken to an 
evacuation hospital, although certain short duration cases may 
be transferred directly to the army convalescent hospital. 
c. Rear termini of the army chain of evacuation.—Evacu- 
ation hospitals normally are the rear termini of the army 
chain of evacuation. At these installations, the responsibility 
passes to the next higher echelon, usually the communica- 
tions zone, which evacuates the evacuation hospitals by 
means of hospital trains, boats, or other bulk transport. 
d. Veterinary evacuation.—Veterinary chains of evacua- 
tion in the army are comparable to those of human evacua- 
tion. Insofar as the army veterinary service is concerned, 
the forward termini are at unit veterinary aid stations when 
there is no second echelon of veterinary service, and at 
veterinary clearing stations when there is; and rear termini 
are as set forth in paragraph 45b. 
H 49. Evacuation of corps and divisions.—a. Arrangements.— 
In strict procedure the arrangements for the evacuation of 
corps and divisions are instituted by the lower echelon and 
are effected through command channels. The details are 
usually worked out through direct medical channels. The 
arrangements should include an estimate of the number of 
casualties to be evacuated, the location of the clearing 
station, the hour when such evacuation should begin, and 
the schedule that will be followed, that is, whether subse- 
quent convoys will arrive on a time schedule or whether the 
army will send for evacuees only when request is made or, 
as such an arrangement has come to be called, “evacuation 
on call.” 
b. Technique.—(l) Receiving evacuees from corps and 
divisions.—Army medical transport, under the command of 
a commissioned officer, is sent to the clearing station to be 
evacuated. The evacuation officer delivers the evacuees to 
the officer in charge of the convoy, and with them a check list, 
in duplicate, upon which is entered the name, Army serial 
number, grade, and organization of each evacuee, together 
with the diagnosis and any other information essential to 
53 49 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
his identification, treatment, or disposition. For a model of 
such a check list, see appendix I. The officer in charge of 
the convoy receipts for such evacuees by signing the triplicate 
of the check list, which receipt is retained by the evacuation 
officer. The officer in charge of the convoy should check 
each evacuee against the check list as he is loaded, and insure 
that to each evacuee is securely attached a properly accom- 
plished emergency medical tag (EMT). See PM 8-45. 
(2) Loading of evacuees.—The evacuation officer of the 
clearing station is responsible for the loading of evacuees on 
the army medical transport. He determines the position, 
sitting or prone, in which each evacuee shall ride. 
(3) Property exchange.—The army medical convoy carries 
forward sufficient equipment to effect property exchange. 
The clearing station is responsible for the property exchange, 
which is usually checked by a noncommissioned officer. 
(4) Transfer of responsibility.—Responsibility passes to 
the army when all evacuees have been loaded and receipt 
therefor has been signed by the officer in charge of the 
convoy. 
(5) Care and treatment en route.—lt is a responsibility 
of the evacuation officer to inform the officer in charge of 
the convoy of any special attention that may be required 
by any evacuee en route, such as the adjustment of a splint, 
observation for secondary hemorrhage, or the administra- 
tion of a narcotic or a stimulant, regardless of whether such 
information or warning appears on the check list or on the 
emergency medical tag of the individual evacuee. And it is 
a responsibility of the officer in charge of the convoy to see 
that proper investigations are made en route, although the 
measures to be taken are matters which he must decide in 
each case at the time. 
(6) Delivery of evacuees.—Upon arrival of the convoy at 
the proper evacuation hospital, or other designated delivery 
point, the officer in charge delivers the evacuees to the admit- 
ting officer, who retains for his records the original copy of 
the check list and who returns the duplicate copy, signed as 
a receipt, to the officer in charge of the convoy. The latter 
makes special reports of any deaths en route, but the dead 
54 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
49-51 
are admitted and disposed of as any other evacuee, since the 
convoy unit is not an office of record. The admitting officer 
is responsible for the unloading of evacuees, and the officer 
in charge of the convoy is responsible for the property ex- 
change. 
c. Veterinary technique.—The general principles set forth 
in the two preceding subparagraphs apply also to veterinary 
evacuation. Elements of the veterinary company (separate) 
perform functions comparable to those of army ambulances. 
Similar records are maintained with modifications to adapt 
them to the requirements of animal evacuation. 
■ 50. Evacuation of army clearing stations.—The general 
rules of the evacuation of army clearing stations are the same 
as in the cases of divisions and corps (see par. 49). Any dif- 
ferences in method arise out of the facts that army clearing 
stations are controlled by the army medical service, and that 
ordinarily they have fewer evacuees. Hence arrangements 
for evacuation are made through medical channels and may 
be quite informal although by no means indefinite. Because 
of the fewer evacuees and the irregularity with which they 
accumulate, the customary arrangement will be for evacua- 
tion “on call.” 
H 51. Plans and operations in evacuation.—a. Responsi- 
bility.—All medical plans and operations are responsibilities 
of the army surgeon which he cannot delegate to subordinates. 
