The 11-member Disaster Medical Assistance Team had been activated Tuesday night after hijacked jets slammed into the Pentagon and the World Trade Center, toppling the center's twin towers and other surrounding buildings. The group joined up with a 29-member unit based in Atlanta to travel to Washington.

After a flat tire on their charter bus and other initial delays, the groups headed toward Washington only to be stopped about a half-hour away in Ashland, Va., as officials tried to decide what to do with them. The military had decided to use its own mobile medical units at the Pentagon because of the sensitive nature of some of the material handled there, Augusta unit commander Dr. Sanford Hawkins said.

On Thursday, the seven medical teams called up were sent home in favor of activating Disaster Mortuary Teams to assist with recovering the bodies, said Beth NeSmith, public information officer for the Augusta unit and a trauma clinical nurse specialist at Medical College of Georgia Hospital and Clinics.

''I think we're all disappointed. That's probably an understatement,'' said Larry Mellick, the chairman of the Department of Emergency Medicine at MCG. ''We were all interested in making a contribution and participating in this.''

But the team did benefit from going through the rapid mobilization and will learn from that, Dr. Mellick said.

Reach Tom Corwin at (706) 823-3213 or tomc@augustachronicle.com.