1. Capt.Gerry Martinez gathers blood pressure data on Capt. Karl Kammer as part of an in-flight, mission-training scenario.

2. Tech. Sgt. Roy Gomez, a medical technician with the 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, prepares oxygen equipment for a simulated in-flight medical emergency.

3. Maj. JoAnne Cuppy, the chief of air crew training for the 433rd AES, secures a medical equipment pallet aboard a KC-135 aircraft in flight above the Pacific Ocean.

4. Capt. Gerry Martinez, removes a cardiac moniter from its protective case in preparation for airborne patient care.

The operation has just begun. U.S. forces have come under mortar fire. Wounded soldiers, airmen and Marines are being carried off the field of battle. But where will they go? Who will take them there? This could be a disaster if the dedicated members of the 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron weren’t right around the corner and ready to provide medical support and airlift for these wounded heroes.

This was the scene at Tallil Air Base, Iraq, during the opening days of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Members of the 433rd AES were there and ready to serve, thanks to preparatory training exercises known as aeromedical readiness missions (ARMs).

ARMs involve simulated medical evacuation flights launched from various locations throughout the nation. A four-day ARM was launched January 30 from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, with further travel to Hickam AFB, Hawaii.

“The mission of the 433rd AES is to provide tactical aeromedical evacuation from the combat zone to a tertiary care facility,” said Lt. Col. Thomas Barry, the officer in charge for this ARM.

Barry said once patients have received emergency care at a ground medical facility near the battle, they are transported to a place where they can receive a higher level of care.

“We go through all types of training in our career fields,” said Maj. JoAnne Cuppy, the 433rd AES Chief of Aircrew Training. “We’ve got to stay current with our flight and ground training, as well as our specialized medical training.”

On this particular ARM, AES members logged hours toward flight training. Traditional reservists from the AES are required to log two flying hours per month, while activated members must log four hours per month.

The ARM involved 18 AES members aboard a KC-135 aircraft with 10 crewmembers provided by the 507th Air Refueling Wing, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.

“We usually train on C-130s, but this time around the (KC-)135 was the opportune aircraft,” Barry said. “This gives our crew a chance to expand their capabilities by becoming qualified on another aircraft.”

There is only room for nine to 15 litters on board a C-135, but there is room for 74 litters or 94 “walking injured” or some combination of the two aboard a C-130. After all equipment was loaded and crewmembers boarded the aircraft, the plane jetted off to the “Aloha state.”

During the eight-hour flight to Hickam, medical technicians, as well as combat, flight, anesthesia and emergency room nurses from the AES, responded to several scenarios that could occur in an actual emergency. Scenarios included a simulated humanitarian mission from Sierra Leon to Ramstein Air Base, Germany; hurricane disaster relief operations; returning treated airmen to duty, and simulated aircraft malfunctions.

AES nurses treated such simulated conditions as heart attacks, oxygen deprivation, and standard in-flight patient care.

Although Hawaii has its own sandy beaches, it provided a peaceable contrast to some of the sandy deployment locations where AES adventures have taken place—Kuwait, Afghanistan and Iraq. AES members have served bravely in many locations around the world and some have been activated for almost a year.

“We were stationed with the 86th Combat Support Hospital at a staging facility in Iraq,”
said 1st Lt. Debbie Burkhardt, a flight nurse with the AES. “We provided airlift for patients from Tallil Air Base to Kuwait City. From there patients were transported to the USS Comfort, a Navy hospital ship.”

“In the first 4 1/2 months of Operation Iraqi Freedom, we moved more than 9,000 inbound and outbound injured troops,” Cuppy said. “That’s about 70 troops per day.”

Cuppy recalled rushing personnel into secure bunkers because there were so many scud missile alerts during the first two weeks of the war.

Barry said if there were no AES, then our forces would have to rely on Army assets to move the injured and that would mean depending on the smaller carrying capacity of helicopters.

Today, about 80 of the 300 433rd AES members are activated and deployed.

“Being deployed can be a challenging, but rewarding experience,” Cuppy said. “I’m proud to have been a part of it.”

The committed members of the 433rd AES serve alongside all U.S. Armed Services to help accomplish a mission that would be near to impossible without them.