However, the details ordinarily are too voluminous for him to 
arrange without assistance, and he must depend upon his 
assistants for the amplification and execution of his basic 
decisions. See FM 8-55. 
b. Continuity of evacuation.—The only entirely new plan 
of a chain of evacuation will be the first one drawn for the 
concentration of the army. After this initial plan, each new 
one will be but a modification of an existing plan, and will 
necessarily be limited by the existing disposition of medical 
units, and by the necessity of maintaining medical service 
throughout the period of transition. 
c. Subsections of army surgeon’s office involved in plan- 
ning.—All subsections of the army surgeon’s office contribute 
55 51 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
to the development of the plan of the army chain of evacua- 
tion, but the bulk of the task will fall upon the operations 
and training subsection. The preventive medicine subsection 
is interested in the evacuation and hospitalization of cases 
of communicable disease—units in which they may be en- 
countered, estimated numbers, and the isolation required. 
The dental subsection is interested in any special arrange- 
ments to be made for maxillo-facial injuries, and in the evac- 
uation policy governing dental patients. The supply subsec- 
tion is interested in the locations of army hospitals, and in 
the estimated numbers and types of casualties. The veter- 
inary subsection has its own problems of the chain of animal 
evacuation. 
d. Development of plan.—The key to the plan of the army 
chain of evacuation is the disposition of the evacuation hos- 
pitals. Suitable locations ordinarily will be few in number, 
and all other considerations must be subordinated to the 
proper location of these units. The next most important 
consideration is the means of transporting evacuees. The 
type of transport required will depend upon the situation 
and the road net, and the amount upon the number of 
evacuees and the time-distance of movement. Linear dis- 
tance is only one factor in time-distance. 
e. Disposition of evacuation hospitals.—lt is a most im- 
portant principle that evacuation hospitals must be kept as 
mobile as is possible under the circumstances. This is 
achieved by closing, and loading when practicable, all units 
not required for the care of casualties and for which no need 
in the immediate future can be foreseen. 
When a change in the medical plan is necessary, the army 
surgeon can look only to his reserve evacuation hospitals 
for movement to new locations. Those at station are im- 
mobile until they can be evacuated and loaded for movement. 
What might be termed a standard plan for a normal situ- 
ation—without implying that it is a fixed rule—is to dispose 
of evacuation hospitals in groups of three each. When a 
change in disposition becomes necessary and all three are 
in operation, two are closed and moved immediately to the 
new group location, where only one is established initially, 
56 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
51 
and the other held in reserve, still loaded if possible. As 
soon as the unit established in the new location is receiving 
patients, the unit in operation at the old location is closed, 
evacuated, and loaded. Its further disposition depends upon 
the situation—it may be moved at once to the new loca- 
tion, held in reserve elsewhere, or moved to and established 
in a third location if necessary. When a group of evacuation 
hospitals are placed in one location, individual units are 
established at station only as the need is foreseen; and one 
unit in each group being in reserve at all times will be a great 
source of comfort to the army surgeon. 
The so-called standard method of disposing of evacuation 
hospitals, just outlined, must be modified to meet the special 
requirements of any situation. 
f. Transportation of evacuees.—(l) Standard means.— 
Army ambulances are the standard means of transporting 
evacuees within the army area. 
(a) Control of ambulances.—The evacuation of clearing 
stations should be controlled by the operations and training 
subsection of the army surgeon’s office, with either the chief 
of that subsection or one of his principal commissioned 
assistants in direct charge. For many reasons, among which 
is the necessity of coordinating this task with other phases 
of army medical service, this responsibility should not be 
delegated to the commander of an army medical unit. 
Ib) Allocation of ambulances.—All ambulances required 
for the evacuation of clearing stations should be placed in 
a pool controlled by the officer in charge of such evacuation. 
Insofar as practicable, however, tactical unity should be pre- 
served in this allocation. 
(c) Restriction of responsibility.—The responsibility for the 
evacuation of a designated clearing station should be exclu- 
sive to a particular unit. 
id) Liaison.—Prompt and accurate information is essen- 
tial. Whenever possible, wire communications should be 
established between the stations to be evacuated and the army 
surgeon’s office. Equally certain communications should be 
maintained with the rear termini of the chain at evacuation 
hospitals. Regardless of the means of communication, a 51 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
liaison agent from the army surgeon’s office at each critical 
point will prove most helpful. 
(e) Operations.—The officer in charge of evacuation co- 
ordinates tasks with means. He forms and dispatches con- 
voys in accordance with demands. Upon completion of a 
mission, each convoy returns to the pool to await further 
missions. 
(/) Records.—The officer in charge of evacuation maintains 
a log which shows the disposition of all ambulances at all 
times—mission, number in convoy, times of departure and 
return, distances traveled, and numbers of evacuees trans- 
ported. He also, from the check lists of convoy commanders, 
maintains a consolidated record of the numbers and classes 
(litter or sitting) of evacuees and their origin and disposition. 
