Pope medics train Travis Airmen for deployment

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Chris Hoyler
  • 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. (AFPN) --  As the C-130 Hercules makes its final approach on the torn-up runway, the 15 Airmen kneeling on the grass 100 feet away rise as one, making sure the litter they are carrying is stable, and walk toward the flightline. 

At the back of the aircraft, the litter team is directed where to load their patient. The team does as instructed and as they leave the plane another crew with another patient is already halfway to the C-130. This chain will continue until all the patients are loaded onto the aircraft.

When all the patients are aboard and secure, the C-130 raises its ramp and prepares to take off.

But even then, the litter teams' job isn't over.

The Airmen, who are part of a mobile aeromedical staging facility, must then create a defensive perimeter of 300 feet, watching for enemies trying to keep the aircraft from taking off. Only when the aircraft is safely above the ground and its away can the Airmen move on to their next mission. 

This is a scene played out on any given day for aeromedical evacuation personnel, who are deployed across the globe in support of medical operations.

This scene, however, took place at Camp Mackall, where Airmen from Pope's 43rd Aeromedical Expeditionary Squadron and the 60th Medical Group from Travis Air Force Base, Calif., conducted a week-long MASF training exercise.

The training started with a day-long crash-course at Pope AFB that included basic convoy operations, litter loading and ruck packing. From there, it was on to Camp Mackall for the field training portion of the exercise. 

The early portions of the field training may be repetitive for the students considering they go through Aeromedical Evacuation Contingency Operational Training course before arriving, but this exercise is a new experience.

"Here they have a half day in the classroom and a half day loading the equipment in the vehicles," said Capt. Nathan Ferguson, 43rd AES cadre. "The next four days are in the field which is an hour convoy from Pope. They are completely out of their element."

All the Airmen have is what is packed in their vehicles and what they can carry on their backs. 

"With a brand new MASF we have to train them step by step on everything. We have to remember that these people have never done this before," said Staff Sgt. Phil Benson, also a 43rd AES cadre member. "Our goal is to put them into stressful situations, take them out of their comfort zone and see how they react."

The stressful situations started on the first night. The unit had to defend against simulated attacks while simultaneously providing care for their patients.

"Before this, we only trained on aircraft simulators, where there would only be the back of the aircraft to load litters and the pace is slower," said Senior Airman Holly Jansenius, a member of the 60th Inpatient Operations Squadron. "This is so much different, now the heat and all the other elements get to us while we're working."

Sergeant Benson said the training created by Airmen who deployed as part of MASFs, a fact that ensures the training is as realistic as possible.

And, since making sure the students learn how to operate and adapt while deployed with a MASF is the goal of the exercise, Sergeant Benson is glad to be part of the experience. 

"This is the most rewarding job I have had in the Air Force," he said. "Being able to teach these students who have no knowledge on day one and by day five have a working knowledge of what to do in a stressful situation, that's what makes the countless hours of preparation and hard work worth it."

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