with the buildup, the Secretary of Defense directed the services to prepare a program to aid the civilian health effort in Vietnam. The new program, which initially employed Army military medical teams in direct aid to civilians, was MILPHAP. It was developed jointly by AID and USMACV.

The first MILPHAP teams went into operation in Vietnam in November 1965. Each team was composed of three physicians, one medical administrative officer, and 12 enlisted technicians. A MILPHAP team was assigned to a Vietnamese provincial hospital where its work was under the supervision of the provincial chief of medicine. By early 1966, six teams were functioning in provincial centers and the decision was made to add 15 teams to the program. The number increased to eight Army, seven Navy, and seven Air Force MILPHAP teams by May 1968. At the end of 1970, teams were assigned to 25 of the 44 provinces.

Sent to both provincial hospitals and district dispensaries, the units provided continuity in medical care at permanent civilian medical facilities. By augmenting or, in some cases, replacing the Vietnamese medical staff, MILPHAP teams, assisted in clinical, medical, and surgical care. They provided a permanent source of support for local public, health programs. With the co-operation of the chiefs of medicine in the provinces, the teams established a program of evacuation for patients to those Vietnamese and American medical installations which had a greater capacity for extended treatment.

The MILPHAP teams were reorganized in 1969 to make them more responsive to the requirements of the varying sizes of the medical installations to which they are assigned. The reorganization provided more surgeons and nurses with levels of skill appropriate to the medical facility