---
title: "The Army needs fresh body parts ASAP, people"
description: "An Army Medical Command solicitation published on Thursday details a need \"fresh frozen cadaver limbs\" for combat surgery training at the Army Medical Department Center & School (AMEDDC&S) at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston in El Paso, Texas"
date: "2019-09-20"
modified: "2019-09-20"
authors:
  - name: "Jared Keller"
    job_title: "Former Managing Editor"
    link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jaredkeller/"
url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-cadaver-limbs-solicitation/"
categories:
  - "Analysis"
  - "Army"
  - "Military Branches"
  - "News"
---

# The Army needs fresh body parts ASAP, people

![](<https://taskandpurpose.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/21125405-1.jpg>)

The Army is looking for some fresh body parts — $32.5 million worth, to be precise.

An Army Medical Command solicitation [published](<https://www.fbo.gov/index.php?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=71c779a8c24c6479ed939f5ee07aa3ab&tab=core&tabmode=list&=>) on Thursday details a need "fresh frozen cadaver limbs" for combat surgery training at the Army Medical Department Center & School (AMEDDC&S) at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston and Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso (TTUHSC-EP).

The multi-million dollar solicitation [details](<https://www.fbo.gov/index.php?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=71c779a8c24c6479ed939f5ee07aa3ab&tab=core&tabmode=list&=>) a need for several distinct items, including 16 "fresh frozen cadaver," 16 "pelvis to toe tip w/ sacrum" (legs, from the toes to the shield-shaped bone that connects the spine to the pelvis), and 16 "shoulder w/Arm w/Clavicle" (arms, fingertip to clavicle).

So wings and drumsticks, basically.

The Army has used cadavers since the 1850s to test the impact of firearms (like, [famously](<https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2010/09/how-many-uses-are-there-for-a-dead-body.html>), the .30 caliber M1903 Springfield eventually adopted in 1903) on the human body.

These particular body parts, however, are for the AMEDDC&S Department of Anatomy & Physiology for "annual analytical laboratory service," namely the Combat Extremity Surgery Course (CESC) [designed](<https://www.army.mil/article/182448/course_preps_army_doctors_medics_for_deployment>) to train Army combat medics to treat various types of extremity trauma in austere conditions.

But it's worth noting that the Army wants solicitations by Sept. 24, less than a week after publishing its solicitation. So get those offers in ASAP, people — but just make sure that it's OK first.

## Author
Jared Keller is the former managing editor of Task & Purpose. His writing has appeared in Aeon, the Los Angeles Review of Books, the New Republic, Pacific Standard, Smithsonian, and The Washington Post, among other publications.

### Author social links  
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