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by Suellyn Wright Novak, Col, USAF, BSC (Ret)
How did SAFMLS get started? SAFMLS had its roots in the Air Force Medical Laboratory Symposia of 1959.It was a 2-day administrative roundtable, held at Lackland AFB and attended by 12 officers. Even here, topics were too much work for too few people, operating with too little space and too little money. See history does repeat itself!
Did SAFMLS have a founding father or mother? Yes, Virginia, SAFMLS had a founding father, Colonel Frank M. Townsend. He would later become the consultant to AF/SG and the Director of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology.
Was there a vision, and mission then, or is all that courtesy of the quality revolution? ?Col. Townsend provided this future world picture: "At the beginning of the Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) in 1949, we had only one or two pathologists, half a dozen or dozen career minded clinical laboratory officers.Our mission…takes us into every facet of Air Force activity, into the research lab, in aircraft, missiles, everything else the whole organization is involved in…The Air Force operation dictates a combat readiness at all times. So the Air Force operates more hospitals, more dispensaries than any other service."
When did the sister services join us at annual meetings? Although the different service uniforms did appear at the second annual AF Medical Laboratory Symposia in 1960, true Tri-Service participation had to wait until SAFMLS was founded in 1971.
When was the first annual awards banquet? February 1964, when the meeting was at Orlando FL and included a tour of Patrick AFB and Cape Kennedy. Attendees were briefed on bioastronautics, the AF Missile Test Center and the Atlantic Missile Range.
When was the first President’s Reception? The 1966 meeting at March AFB. This meeting also featured the first industry sponsored workshops.
Which meeting was the first to be held at a hotel and not at an Air Force Base? This was the 1969 meeting at the El Tropicana Motor Hotel in San Antonio. SAFMLS also met there in 1979. This meeting also premiered the "breakout session."
How and when did SAFMLS become incorporated? While the concept of a Tri-Service organization had been debated for many years, the main debate was held in September 1970 at the 12th Annual Air Force Medical Laboratory Symposium in Atlanta. Lt Col Jean Rogers, the incoming SAFMLS secretary noted "a fact of life, all of us have experienced, as officers of the Armed Forces Society, then and now, -- that the Society is composed of 100 percent Chiefs – and not one damn Indian." SAFMLS was incorporated in 1971, in the state of Maryland.
What were the original objectives?How many founding members a.k.a. "plank owners" were there? There were 127 plank owners. From this nucleus would come two future SAFMLS presidents, an editor and four BSC Associate Chiefs for Laboratory.
When was the first SAFMLS newsletter and what was it named? The first issue of "Proceedings" was published in March 1972. It announced the upcoming SAFMLS meeting, stated the society’s purpose, its officers and the membership of three standing committees (Lab Technical Methods, Med Lab Materials and Lab Personnel and Training), announced promotions and new jobs, recruited members and published technical reports, committee reports and called for abstracts.
Who was the first lab officer president of SAFMLS? Col. Bill Price, who took the reins at the 2nd annual SAFMLS meeting in Las Vegas in 1972. Our first president was Col. Claude Leeper, USAF, MC.
What are some of the "lighter moments" of SAFMLS? In 1973 at the Washington DC meeting in the Rosslyn Ramada premiered the CLYDE (Continued Liaison Yearns Daily Efficiency) Award. The historical record states the award was shaped in the image of Lt W. Forbusher, the first BSC to successfully overthrow an OER by a 2-year pathologist and was a tin-foiled Clyde six inch high statuette, typifying the ever-alert watchdog of the lab – fire extinguisher under the arm, paint can slung over the shoulder and soft-soled pacifier in his mouth. The recipient of this award is known but to God, as the historical archives remain silent. In 1977 at the Williamsburg VA meeting at the President’s Reception, the ever-starving lab officers attempted to carve the plastic turkey centerpiece. CLIA '77 was announced here.
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