in training as well as 5 flights in the navy th-57 training helicopter. naval flight surgeons may also attend a three-year ram training program that is distinct from the usaf program. following training, nearly all naval flight surgeons will be assigned to a deployable navy or marine corps combat aviation squadron in the fleet (usn) or fleet marine force (usmc). more senior flight surgeons will later be assigned to the staff of a naval air force or marine aircraft wing, carrier air wings, functional/type air wings, marine aircraft groups, the medical departments of aircraft carriers or amphibious assault ships, or the staff of naval hospitals or naval branch clinics aboard naval air stations, marine corps air stations and naval air facilities. naval flight surgeons are also eligible command naval hospitals, naval branch clinics and the medical contingent aboard naval hospital ships. a small number of naval flight surgeons are also "dual-designated" as naval aviators or naval flight officers, having either been former unrestricted line officer pilots or nfos who transferred to the navy's medical corps, attended medical schools, and later qualified as naval flight surgeons; or previously designated naval flight surgeons were selected for a full flight training as student naval aviators. these latter officers are also awarded naval aviator insignia, but remain in the medical corps as "dual designated" officers, qualified as either a naval aviator or naval flight officer and as a naval flight surgeon whom wear both insignia. such officers are often assigned as research pilots. a small number of naval flight surgeons—including two dual-designated naval aviators/naval flight surgeons: capt david m. brown, mc, usn (fs) and capt joseph p. kerwin, mc, usn (fs) -- have also qualified as astronauts. capt kerwin flew in 1973 as science pilot aboard skylab 1, becoming the first u.s. physician to fly in space. two of these officers, capt brown and capt laurel blair salton clark, mc, usn (fs) were both killed during the space shuttle columbia disaster, mission sts-107, in 2003. naval flight surgeons provide support to aviation units and personnel of both the u.s. navy and the u.s. marine corps, to include aviation units and personnel of the navy reserve and the marine corps reserve. naval aviator, naval flight officer and naval flight surgeon insignia aviation warfare insignia u.s. army since the separation of the u.s. army air force from the army as the u.s. air force in 1947, army flight surgeons have primarily focused on the health and fitness of the army's rotary wing aviators. most army flight surgeons graduate from a basic course of 6 weeks taught at the u.s. army school of aviation medicine at fort rucker, alabama, and are then assigned to their units. after some experience in the field, army flight surgeons are then eligible to participate in a ram program as described above. in the past, most army rams have participated in the usaf program, but many take part in the usn program, while a few study in the only us civilian ram program, located at wright state university. ram training is the equivalent of other specialty residency training in the united states, and a graduate of the program can take board certification tests and is then considered a fully-fledged specialist. like their usaf counterparts, army flight surgeons also hold three different rating levels, flight surgeon, senior flight surgeon and master flight surgeon, contingent upon years of service as a flight surgeon and total flight hours logged. army flight surgeons support all active duty army aviation units and personnel, as well as those in the army reserve and army national guard. army flight surgeon insignia other countries the training requirements for military flight surgeons in countries other than the united states are different—for example, in the united kingdom, aviation medicine is considered a sub-specialty of occupational medicine rather than a fully separate specialty. thus, royal air force, royal navy and british army specialists in aviation medicine are usually required to be specialists in occupational medicine before undertaking the specialised training in aviation medicine.