Pope AES crew part of historic rescue mission Published July 21, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Jon LaDue 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Sixteen 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron Airmen participated in a historic mission recently which brought home three American contractors that were held captive by the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia after their drug-surveillance plane went down in February 2003. The 43rd AE team which consisted of a primary and backup flight crews and two ground support personnel provided medical support during the patriotic mission to bring the contractors home just before the Fourth of July holiday. During a recent interview, the three contractors -- Marc Gonsalves, Thomas Howes and Keith Stansell, all employees of the Los Angeles-based Northrop Grumman Corp, who had spent five years in captivity in the jungles of southern Colombia -- expressed gratitude to everyone involved in their rescue effort and the homecoming. The crew aboard the Travis Air Force Base, Calif., C-17 consisted of seven members from the 43rd AES along with 17 Airmen from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C., Together they flew the contractors back to safety in the United States July 2. Capt. Samantha Drew, 43rd AES and medical control nurse for the mission, said she was glad to be part of the mission in which the three Americans were rescued and very thankful to be headed home. The Pope crew was given very short notice of the mission and they were immediately put on crew rest and aircraft alert after arriving to Charleston where the rescue flight departed from. Despite the short notice and lack of details, Captain Drew was still very accepting of the mission. "I thought it would be an exciting opportunity. The 43rd AES trains for contingent aeromedical evacuation scenarios so we are always ready to pick up and go if there are ever patients that need care ... we are trained to supply that care." "During the flight they were extremely grateful and thankful for everyone they came in contact with," said Captain Drew. Pope's crew didn't know the health condition of the hostages, but they were ready for anything and contributed in whatever ways they could. "Primarily we all worked as a team in order to get the hostages an initial assessment, we cleaned them up and fed them. I believe the greatest thing our crew and the hostages got, was being able to interact with each other. They had someone to tell their story to," said Captain Drew. The crew and hostages landed at Lackland AFB, Texas. From there, they were taken by helicopter to Brooke Army Medical Center to undergo tests and treatment. Although only seven of the 16 members of 43rd AES were actually aboard the rescue mission, there was more involvement than that. The second crew, consisting of seven additional AE Airmen, made the trip just in case they were needed. In addition, Maj. Joni Clemens and Capt. Joseph Popham, 43rd AES, made the trip to Charleston to serve as ground support. They handled all of the logistics of the short notice mission for the crews. "They basically worked 24 hours straight to ensure that all of our equipment, paperwork and supplies were all setup and ready to go at a moments notice," Captain Drew said. "They took care of everything." Following the mission there has been much publicity and hype from National media on the rescued hostages. Captain Drew said she felt "very fortunate to have been a small part of the mission that brought home the Americans." "Being ready and training as we fight enables us to go out the door at a moments notice for a real mission," she added. As it stands for the entire 16 member crew, the mission showed that training and readiness can prepare you for the most unexpected missions. "It was probably one of the most memorable missions in my life and I was just grateful to be a part of it," said Sergeant Daryl Bradley, aeromedical evacuation technician on the mission.