Military Health Physics

[BobCherry@AOL.COM]

Dear Radsafers:

 

I am on the Health Physics Society's Program Committee. I proposed to the 

Committee at the HPS summer meeting that the HPS have a special session on what I 

call “military health physics.” This would be about health physics in the 

Department of Defense. So now I wonder how much interest might exist for such a 

special session.

 

While on active duty, I noticed that the HPS always welcomed those of us in 

uniform. Many HPS members have a military background. And I include DOD 

civilian health physicists in my definition of military health physicists.

 

I envision this special session (at least the first one) as more of a 

historical review of military health physics rather than an update on current events. 

It would be interesting to me to see and hear about what the Services did 

immediately following the end of World War 2 and about how each Service's 

military health physics specialties evolved into their present structures.

 

Military health physicists have been pioneers in nonionizing radiation safety 

and continue to lead the way now. We should hear about that. 

 

The Squids must have some stories about the beginning of the Nuclear Navy. 

The Zoomies must have more to talk about than their Broken Arrows.

 

We should be able to get the senior uniformed and civilian military health 

physicists to the meeting since we are holding it in their backyard to tell the 

junior health physicists in the audience about the wide variety of duties, 

missions, and assignment locations available to them and about the Services’ 

direct commission programs for qualified applicants.

 

Military health physicists, often with DOE colleagues, have been involved in 

many interesting projects over the years. One in which I participated was the 

Enewetak Cleanup that was in full swing from 1977-1980 with planning before 

and follow-up after.

 

The session should have lots of photographs of bygone days.

 

Those are my brainstorming ideas. 

 

So, what do Radsafers think? Do we want such a session?

 

What about my present and former DOD health physics colleagues? Would you 

support it with presentations?

 

The HPS Program Committee is preparing the Call for Papers for the Washington 

meeting right now. What should we do about a special session on military 

health physics?

 

Bob Cherry, Ph.D., CHP

Colonel, U.S. Army (retired)

 

P.S. Another of my ideas is a Military Health Physics Section of the HPS. If 

we put on a successful special session, I will bring this topic up for 

consideration. (I anticipate that someone will remind me that the HPS already has a 

Government Section. I can't speak for others and although I participated in 

Government Section activities while in uniform, it seems to me that it is 

primarily for the regulator types. Not that anything is wrong with that!)