Medical Department
The ship's hospital, surgeons, and corpsmen.
A Hospital at Sea
The Medical Department was the ship’s hospital, carrying the responsibility for the health of thousands of sailors and embarked airmen with no shore facility within reach. Physicians, nurses, and a force of hospital corpsmen ran daily sick call, managed chronic conditions, and stood ready for the trauma that flight operations and heavy industrial work can produce. The department was the first and often only line of care for an entire small city under way.
Its spaces included examination rooms, a ward for patients held overnight, a laboratory and pharmacy, and an operating room capable of general surgery far from any base. Corpsmen were distributed through the ship as well, manning battle dressing stations and accompanying flight-deck and hangar-deck crews. Readiness for mass casualties — the simultaneous care of many wounded — shaped how the department drilled, stocked, and organized itself.
Aboard Constellation
On a six-month deployment to the Western Pacific and the Persian Gulf, the Medical Department functioned as the crew’s sole source of definitive care for long stretches at sea. Routine illness, dehydration in a hot climate, industrial injuries, and the ordinary emergencies of any large population all arrived at the same passageway. The nearest trauma center was, in practical terms, the operating room aboard the ship herself.
When a case exceeded what could be treated on board, the patient was stabilized and moved — by helicopter to a hospital ship, an allied facility, or a shore hospital — through a chain that the department coordinated in advance. Preventive medicine mattered as much as treatment: sanitation inspections, food-service oversight, and immunizations all guarded a confined community against the outbreaks that can disable a crew.
Roster
Sailors of Medical · Department roster, Medical Department, USS Constellation (CV-64), WESTPAC ’94–95 — transcribed from the original cruise book. Each name links to that Sailor’s page in the scanned book. See a misspelling or a shipmate we missed? Tell us and we’ll fix it.
- LCDRRobert J. Chastanetp. 154
- LTHerb M. Lynchp. 154
- LTJosemiguel L. Ubaldep. 154
- LTMona Willisp. 154
- LTPeter G. Woodsonp. 154
- ENSJoseph P. Goulartep. 154
- HMCSilas E. Berryp. 154
- HMCSteve R. Danielsp. 154
- HM1Ismael T. Guanzonp. 155
- HM1Clifford D. Matthewsp. 155
- HM1Abraham R. Pascualp. 155
- HM2Brian K. Carbaughp. 155
- HM2Michael S. Gibsonp. 155
- HM2Paul D. Kirschp. 155
- HM2Danilo M. Laysonp. 155
- HM2George W. Mosierp. 155
- HM2Pablo Froilan O. Paragasp. 156
- HM3Robert M. Barhamp. 156
- HM3Victor L. Billingsp. 156
- HM3Michael F. Conlonp. 156
- HM3Rheymundo M. Demoticap. 156
- HM3Paul M. Dufourp. 156
- HM3William J. Hutchinsonp. 156
- HM3Vic Leuteriop. 156
- HM3Andrew W. McCabep. 156
- HM3Frederick P. Mejosp. 157
- HM3Troy V. Olsenp. 157
- HM3Robert J. Rapenap. 157
- HM3Glenn D. Trendlerp. 157
- SNChristopher W. Allenp. 157
- SNChristian Beyerp. 157
- HNBrian J. Gagnonp. 157
- HNClifford B. Garvinp. 157
- HNBrian C. Okeefep. 157
Questions & Answers
Did an aircraft carrier really have an operating room?
Yes. A carrier of this era carried a full medical facility including an operating room, ward beds, a laboratory, and a pharmacy, staffed to perform surgery and hold patients at sea, because no shore hospital was within reach for much of a deployment.
What happened in a serious case the ship could not treat?
The patient was stabilized aboard and then transferred, typically by helicopter, to a hospital ship, an allied medical facility, or a shore hospital. The Medical Department arranged that medical evacuation through the battle group.