The massive Department of Defense deployment in support of Hurricane Andrew relief cast the military medical departments in a new role. Military medical personnel were challenged to apply the traditional principles of combat medicine to a noncombat environment, within the continental United States, within an existing health care infrastructure, in a role subordinate to local civilian health care agencies. As a medical "subject matter expert" assigned to the Joint Task Force Andrew Surgeon's staff, the author worked at the civil-military interface. The lessons learned in his role as a special staff officer should benefit any health care provider involved in disaster relief. They focus on problem areas peculiar to the disaster relief scenario.