21 countries gather for annual flight surgeon conference

The annual Flight Surgeon Conference took place on Ramstein March 12 through 16 with the theme “Aircrew Performance Enhancement and Sustainment Preliminary Program.”

More than 200 participants gathered from 21 countries to share their thoughts and latest research ensuring those who fly are healthy and going above and beyond to improve and optimize flight crew performance.

The Flight Surgeon Conference started out as a small group of flight-medicine experts from NATO partner countries 16 years ago. It grew to its current size with representatives from as remote as Iraq and as far as Singapore.
The theme changes every year but it remains focused on supporting the aviation mission and personnel.

“The conference venue breaks down barriers to communication and allows immediate clarification and feedback on the various topics discussed,” said Col. Jay C. Neubauer, U.S. Air Forces in Europe command surgeon. “It also fosters a rekindling of networks among old partner nations and creates new ties with emerging partners to establish mutually beneficial links for ongoing dialog, information sharing and aerospace medicine improvement.”

Topics included situational awareness, psychological techniques and training, fatigue management strategies, as well as physical and physiological issues.

“One benefit of the conference is that you make contacts among the nations and services that attended, and developing the network of experts and colleagues to continue to make sure we minimize risk, improve performance and accomplish the mission with fewer resources,” said Col. Christopher Knaap, Air National Guard assistant to the command surgeon, USAFE.

“It is critical to realize that we do have common challenges and working together brings a synergy to solving some of these challenges,” Neubauer said. “When we share information and perspectives, we enhance the knowledge for everyone.”

The military aerospace medicine community from throughout Europe and beyond is actively engaged in a longstanding partnership in support of the aviation community, not only to sustain health but improve human performance and capability.