57th Medical Detachment

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57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance)
57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) Insignia worn by Major Charles L. Kelly
Active	19 September 1943 – 30 September 1945 23 March 1953 – 15 June 2007
Country	US
Branch	Regular Army
Garrison/HQ	Fort Liberty
Nickname(s)	The Original Dustoff
Engagements	Vietnam War Operation Urgent Fury Operation Desert Storm Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Iraqi Freedom
Commanders
Notable commanders	Major Charles L. Kelly

The 57th Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance) was a US Army unit located at Fort Liberty, North Carolina, which provided aeromedical evacuation support to the Fort Liberty community, while training in its combat support mission. The first helicopter ambulance unit to be fielded the UH-1 Huey helicopter, it was also the first unit to deploy to Vietnam with the UH-1, and the first unit to fly them in combat, in 1962. By the time the detachment redeployed to the continental United States ten years, ten months, and seventeen days later, its crews had evacuated nearly 78,000 patients. The unit's callsign, "Dustoff," selected in 1963, is now universally associated with United States Army aeromedical evacuation units.

• The unit was originally formed as the 57th Malaria Control Unit in 1943 and served in Brazil during World War II. It was later redesignated as the 57th Medical Detachment in 1953 and activated at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.
• The unit was the first to use the UH-1 Huey helicopter for aeromedical evacuation missions. It deployed to Vietnam in 1962 and became the first unit to fly the UH-1 in combat. It also adopted the callsign DUSTOFF in 1963, which became synonymous with Army aeromedical evacuation units.
• The unit's crews evacuated nearly 78,000 patients during its ten-year service in Vietnam. One of its most notable members was Major Charles L. Kelly, who was killed in action in 1964 while attempting to rescue wounded soldiers under heavy fire. He is remembered as the “Father of Dustoff” and his motto “When I have your wounded” is engraved on the DUSTOFF Memorial at Fort Sam Houston.
• The unit also served in Grenada in 1983, where it evacuated 160 casualties during Operation Urgent Fury. It also supported Operation Desert Storm in 1991, where it flew over 600 missions and evacuated over 1,000 patients. It later deployed to Afghanistan in 2002 and Iraq in 2003 as part of Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom respectively.