He does not maintain individual records of evacuees. For 
forms for these records, see appendix H. 
(2) Other means of transporting evacuees.—ln certain sit- 
uations, the exclusive use of army ambulances in the evacua- 
tion of divisions and corps may be impracticable or even 
impossible and other types of transport must be employed. 
(a) Other types of transport.—Other types of transport 
that have been used are—railroads, both of standard and of 
narrow gage; cargo trucks, either used exclusively for the 
purpose or only on their return trips to the rear; airplanes, 
specially built as ambulances or standard transport planes; 
aerial cable or tramways; and animals and other beasts of 
burden equipped with cacolets, travois, or other special 
carriers. 
(b) Operations of other types of transport.—The operation 
of any type of transport depends largely upon its charac- 
teristics and must be accordingly modified. The general 
principles of evacuation by ambulances are followed so long 
as they are applicable. In certain instances, such special 
types of transport may be turned over to the medical service 
for its exclusive use. However, in all cases where the control 
of such transport remains with an arm or another service, 
considerable coordination is required. In general, it will 
prove more efficient if instructions are issued by the army 
commander (G-4) defining the responsibilities and the 
authority of each branch involved. 
58 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
51-52 
g. Veterinary evacuation.—The principles set forth above 
in connection with human evacuation apply, in general, to 
the evacuation of animals. These are— 
(1) The army veterinarian is directly responsible to the 
army surgeon for plans and operations. 
(2) Veterinary evacuation is continuous and problems of 
preventive veterinary medicine and of supply are involved. 
(3) The key to the plan is the location of veterinary evac- 
uation hospitals. However, since knotty problems in the 
transportation of evacuees and failing of economical solu- 
tion can always be solved by the destruction of casualties, 
this aspect is of lesser importance than in human evacuation. 
(4) Veterinary evacuation hospitals should be kept as 
mobile as circumstances will permit and, whenever possible, 
at least one should be held in reserve ready for movement. 
They are not ordinarily, however, established in groups. 
(5) Lead lines for the readily ambulant, and veterinary 
ambulances for others, are the standard means of movement 
of animal casualties within the army area. Cargo trucks 
may also be used. 
(6) The operations of the second and third echelons of 
veterinary service should not be confused. Third echelon 
service should be controlled by the veterinary subsection of 
the army surgeon’s office. Second echelon service may be 
decentralized to the veterinary company (separate). 
(7) Liaison is essential to prompt and effective evacuation. 
(8) Complete records are maintained. 
■ 52. Medical support of army troops.—a. Definition.—The 
collection of casualties from the dispensaries and aid stations 
of units of army troops, and their removal to an army clearing 
station, is not to be confused with the evacuation of clearing 
stations, even though both are functions of the army medical 
service. The former function is one of second echelon med- 
ical service—the first echelon being the unit medical service 
of attached medical personnel (see par. 2)— while the latter 
is one of third echelon medical service. 
b. Responsibility.—The medical support of units of army 
troops is a responsibility of the army surgeon. However, to 
prevent duplication of effort, a standing operating procedure 
59 52-53 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
should ordinarily be established providing for this support 
to be rendered by local medical services for such army units 
as are located or operating within the areas of divisions or 
corps. The army medical service, in turn, should render 
this support to all units in the army area in rear of corps 
boundaries regardless of the tactical or administrative affilia- 
tions of such units. 
c. Chain of evacuation.—ln the usual case, the forward 
termini of this chain of evacuation are at the dispensaries 
and the aid stations of the units where the army medical 
service assumes the responsibility, and the rear termini are 
at army clearing stations. 
d. Control.—ln sharp distinction to the control of the 
third echelon of evacuation, it will usually be preferable to 
assign this task to a tactical unit, or a composite detachment, 
of army medical troops. Control may be better, under certain 
conditions, if two or more chains of evacuation in the second 
echelon are established, with the zones of responsibility of each 
defined, and each chain assigned to a different army medical 
unit. The commanding officers of such units or detachments 
are then directly responsible to the army surgeon. 
e. Installations.—Under normal conditions, army clearing 
stations are the only installations in the second echelon of 
evacuation in the army rear area. Collecting stations rarely 
will be established. 
/. Operations.—The administrative instructions of the 
army will inform each unit of army troops of the medical 
support allotted to it. Unit surgeons may request evacuation 
of their aid stations and dispensaries by the army medical 
unit in support. Certain units of army troops, notably anti- 
aircraft artillery, are organically equipped with ambulances. 
When practicable, and especially in emergencies, these should 
be used by unit surgeons to send their evacuees to the army 
clearing stations. 
■ 53. Medical support of army with cavalry.—a. Organic 
medical service.—Each cavalry division is provided organ- 
ically with first and second echelon medical and veterinary 
service. The army medical service provides third echelon 
service. 
