and stools. The late Dr. Ferguson was also mainly responsible for his creative ideas regarding sit-down, four-handed dentistry, Expanded Duty, and Dental Aux. Later in Dr. Ferguson's non-military career as Dean at SUNY Buffalo School of Dentistry, his efforts helped to promote the U.S.P.H.S. "Project ACORDE" to standardize all American dental schools. Dr. Ferguson was also a "Founding Father" of the American Academy of Operative Dentistry (A.A.O.D). His ideas and concepts were a tremendous leap forward for the dental profession today. The hardware that Dr. Ferguson helped to create's prototypes are currently displayed at the Smithsonian Institution. Vietnam War By the beginning of the '60s, Navy Dentistry operated from 160 shore-based facilities and aboard 156 ships. To support Marine Corps operations, Navy Dentistry developed innovative ways to use their skills in the field. Able to deploy nine mobile dental units on trailers, they also developed more powerful rotary instruments and a field x-ray and developing unit. These field dental capabilities proved their worth when a detachment of the 3rd Dental Company deployed with Marines to Vietnam in June 1965. Many more Dental teams would follow. Between 1965 and 1973, Dental Corps personnel from the 1st, 3rd, and 11th Dental Companies, along with detachments of the 15th Dental Company, deployed to Vietnam in support of Marine Ground and Air Combat Units. In addition to caring for Marines, dental personnel participated in many civic action programs rendering humanitarian aid to Vietnamese civilians. They were also busily training Vietnamese dentists in basic and advanced dental procedures, as part of the "Vietnamization" program. At the peak of the Vietnam War, there were 420 dental officers and 790 dental technicians (approximately one-fifth of the Dental Corps) deployed with Marine units. Post–Vietnam War until the 1990s In 1975, the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz (CVN–68) was commissioned. It was the most modern and capable dental facility afloat, supporting seven dental operating rooms, a prosthetic laboratory, a central sterilization room, an X-ray suite, and a preventive dentistry room. When a Navy jet crashed on the Nimitz flight deck on 26 May 1981, killing 14 and injuring 48, dental personnel were an integral asset to the mass casualty response and the overall team effort by the Medical and Dental Departments. On 23 October 1983, the bombing of the Marine headquarters and barracks of Battalion Landing Team 1/8 of the 24th Marine Amphibious Unit at Beirut International Airport, Lebanon,