28TH COMBAT SUPPORT
HOSPITAL
“The 28th Combat Support Hospital (CSH) was constituted in May 1943 as the 28th Portable Surgical Hospital (PSH), and activated in June 1943 at Fort Meade, Maryland. During WW II, the 28th Portable Surgical Hospital served in the Asiatic Pacific Theater in Support of the Chinese Defensive Campaign and was awarded the China Defense and China Offense Campaign Battle Streamers and the moniker “China Dragons.”
In December 1945, after the war against Japan, the 28th Portable Surgical Hospital was inactivated but on 25 July 1972, later reactivated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina as a Medical Unit Self-Contained Transportable (MUST). Some eighteen years later from August 1990 to August 1991, the 28th CSH deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm and was awarded its first Meritorious Unit Commendation (MUC) and in addition, the Defense of Saudi Arabia and the Defense and Liberation of Kuwait campaign streamers.
In August 1992, the 28th CSH deployed to Homestead, Florida and provided disaster relief in support of the Hurricane Andrew Relief Operation. Again in September 1994, the 28th CSH deployed to Haiti in support of Operation Uphold Democracy. In 1995, only one year later, the 28th CSH deployed to the Virgin Islands where it provided humanitarian assistance in support of the Hurricane Marilyn Federal Disaster Relief Operation. In 2001, the unit deployed to Bosnia as the Task Force Medical Eagle command headquarters and hospital element for Stabilization Force 9 (SFOR-IX) and remained as the hospital element for Stabilization Force 10 (SFOR X). In March 2003, the 28th CSH deployed to Southwest Asia as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), where it established a 44-bed hospital in Iraq in support of the 3rd and 101st Infantry Divisions during the capture of Baghdad. Shortly thereafter, the hospital conducted split-based operations and established Ibn Sina Hospital, a former Iraqi Ministry of Defense hospital, and a smaller hospital in Tikrit, earning its second Meritorious Unit Commendation. In September 2006, the 28th CSH returned to Iraq in support of OIF 06-08 and once again conducted split-based operations, providing Level III health care at both Ibn Sina Hospital in Baghdad, and in Mosul. Returning home in November 2007 after 15 months of exceptional health service support, the 28th CSH earned its third Meritorious Unit Commendation.
On 29 October 2009, the 28th Combat Support Hospital “China Dragons” deployed for a third time to Iraq in support of OIF, split into four geographical locations, and in addition to providing world class health care, served as the Medical Task Force Headquarters, responsible for the southern Iraq Joint Operations Area (IJOA), the largest medical footprint ever managed by a Combat Support Hospital to date.
On 7 October 2010, after 12 months of honorable service in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom 09-11 and Operation New Dawn, the 28th Combat Support Hospital redeployed and once again, continued the Army Medical Department's proud heritage of long and dedicated service to its Nation’s Soldiers… Anywhere…Any Time.
“China Dragons”