U.S. military to shut down last MASH unit

? The U.S. military is shutting down its last MASH, the mobile hospital made famous by the TV show about martini-sipping, wisecracking Army doctors.

This month, the Army will donate the last Mobile Army Surgical Hospital to Pakistan, where it has been caring for survivors of last year’s massive earthquake, Rear Admiral Michael LeFever said Saturday at an air base outside the capital Islamabad.

The 84-bed, $4.5-million MASH unit includes a surgical suite with two operating tables, two intensive care units, a pharmacy, laboratory, radiology units and a power generation system, the military said.

The Army is replacing MASH units with smaller casualty surgical hospitals that sit closer to battlegrounds and the wounded, said LeFever, who is commanding the U.S. military’s Disaster Assistance Center in Pakistan.

The TV version of “MASH” aired from 1972-83 and starred Alan Alda as Korean War Dr. Hawkeye Pierce, who frequently criticized the conflict.