60 medical service of corps and army 
53 
b. General considerations.—The standard system of evacu- 
ation in forward areas is predicated upon two essential 
premises—supporting medical echelons must be at least 
slightly more mobile than those supported; and lines of com- 
munication (evacuation) must be secure. If either of these 
basic requirements are lacking, the system breaks down. 
The essentiality of the second premise may be, at first 
glance, more obvious than that of the first. However, be- 
cause of the great mobility of army ambulances, the army 
medical service is more mobile than division clearing sta- 
tions despite the lesser mobility of evacuation hospitals. 
This permits the army medical service to keep clearing 
stations ready to move on short notice; but army medical 
support has failed when a division clearing station is unable 
to move because of the accumulation of casualties. 
The essential quality of the mobility of medical units is 
time, and time is a function of distance as well as of speed. 
Thus, while army ambulances may be sufficiently mobile to 
evacuate division clearing stations some 30 miles in front of 
evacuation hospitals, this does not imply that they are 
mobile enough to evacuate the clearing station of a cavalry 
division some 50 or 60 miles away. 
c. When lines of communication are secure.—The principal 
problems in the evacuation of the clearing station of a cavalry 
division arise out. of the distance involved. The greater 
mobility of cavalry requires prompt evacuation if the mobility 
of its organic medical service is to be maintained, and this, 
in turn, may require the decentralization of this task to an 
army ambulance commander, giving him adequate means and 
charging him with this sole responsibility. When the dis- 
tance becomes too great for this to solve the problem, the 
cavalry division should be reinforced with an army clearing 
unit thus permitting it to “leap-frog” its clearing station and 
maintain contact with combat elements. 
d. When lines of communication are not secure.—lt is futile 
to attempt to employ the standard system in evacuating a 
cavalry division because at best, evacuation under such cir- 
cumstances can proceed only intermittently. The first step 
in the solution is the reinforcement of the cavalry division 
with additional means to care for their casualties until they 
61 63-55 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
can be evacuated. This will require one or more army clear- 
ing units. Subsequent steps in the solution will depend upon 
the situation. If the cavalry division is responsible for re- 
plenishing its ammunition and other supplies, army ambu- 
lances should be attached to it and the division commander 
made responsible for the evacuation of his casualties, which 
he may do by protected convoy at the same time that he 
obtains supplies. If, however, the army retains the responsi- 
bility for the distribution of supplies to the cavalry division, 
it should also retain the responsibility of evacuation, and 
accomplish both tasks by the same protected convoys. 
■ 54. Medical support of reconnaissance and security de- 
tachments.—a. General principles.—(l) Detachment com- 
manders are responsible for first and second echelon medical 
service. Each component of the detachment should bring 
with it its proper proportion of attached medical personnel. 
Elements of second echelon medical service may be taken 
from division, corps, or army medical units. 
(2) Detachments larger than a regiment should be provided 
with second echelon medical service. 
(3) Local commanders are responsible for providing suit- 
able medical means for local reconnaissance and security de- 
tachments. When necessary, the army medical service may 
furnish reinforcements for this purpose. 
(4) Reconnaissance and security detachments operating 
under conditions that prevent ready evacuation by supporting 
medical elements should be given sufficient medical means to 
care for their casualties properly until communications can 
be established. 
b. Support by the army medical service.—The army is re- 
sponsible for the third echelon medical service of all recon- 
naissance and security detachments, and it may furnish the 
elements of the second echelon. The general principles gov- 
erning this medical support are the same as those governing 
the medical support of cavalry. See paragraph 53. 
■ 55. Reinforcement of subordinate elements.—a. Gen- 
eral.—All tactical and administrative organization is based 
upon average requirements. To provide for each organiza- 
62 medical service of corps and army 
55 
tlon, organic means adequate to cope with extreme situations 
would prove to be most uneconomical during the greater part 
of the time. Since all elements of the army rarely, if ever* 
exert a maximum effort at the same time, pools of additional 
means are included in the organization of the army for the> 
purpose of reinforcing such of its subordinate elements as are 
faced with unusual demands. 
b. How initiated.—After estimating the situation and for- 
mulating plans, lower echelons ordinarily will request the re- 
inforcements for which they can foresee the needs. The 
approval of all such requests is a decision of the army 
commander. In the case of medical reinforcements, the 
army surgeon examines the plans of subordinate echelons and 
makes suitable recommendations upon which the army com- 
mander may base his decision. The responsibility of the sur- 
geon is not confined to requests submitted. If, in his opinion,, 
sufficient medical reinforcements have not been requested, he 
so advises the army commander and submits his own esti- 
mate of the additional medical means required. The army 
surgeon must keep informed of the medical situations within 
all echelons at all times, and he should initiate the reinforce- 
ment of subordinate medical services whenever it is indicated 
during the course of an action. 
c. Allocation of means.—All probable demands must be 
considered before the army surgeon recommends the alloca- 
tion of the limited means at his disposal. The future needs 
of divisions not committed initially must not be overlooked. 
