DETROIT
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Flight Surgeon Is Prepared
For Active Service In The Gulf
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Assistant Editor
L
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26
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1991
ike a rocket, the jet
shoots through the
bright sky. It pierces
the clouds, leaving a silver
trail in the air. The ride is
like a roller coaster but
faster and higher, jumping
off the track and coming as
close to heaven as you can
get.
And that's just the start of
it because no words can fully
describe riding in a jet
fighter, according to Dr.
Milton Mutchnick of West
Bloomfield.
Dr. Mutchnick is not a
pilot, though he has racked
up 950 hours of flying for his
work with the Air National
Guard. A colonel, his official
title is commander of the
180th tactical clinic of the
Ohio Guard, and his train-
ing is as a flight surgeon.
As a flight surgeon, Dr.
Mutchnick deals with pilots'
illnesses and problems. He
knows all aspects of vertigo
and how pilots taking medi-
cine will react at different
levels of air pressure. It's the
kind of specialized knowl-
edge that's likely to be
useful in the Gulf, where
American airmen are
leading the war on Iraq.
Last week, Dr. Mutchnick
was called to active duty
with the Air National
Guard, a division of the U.S.
Air Force. He'll be stationed
for two weeks at Langley Air
Force Base in Virginia,
taking over for other physi-
cians now stationed in the
Gulf. After that — sometime
in mid-February — Dr. Mut-
chnick expects to be sent to
Saudi Arabia.
He's ready to go.
"I haven't got the slightest
doubt" about serving in
Saudi Arabia, which the
men call "the Sand Box," he
said. "I knew what I was do-
ing when I signed up (with
the Guard)." His only con-
cern: he'll miss his three
young sons and new
daughter.
For Dr. Mutchnick's wife,
Renee, the war presents an-
other set of difficulties. Mrs.
Mutchnick is also a member
of the 180th tactical clinic,
but it's unlikely she'll be go-
ing to the Gulf.
Mrs. Mutchnick, a nurse,
is a member of the 180th's
second string, which means
she'll be staying in the
States to help on the home
Dr. Milton Mutchnick: "We can come in anywhere, set up a tent and
open shop."
front. It leaves her with "a
bittersweet sense of relief."
Though glad she will be
with her children, "I'll be
disappointed if everyone else
is going and I'm not because
I should be a part of it," she
said. "I feel a strong sense of
duty."
Members of Young Israel
of West Bloomfield, Dr. and
Mrs. Mutchnick met in the
Air National Guard.
A Toledo, Ohio, native,
Mrs. Mutchnick joined when
she was 17 to take advan-
tage of the Guard's college
program. She became a
health technician and later a
registered nurse, but never
opted to leave the Guard.
"At first, there was a lot of
chauvinism," she said. "I
always felt I had to perform
better, work longer hours
and do better work because I
was a woman."
But that soon changed to a
feeling of camaraderie with
the other 58 members of the
180th, which includes pro-
fessionals from all fields.
"Once I had proved myself
I made friends," Mrs. Mut-
chnick said. "And the
friends you have in the
military are not like friends
anywhere else. We feel a
real commitment to the peo-
ple we work with, which is
why I'm in the Guard still."
"There's something about
being in a military unit,"
her husband agreed. "It's
like a family."
Dr. Mutchnick, chief of
medicine at Hutzel Hospital,
joined the Air National
Guard during the Vietnam
war. Then residing in Ann
Arbor, he signed up with the
closest unit, which happened
to be in Ohio.
Guard officials immedi-
ately asked Dr. Mutchnick
"The friends you
have in the military
are not like friends
anywhere else. We
feel a real
commitment to the
people we work
with, which is why
I'm in the Guard
still."
— Renee Mutchnick
to consider becoming a flight
surgeon. Though he insisted,
"But I don't fly and I'm not a
surgeon," Dr. Mutchnick
soon found himself in the
program.
One of his first lessons was
jet training.
"As a flight surgeon, I
need to know everything