That will come as a great comfort to Colonel Rhonda L. Cornum, who as a Major during Operation Desert Storm, was shot down while flying a CSAR [Combat Search And Rescue] mission for a downed Air Force F-16 pilot, though in a UH-60 Blackhawk rather than a Sh!!hook. Of her crew, 5 were killed, and the three survivors, were taken as POWs, including Major Cornum.
If, God forbid, I ever require the services of a frontline medic again, or if I ever need a ride out of a bad place in a medevac/casevac chopper, I will not be at all displeased to see the smiling face of Doc Cornum, whether hauling an M3 medic's bag around or at the controls of the dustoff bird, though she now more appropriately runs the 28th Combat Support Hospital at Ft Bragg. Like any good combat medic, I'd expect though that she'll still make the *house calls* if that's what it takes to save a few lives.
And if as is more likely, I see the smiling face instead of some other liar who tells me it's not all that bad, male or female, if they are anywhere near as well trained, experienced and dedicated as Colonel Cornum, who has been the one to train quite a few of those now hearing shots fired their way, I figure I'll be in the best hands possible. I figure quite a few of those now in Afghanistan now hearing those shots are personally and professionally familiar with Colonel Cornum and her work, and it would neither surprise nor disappoint me in the slightest if she's there with them.