In general, preference should be given to elements having 
decisive missions. Insofar as practicable, tactical and admin- 
istrative unity should be preserved in the allocation of rein- 
forcements. This principle may have to be violated upon 
occasion. 
d. Control.—Control passes from the army when the at- 
tachment to the lower unit becomes effective. This time is 
prescribed in the order, and usually will be fixed as the time 
that the reinforcement arrives at a designated point within 
the area of the unit to which it is destined. The duration of 
the attachment may or may not be stated in the original 
order, and control returns to the army only after the attach- 
ment has been discontinued by the army commander. 
63 56 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
Section V 
INFLUENCE OF TACTICAL OPERATIONS UPON 
MEDICAL SERVICE 
■ 56. Concentration.—a. General plan.—The principal lim- 
iting factors of a concentration plan are the location of the 
concentration area, particularly with regard to the location 
of the enemy; the requirements of security during concen- 
tration: the scheme of maneuver of the army; and the rail 
and road net. The concentration plan is developed in detail 
before concentration is begun, and it is of the greatest im- 
portance that both the medical plan be developed concur- 
rently and that the general plan provide for adequate medical 
service during all phases. 
b. Covering force(s).—When there is any threat of enemy 
interference with concentration, the first provision is for a 
covering force. Such a force ordinarily includes cavalry and 
may include other arms. Antiaircraft protection is also 
among the first priorities. 
c. Medical service.—(l) General.—The following funda- 
mental considerations should be observed in planning the 
medical service for the concentration of the army: 
(a) All units, including those of the covering force, may 
be expected to arrive in the concentration area with casual- 
ties requiring immediate evacuation and hospitalization. 
(b) Medical installations must be located to conform to 
the disposition of the various units in the concentration area. 
(c) No more medical units should be employed in medical 
service in the concentration area than are necessary, thus 
permitting as many as possible to continue training and 
other preparations for combat. The medical service must be 
suitably disposed and kept sufficiently mobile to support 
future movements of the army without delay. 
(d) The physical facilities of existing civil institutions 
should be used as far as practicable without seriously inter- 
fering with the medical requirements of the civil population. 
(e) Close cooperation with, or military control of, existing 
civil public health agencies is essential to the preservation 
of the health of the troops. 
64 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
56-57 
(2) Priorities.—ln general, the concentration of essential 
medical units should precede, whenever practicable, that of 
the units which they are to serve, in order that they may 
be fully established and ready to function when other units 
arrive in the area. 
Essential functioning elements of division and corps medi- 
cal services should receive high priorities within their units; 
and it is the duty of the army surgeon to examine subordi- 
nate concentration plans and to inform the army commander 
when such plans do not provide for an adequate medical 
service. Other medical elements, not required for service in 
the concentration area, require no special consideration. 
At least one evacuation hospital and an army ambulance 
unit will be required by the covering force and should be 
given a very early priority in the plan. Other evacuation 
hospitals are given priorities in accordance with the medical 
needs that can be foreseen. Surgical hospitals will not be 
required during concentration, and the convalescent hospital 
may be given a very low priority. The medical laboratory 
and medical depot will be needed early, and the priorities of 
other army medical units, such as collecting and clearing 
units, will depend upon the extent of their contemplated 
employment during concentration. 
Priorities of veterinary units are governed by similar 
considerations. 
■ 57. Marches.—a. Army troops.—For the medical service 
of marching columns, see FM 8-10. The great majority of 
units of army troops being either motorized or mounted, 
march collecting posts rarely will be required for their col- 
umns. Army ambulances may be attached to such units as 
are not organically provided with them, and all units may 
either carry with them, or evacuate, their own march casual- 
ties. Routes for such evacuation should be arranged in the 
army medical plan in order to minimize interference with 
other movements. The services of army clearing stations 
frequently may be dispensed with during marches—the 
march casualties of army units being evacuated either di- 
rectly to evacuation hospitals or to second echelon installa- 
tions of corps and divisions. 
65 57-58 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
b. Third echelon medical service.—No great proportion of 
an army will be engaged in combat during a march, which 
will permit the bulk of the evacuation hospitals being held 
ready to move forward to establish nearer the front as the 
situation indicates. The clearing stations ordinarily will 
move daily and must be evacuated in time to permit such 
movement. However, movements of ambulances should be 
reduced to a minimum during the hours of marching, and, 
except for the units engaged in combat, it may prove ad- 
visable to limit routine evacuation to the hours in which the 
columns are in bivouac, directing lower echelons either to 
call upon army for evacuation of emergency cases or to 
evacuate them with their own ambulances. 
