Hours, 18 May 1968 Average Daily Census of Vietnamese Civilians Average Daily Operating Beds (All Patients) 1969 Aeromedical Evacuation Aviation activities for 1969 were generally similar to those of 1968. Workload continued to increase slightly with a new high of 206,229 patients evacuated by brigade aircraft. This represented an increase of 16,775 patients over the previous high established in 1968. During March 10,139 missions were flown evacuating 21,843 patients for a monthly high. Workload throughout the remainder of the year was fairly consistent ranging from 15,000 to 17,000 patients evacuated per month. March and May were exceptions when patient evacuations rose to 21,843 and 20,565 respectively. Of the various types of aeromedical evacuation missions, the most hazardous continued to be missions where the patients required extraction utilizing the aircraft hoist and rescue seat (forest penetrator). During the year there was a significant increase in the number of hoist missions, particularly in the month of December 1969. In December 1969 there were 381 hoist missions of which 140 were performed by the 57th Medical Detachment (RA), the highest monthly figure for any brigade unit. Total hoist missions increased by 780 during 1969 for a grand total of 2,516 missions, another new high for the brigade. In 1969 medical evacuation aircraft were hit by hostile fire 309 times as compared to 386 times in 1968. This 16% decrease in hits was quite significant in that both the total number of patients evacuated and the number of potentially dangerous hoist missions increased considerably. Air ambulance resources available during 1969 included two medical companies (air ambulance) with locations at Long Binh and Qui Nhon and 11 medical detachments (RA) with locations as of 31 December 1969 at Quang Tri, Phu Bai, Da Nang and two detachments at Chu Lai in I CTZ; Pleiku, Nha Trang and Phan Rang in II CTZ; Cu Chi and Lai Khe in III CTZ; and Binh Thuy in IV CTZ. During 1969 it became necessary to relocate several of the RA teams in order to provide more responsive support. The relocations were presented in the chart on unit relocations in the S-3 Operations section for 1969. There were no major problems encountered with those moves. The moves continued to demonstrate the flexibility of the RA teams. Due to the disposition of medical units throughout all of Vietnam, the brigade was authorized the use of one U-1A Otter fixed-wing aircraft,