direct support facility, which was located at Nha Trang, operated out of temporary buildings with inadequate storage and shop space. Hospitals within Vietnam had little or no maintenance capability and were, thus dependent upon the base depot for support. Although the 32d Medical Depot had, deployed to Vietnam with a prescribed load of repair parts, the supply proved inadequate because of the early approval of many complex and highly specialized items of medical equipment for use in-country. A majority of these items were nonstandard and consequently required nonstandard repair parts which were not included in the original load. During late 1966 and early 1967, the depot incorporated many standard and nonstandard items into a depot maintenance float for direct exchange by units using them; this action made repair parts available to medical facilities within the depot system.

With the establishment of backup maintenance support at the U.S. Army Medical Depot, Okinawa, a number of problems were solved. For example, it was no longer necessary to send 100 MA X-ray tubes to CONUS for repair, a step which involved considerable delay in getting the equipment back into the depot system.

By 1968, tremendous improvements had been made in medical maintenance support and capability. The base depot maintenance section was moved to Cam Ranh Bay and new facilities were programmed for construction. Repair parts management was transferred from maintenance repair personnel to inventory managers, thus enabling the repairmen to devote more time to the actual repair of equipment. In addition, medical equipment assistance teams, composed of highly skilled technicians, responded to the needs of medical facilities for periodic technical assistance and on-site repair.