Dr. Rufus Hessberg was an

Army Medical Corps A medical corps is generally a military branch or officer corps responsible for medical care for serving military personnel. Such officers are typically military physicians. List of medical corps The following organizations are examples of med ...

doctor during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and later was a pioneer aeromedical scientist. He served as an early instructor at the Air Rescue Specialists Course at Gunter AFB,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in 1949, teaching some of the Air Force's first

Pararescuemen Pararescuemen (also known as Pararescue Jumpers or PJs) are United States Air Force Special operations, special operators who conduct personnel recovery and combat search and rescue operations as well as other missions for the U.S. military and ...

. He went on to head the animal research group for

Project Mercury Project Mercury was the first human spaceflight program of the United States, running from 1958 through 1963. An early highlight of the Space Race, its goal was to put a man into Earth orbit and return him safely, ideally before the Soviet Un ...

. He served for several years as an Executive Vice President of the

Aerospace Medical Association The Aerospace Medical Association (AsMA) is the largest professional organization in the fields of aviation, space, and environmental medicine. The AsMA membership includes aerospace and hyperbaric medical specialists, scientists, flight nurses ...

before retiring in 1991.

References

United States Army Medical Corps officers United States Army personnel of World War II {{US-physician-stub