Flying Desert Rat: The Combat Career of Squadron Leader Bert Houle

Albert Houle is a Canadian whose war, while not totally unique for a Canadian fighter pilot in World War Two, was certainly far from the norm. His entire combat career was fought in North Africa, Sicily and Italy. His first tour was with the Royal Air Force and his second with the Royal Canadian Air Force. Similar to another Canadian ace George Beurling, Houle\u27s desire for combat and intemperate attitude to all those who stood in his way led to as many actions on the ground as in the air. Almost without exception, Houle viewed anyone not in combat or directly supporting it as so much administrative deadwood and this attitude would cost him on more than one occasion. However, unlike Beurling, Houle had the demeanour and desire to lead men in combat and bring them home again

Diversifying the Healthcare Workforce: Transition of the Combat Medic to Baccalaureate-Prepared Nurse

Purpose The creation of a combat medic to accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program may offer a way to positively contribute to the nursing workforce. Therefore, the purpose of this feasibility project was to combine the four sub-roles of expert practitioner, educator, researcher, and consultant1, to design a new pathway for military combat medic entry into nursing. Methods A comparative analysis elucidated gaps in 219 different nursing skills, didactic and general education requirements, clinical hours, and transfer credits between combat medic training and the BSN curriculum at a Vermont university. Identified gaps were compared to nursing licensure requirements. A sample of combat medics was surveyed for interest level in pursuing a BSN, desired employment setting, and intent to work at the bedside for two years or longer. Feedback was collected from faculty and administrators and at schools with similar existing programs. Results Two program plans of study for 24- and 32-month completion were developed, (dependent on transfer credits and demonstrated skill competencies). Participating combat medics (84%) reported being “very interested” and 16% reported being “interested” in pursuing an accelerated program in nursing. Combat medic participants (100%) indicated that they would remain at the bedside for two years or longer. Conclusion The proposed program pathway was well-received and may offer a way to alleviate medic unemployment rates and contribute to the nursing workforce. Plans for further research include a cost-benefit analysis, more precise sampling to gauge interest levels, and determinants of requisite supplies, physical space, clinical placements, and faculty. Keywords: Nurse, Military, Medic, BSN, RN References Manley, K. (1997). A conceptual framework for advanced practice: An action research project operationalizing an advanced practitioner/consultant nurse role. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 6, 179–190

Combat

The place was a small clearing in a forest in British Columbia. The contenders were two buck deer of about the same build, but one was younger than the other. The time was early morning, and the prize at stake was a herd of four does

A formulation and analysis of combat games

Combat is formulated as a dynamical encounter between two opponents, each of whom has offensive capabilities and objectives. With each opponent is associated a target in the event space in which he endeavors to terminate the combat, thereby winning. If the combat terminates in both target sets simultaneously or in neither, a joint capture or a draw, respectively, is said to occur. Resolution of the encounter is formulated as a combat game; namely, as a pair of competing event-constrained differential games. If exactly one of the players can win, the optimal strategies are determined from a resulting constrained zero-sum differential game. Otherwise the optimal strategies are computed from a resulting non-zero-sum game. Since optimal combat strategies frequencies may not exist, approximate of delta-combat games are also formulated leading to approximate or delta-optimal strategies. To illustrate combat games, an example, called the turret game, is considered. This game may be thought of as a highly simplified model of air combat, yet it is sufficiently complex to exhibit a rich variety of combat behavior, much of which is not found in pursuit-evasion games