■ 58. Attack.—a. General.—The casualty rate is higher 
than average in attack, and may be expected to be highest 
in divisions making strong attacks against resistance. Move- 
ment is an essential characteristic of most types of attack, 
and for medical units to maintain contact, the accumulation 
of casualties must be prevented by prompt evacuation. 
b. Surgical hospitals.—These should be allocated in accord- 
ance with the tasks of the several divisions, preference being 
given to those making the main and principal efforts. When 
not all divisions can be so supported, the divisions not ex- 
pected to advance rapidly may be reinforced with operating 
teams so that their own clearing stations may care for non- 
transportables. It must always be remembered that divisions 
initially in reserve may urgently require the support of 
surgical hospitals when they are committed. However, sur- 
gical hospitals should not be established at station, because 
of their limited mobility, until stiff resistance is encountered. 
c. Evacuation hospitals.—The necessity for secrecy may 
prohibit the proper disposition of evacuation hospitals prior 
to the launching of the attack. In such cases, as many evac- 
uation hospitals as is possible should be initially in reserve, 
loaded and ready for early movement to attack positions. 
An adequate reserve, ready for movement at any time, is 
essential if the attack progresses rapidly. 
66 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
58-60 
d. Reinforcement of subordinate echelons.—The medical 
services of divisions making major efforts may require rein- 
forcement. See paragraph 55. 
e. Supply.—The heavier casualty rate and the wastage re- 
sulting from rapid movement will consume supplies at a higher 
than average rate. 
■ 59. Pursuit.—a. Planning.—ln every attack situation par- 
ticularly, the possibility that the commander will exploit 
success should be uppermost in the mind of the army surgeon. 
The medical plan for a pursuit must be prepared in advance 
because, once the decision to pursue is made, no time is lost 
in inaugurating the pursuit. 
b. Direct pressure force.—The medical service of the direct 
pressure force is that of any fast-moving attack. Speed of 
movement increases the difficulty of collection and evacuation, 
and every effort must be made to keep first and second eche- 
lon medical service in close contact with their units. Rein- 
forcement of lower medical echelons may be required, par- 
ticularly with litter bearer and clearing elements—the latter 
to enable clearing stations to be “leap-frogged” frequently. 
c. Encircling and harassing forces.—Third echelon medical 
service ordinarily is impossible with forces that operate in 
the enemy’s rear. This lack may be partially compensated 
by reinforcing the second echelon medical services of such 
forces so that they may care for their casualties properly until 
satisfactory contact can be reestablished. The source of the 
second echelon medical service of such forces depends upon 
the situation and the size, composition, and source of the 
force. It may be provided from division or corps medical 
services, or by attaching elements of the army medical service. 
■ 60. Attack of a river line.—The special problems arising 
in an attack of a river line are in the field of division medical 
service more than in that of corps and army medical service. 
Insofar as the army is concerned, the medical problems are 
largely those of any attack. Considerations of secrecy may 
delay the disposition of medical installations, but evacuation 
hospitals should be pushed as near the river line as possible 
as soon as corps bridgeheads have been secured. Their exact 
67 60-62 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
locations will depend upon the bridges as well as the rail 
net. Surgical hospitals will prove to be of great value, 
especially when evacuation is delayed by congestion on 
bridges, and they should be pushed up to divisions whenever 
practicable. Delay in extending rail lines across the river 
may raise the question as to whether evacuation hospitals 
should be pushed across the river before rail communications 
are established. The answer to this question lies in each 
situation; but a general principle may be stated that, when 
surgical hospitals are able to afford adequate emergency 
service to the seriously injured, evacuation hospitals should 
not be moved away from common carrier lines without com- 
pelling reasons. 
■ 61. Defense.—a. General.—The medical service of the 
defense depends so much upon the type of defense that it is 
unsafe to prescribe fixed rules applicable to all types. A 
fortified position, for example, ordinarily will include fixed, 
protected sites for medical installations, and the scheme of 
evacuation will depend upon the means arranged. A mobile 
defense implies considerable offensive operations, and a de- 
fensive-offensive is really an attack. Only broad general 
principles are stated in succeeding subparagraphs. 
h. Evacuation hospitals.—These usually are located farther 
to the rear than in attack, and well within protected flanks, 
where they will escape being involved in minor enemy suc- 
cesses. No more units should be established at station than 
necessary, and a reserve should be available for either a 
counteroffensive or a retirement. 
c. Surgical hospitals.—These will be particularly useful to 
divisions since, so long as the defense is maintained, there 
will be little movement of division rear installations. 
■ 62. Retrograde movements.—The principles of third eche- 
lon medical service of retrograde movements are— 
a. As few evacuation hospitals are established at station 
as will meet the needs and, when so established, only so much 
of the unit is set up as is necessary. 
b. Evacuation hospitals are moved toward the rear by 
“leap-frogging.” 
68 medical service of corps and army 
62-64 
c. Second echelon medical service must be kept highly mo- 
bile through prompt evacuation. 
d. Surgical hospitals ordinarily are impracticable in this 
operation, but their personnel may be employed to advantage 
in other service. 
Section VI 
SUPPLY 
■ 63. Classification of supplies.—See FM 8-55. 
