Lt. Col. Chad Hivnor, director of the associate dermatology program at Wilford Hall Medical Center in San Antonio, has received a research grant of more than $1 million to study the use of lasers to help wounded troops recover better from severe burns. Hivnor has noticed that the use of fractionated lasers to treat burned skin results in better range of motion for the patient because the burn scars become softer. He will be cooperating on the three-year study with Robert Spence, a burn reconstructive surgeon, who founded the National Burn Reconstruction Center at Good Samaritan Hospital in Baltimore. Spence said he is particularly interested to discover whether burn victims can regain more complete movement of their mouths and elbows with this treatment. (Lackland report by SSgt. Robert Barnett)
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…