Interview with Maj Rachele Smith

The chief of patient administration for the 86th Combat Support Hospital attached to Task Force 261, Major Rachele Smith deployed with the unit to Karshi-Kanabad, Uzbekistan, in December 2001, supported Operation ENDURING FREEDOM from there - with one foray into Afghanistan to help set up another hospital at Bagram - and then redeployed in June 2002. Among her responsibilities included accountability and tracking of coalition and local national patients, screening of civilian workers, overseeing medical documentation and evacuation, as well as maintaining adherence to the medical rules of entitlement. Roughly six months after having left Afghanistan, Smith and the 86th deployed again, this time in support of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. During the unit’s January to June 2003 period of service in Kuwait and Iraq, she again served as chief of patient administration, but also “did a lot more work with civil affairs and local hospital administrators” namely helping reopen Iraqi hospitals and reestablish the ambulance system. While the operational tempo was high, so too was her soldiers’ morale, Smith said. “They were proud of what they were doing and were seeing results,” which included helping find and reunite Iraqi family members. In this interview, she also discusses the difficulties associated with conducting split-base operations with a unit not designed to do so, as well as her recommendations for improving the management of patient documents and the importance of having patient-tracking systems that communicate better.