■ 64. Army medical supply.—a. Responsibility.—The sur- 
geon is responsible to the army commander for the procure- 
ment, storage, and issue of all items of special supply allocated 
to the Medical Department. To assist him in these duties 
are the army medical supply officer and the supply subsection 
of the medical section of army headquarters. 
b. Army medical supply officer.—The commanding officer 
of the army medical depot is the army medical supply officer. 
He heads and is responsible for the operations of medical 
supply as distinguished from planning and the formulation 
of policies. Under such policies as may be established, he 
procures such supplies as are required to maintain depot 
stockages at prescribed levels, and issues supplies upon requi- 
sitions approved by the army surgeon and upon any other 
request that may be authorized. He is directly responsible 
for the army medical depot. 
c. Supply subsection of the medical section of army head- 
quarters.—This subsection provides the army surgeon with 
assistance in all the details of medical supply that he would 
have personally to attend to if he had no other assistance 
than an operating agency. In other words, it relieves the 
army surgeon of the details of the discharge of such of his 
responsibility, and the exercise of such of his authority as 
he would not ordinarily delegate to an operating agency. 
This subsection studies supply requirements, compiles sup- 
ply experience, drafts supply plans, formulates supply policies 
for thd surgeon to recommend to the army commander, 
drafts recommendations for the establishment of credits, 
examines all requisitions for supplies and recommends action 
69 64-66 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
for the surgeon to take in connection therewith, and assists 
the army surgeon in all other staff aspects of supply mat- 
ters. It should refrain from invading the sphere of respon- 
sibility of the army medical supply officer in the operations 
of procuring, storing, and issuing of medical supplies, al- 
though the army surgeon may, in his discretion, delegate 
to this subsection the technical supervision of the army 
medical depot. 
■ 65. Depot stockage.—See FM 8-55. 
■ 66. Supply credits.—See FM 8-55. 
70 MEDICAL SERVICE OF CORPS AND ARMY 
66 
EVACUATED: Medical section Received: 
From: Clr. Sta., 5 Div. Headquarters First Army At Evac. Hosp. No. 617. 
Located at: Shippensburg. By; Located at: Carlisle. 
(signed;) Edward F. Bly,1 Convoy No. 987, (signed:) James C. Smith,2 
Capt., M. C. First Army Med. Serv. Major, M. C. 
Date and hour: 17 June 19—, 6 :15 PM. Date and hour: 17 June 19—, 7 : 40 PM. 
Evacuee 
S 
or 
P 3 
Name 
Army 
Serial 
No. 
Grade 
Organization 
Diagnosis 
Remarks 
6534278 
Pvt... 
A, 17 Inf.... 
19 FA 
P 
QSW: fract, comp, rt. tibia.. . . 
0-19785 
1st It . 
S 
GSW, penetrating, mid. third, left 
arm. 
Nonbattle fract, left radius and 
ulna. 
Observe for sec hemorrhage. 
8485722 
Sgt .. 
Hq, 14 Inf... 
D, 21 Inf.... 
H, 14 Inf 
22 FA 
S 
7959631 
Pvt 
P 
Isolate. 
Johnson, Frank W 
Perry, Jonathan (none). 
7644781 
0-4589 
Corp 
Col 
P 
s 
GSW, perforating, right thorax 
May require more morphine. 
Died en route.4 
1 One copy signed by officer in charge of convoy and left with the evacuation officer of the Clr. Sta., 5 Div., as a receipt. 
1 One copy signed by the receiving officer of Evac. Hosp. No. 617 and given to the officer in charge of the convoy as a receipt. 
3 Sitting or prone. 
4 “May require more morphine” entered at Clr. Sta., 5 Div. “Died en route” entered later by officer in charge of convoy. 
Appendix I 
FORM FOR CHECK LIST OF EVACUEES 66 
MEDICAL FIELD MANUAL 
Convoy 
Itinerary 
Number 
evacuated 
Mission: To 
evacuate— 
Num- 
Composition 
Commander 
Left pool 
Distance traveled, in 
miles 
Returned 
Total 
ber 
Out 
Load- 
ed 
In 
Total 
to pool 
Hosp. Sta., IV Corps. 
979 
1st Plat., Co. D, 458 
Med. Regt. 
1st Lt. John P. 
Jay, MC 
12:15 AM 
6 
n 
9 
26 
3:35 AM 
22 
49 
61 
Clr. Sta., 16 Div 
980 
Co. E, 458 Med. Regt., 
with Ambs. Nos. 5 
and 6 of 364 Amb. 
Co. (Sep.) atchd. 
Capt. James E. 
Blue, MC 
12:40 AM 
9 
16 
12 
35 
5:15 AM 
59 
63 
122 
Hosp. Sta. No. 2, 
First Army (Emer- 
gency). 
981 
Amb. No. 2, 364 Amb. 
Co. (Sep.). 
Pvt. lei. Clarence 
Jackson 
12:45 AM 
3 
T~ 
9 
19 
2:05 AM 
1 
0 
1 
Clr. Sta., 5 Div 
987 
Co. D, with 1st Plat. 
