Yes, sir, that's absolutely so. For Operation Medusa specifically, when we were going through the operational planning process for that, my medical officer, who's a doctor, made, with her staff, an integral part of our planning in terms of making sure we had sufficient medical capability going forward. Every mission that goes out, as part of the orders given, will have a paragraph dedicated to medical support.
The availability of air medevac is monitored by my operations cell back at Kandahar airfield. If we're told that sandstorm season is about this time of year, a sandstorm does move in, and word comes across that this would mean no air medevac support, then I would make the decision--I can say unequivocally that I have done so many times--to either reduce the type of operations we were doing or the proximity of the operations from Kandahar so that I could always guarantee it.
I think, sir, it speaks very much to what I call the “social contract” in my job. Part of my job, unfortunately, is to put troops in harm's way, but the other part is to make sure that every measure possible to, if necessary, get them out of harm's way is put in place beforehand.