Apr

20

Gettin’ Buggy With It

Filed Under AFMS Careers 

The Air Force Medical Service is primarily about healthcare — treating patients, whether they are military, family members, retired members, and such. But there are a few relatively obscure career fields within the AFMS that have little to do with a routine visit to a doctor’s office, such as entomology. Ento-what? That’s the study of arthropods, such as spiders, scorpions, and other critters that can make life - particularly in a war-zone - truly a living hell. For instance:

When military personnel are sent into combat and placed in rugged and remote situations, insects can have a devastating impact. Typhus fever, a disease transmitted by lice, killed 17,000 Spanish soldiers in 1489, incapacitated 30,000 French soldiers in 1528,1 contributed to the retreat of Napoleon’s Army from Moscow in 1812, and caused the death of millions of soldiers and civilians during WWI…entomology is the study of insects, spiders, ticks, and mites (collectively referred to as arthropods) and the discomfort, pain, and diseases they cause.

How small is this career field within the AFMS ? There are only 17 active-duty Air Force entomologists (and six AF Reserve entomologists). Pretty small group! Despite being few in number, they have quite an impact on Air Force operations. If you’d like to learn about becoming an Air Force entomologist, read this and this…and it’s probably a good idea that you don’t mind creepy-crawly things!



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Comments

One Response to “Gettin’ Buggy With It”

  1. jt on April 22nd, 2007 10:27 am

    ewwwwww…bugs.

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