The Army Strategic Command has the task of training, preparing and providing forces for service outside the United Kingdom. There will be occasions when these forces are required at extremely short notice. The troops of Strategic Command may be required to reinforce and operate with an existing overseas garrison, or as long as Dependent Territories continue to exist, to operate in an independent role in support of their governments. On other occasions it is conceivable that they may be required as the United Kingdom contribution to a Commonwealth or Allied Force which is formed to meet some particular purpose. Examples of each of these from the past are: the reinforcement of Malaysia, the short notice despatch of troops to Bermuda to meet an internal security situation and the contribution made to the United Nations Forces in Cyprus. Each month, from the troops within Strategic Command, a battalion with essential supporting elements is nominated for " Spearhead" duties and is accordingly prepared for movement to any part of the world. The leading elements are at twenty-four hours notice to emplane with the follow-up group at seventy-two hours notice. There is also the potential for further build up should this be necessary. Spearhead troops therefore must clearly be prepared in every way for deployment in any direction. They must be prepared for wide differences of climate, to operate in desert or jungle, in mountains or plains, in swamp or savannah, in highly developed countries or in primitive circumstances, or in various combinations of these topographical circumstances. This includes medical preparation. This, as we all know (or should know), goes far beyond the provision of medical personnel, and resources for the collection, treatment and care of casualties, along with an assortment of prophylactic vaccinations. The wider aspects of the medical preparation of troops for overseas, perhaps because they are not essentially clinical in content, tend to be overlooked, not only by medical officers, but also by those who may be responsible for the planning of the operation. Over the years, in order to help to achieve the necessary standard of preparation, the Army Medical Services have formulated the doctrine of " Prevision and Provision". This doctrine is clearly defined in Army Medical Directorate Bulletin No. 21. This Bulletin, which is an individual issue to all medical officers, is by no means as widely studied and familiar as it should be. The principles it lays down will never date and will always have a universal application. Certain of the techniques of preventive preparation which these principles imply are, of course, liable to modification as further scientific knowledge becomes available and as military technology advances. My colleagues in this presentation will touch upon some of the physiological and psychological implications consequent upon the moves of human beings between widely differing climates and geographies in high speed sophisticated aircraft. Some of these may call for modification of p...
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