Co. E, atchd, 458 
Med. Regt. 
Capt. Edward P. 
Bly, MC 
4:55 PM 
P) 
0) 
(•) 
(>) 
(>) 
(') 
0) 
0) 
i Convoy not yet returned; thase entries not made until convoys return to pool. 
Appendix II 
FORM FOR AN EVACUATION LOG 
Medical Section, Headquarters First Army, 17 June 19— 
72 INDEX 
Paragraphs Pages 
Administrative responsibility: 
Army 24 26 
Corps 7 10 
Ambulance units 38 34 
Army headquarters, medical section 34 31 
Army medical service: 
Administrative responsibility 24 26 
Characteristics 23 23 
Definition 22 23 
Influence of tactical operations on 56-62 64 
Missions 25 27 
Operations, medical 48-55 51 
Organization 26 28 
Supply 36,64 33,69 
Units 35-46 33 
Army surgeon: 
Responsibilities 27 28 
Relations to other officers 28-33 28 
Attached medical personnel of corps troops 13 15 
Attack 58, 60 66,67 
Battalion, corps medical 
Organization 12 13 
Special employment 16 17 
Chain of command, army medical units 35 33 
Chain of evacuation: 
Army 48 51 
Position of corps in 15 17 
Characteristics: 
Army 23 23 
Corps 6 8 
Check list of evacuees App. I 71 
Classification, supplies 63 69 
Clearing stations, evacuation 50 55 
Clearing units 39 35 
Collecting units 37 33 
Concentration plan 56 64 
Corps medical service: 
Administrative responsibility 7 10 
Battalion 12,16 13, 17 
Characteristics 6 8 
Definition 5 8 
Evacuation policy 18 19 
Headquarters 11 12 
Organization 8 11 
Medicine and sanitation, preventive 19 19 
Personnel, attached 13 15 
Plans and orders 21 22 
Position in army chain of evacuation 15 17 
Reinforcement of division medical services— 17 18 
Supply 20 20 
73 INDEX 
Corps surgeons; Paragraphs Pages 
Responsibilities 9 11 
Relations to division surgeon 10 12 
Defense, medical service in 61 68 
Definitions: 
Army 22 23 
Corps 5 8 
Depot, medical 44 45 
Echelons of medical service 2 1 
Employment, corps medical battalion 16 17 
Evacuations: 
Chains: 
Army 48 51 
Position of corps in 15 17 
Clearing stations 50 55 
Corps and divisions 49 53 
Log App. II 72 
Plans and operations in 51 55 
Policies 3,18 2,19 
Headquarters: 
Army medical section 34 31 
Corps medical service 11 12 
Hospitals: 
Convalescent 42, 47 43, 49 
Evacuation 41,46 40, 48 
{Surgical 40 37 
Veterinary 46, 47 48,49 
Influence of tactical operations upon medical 
service: 
Attack 58,60 66, 67 
Concentration 56 64 
Defense 61 68 
Marches 57 65 
Pursuit 59 67 
Retrograde movements 62 68 
Laboratories, medical 43 44 
Medical service: 
Army 22-66 23 
Corps 5-21 8 
Influence of tactical operations on 56-62 64 
Medicine, preventative 4,19 5,19 
Missions, army medical service 25 ’ 27 
Operations, medical: 
Evacuation: 
Army chain 48 51 
Clearing stations 50 55 
Corps and divisions 49 53 
Plans and operations 51 55 
Reinforcement of subordinate elements 55 62 
74 INDEX 
Operations, medical—Continued. 
Support: Paragraphs Pages 
Army troops 52 59 
Army with cavalry 53 60 
Reconnaissance and security detach- 
ments 54 62 
Organization of the medical service: 
Army 26 28 
Corps 8 11 
Personnel attached medical, of corps troops 13 15 
Plans and operations in evacuation 51 55 
Plans and orders, corps medical service 21 22 
Policies, evacuation 3,18 2,19 
Pursuit 59 67 
Reinforcement: 
Division medical services 17 18 
Subordinate elements 55 62 
Responsibility, administrative: 
Army 24 26 
Corps 7 10 
Sanitation 4,19 5,19 
Surgeons: 
Army 27-34 28 
Corps 9, 10 11,12 
Supply: 
Classification 63 69 
Credits 66 70 
Medical 20, 36, 63-66 20, 33, 69 
Support, medical: 
Army troops 52 59 
Army with cavalry 53 60 
Corps troops 14 15 
Reconnaissance and security detachments 54 62 
Units, medical; 
Ambulance 38 34 
Chain of command 35 33 
Clearing 39 35 
Collecting 37 33 
Company, veterinary, separate 45 47 
Depot 44 45 
Hospitals: 
Convalescent 42, 47 43, 49 
Evacuation 41,46 40,'48 
Surgical 40 37 
Veterinary 46, 47 48, 49 
Laboratories 43 44 
Supply 36 33 
Veterinary hospitals 46,47 48, 49