Mobility team answers call for critically injured Soldiers

Published July 12, 2007
By Capt. Teresa Sullivan
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- What started out as a typical transport mission for Airmen of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing, turned into to a life-saving effort for a critically-injured Soldier.

From C-17 and KC-135 support to medical evacuation teams - Airmen from across the area of responsibility immediately responded when the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron was alerted to transport the injured soldier. The Army sergeant, who was conducting a ground operation in Iraq, was stabbed in the head and in need of a brain surgeon in the states in order to stay alive.

The afternoon of July 3, Capt. Corbett Bufton, 816th EAS C-17 aircraft commander planned to fly what he calls a routine cargo run in Iraq. From the time he left his dorm room to arriving at the squadron, the mission changed from that to a high-priority medical evacuation to Balad Air Base, Iraq.

"The last thing I heard as I left the building was 'this is a time-critical mission,'" said Captain Bufton, a Lake Forest, Calif., native based out of Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. "A last-minute change like this can set you spinning and you have to change gears. Instead of preparing myself for a mission making four stops in the box (Iraq), now we have to make it to two tankers (KC-135 refueling aircraft) and get half way around the world."

Meanwhile the squadron was busy making quick decisions on how to accommodate for a longer-than-normal flight. They immediately scrambled to put another pilot on board to split shifts, augmenting the aircraft commander. The 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron assisted by switching the aircraft for one with more fuel tanks, which meant removing 50,000 pounds of cargo from the replacement aircraft and filling the tanks with JP-8.

Not only were Airmen here responding to the emergency, but tanker units from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, and RAF Mildenhall, England, were called upon right away to be available for aerial refueling support for their long haul across the ocean, while up in Iraq medics kept the Soldier stable anticipating air support's arrival.

Upon landing in Balad, medics reconfigured the cargo compartment to hold the incoming patients, which included one with a gunshot wound to the neck and the soldier with with knife wound.

"They weren't talking at all," said Senior Airman David Methvin, 816th EAS loadmaster, who served as a liaison between the pilot and the medical team. "They were hooked up to about 7,000 pounds of equipment. It was stressful at first. Little things like carrying him onto the plane ... little bumps could make his head bleed and we couldn't let that happen."

By this time it was nightfall and they had a trek ahead of them over Turkey, the Black Sea, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. The flight proved to be challenging. The first refueling did not go as planned, making the crew thankful for the provisions they made to carry extra fuel. Their next challenge was keeping the patients safe while airborne.

"When we carry patients, we have to fly at a lower altitude in order to keep the cabin pressure steady and to minimize turbulence - both of which could exacerbate the Soldier's head trauma," said Captain Bufton. "We had a little weather over Eastern Europe so we had to work closely with the air-evac team to get clearance to climb over it. Our concern was the patient so we had to make the right decisions - turbulence or higher cabin pressure. We chose to avoid the turbulence."

Once they made it over the weather they hit the second tanker and got a full load of gas to make it down the homestretch where they landed at Andrews Air Force Base, Md. at 4 a.m. on the Fourth of July. Within five minutes the patients were swept away by a team of doctors and the rest was in their hands.

"We don't usually get feedback on the outcome of the patients," said Airman Methvin, a Vinemont, Ala. native based out of Charleston AFB. "From what we were told the patient was going to make it. They said he made it through the flight really well."

Seeing the knife-wound patient brought the realities of war to life for Airman Methvin. "We couldn't have had a better mission to do on the Fourth of July," he said. "It was a good feeling to do our part to transport the Soldiers to safety in such a short amount of time."

Later, the squadron received word the patients are in stable condition. This mission would have been impossible to pull off a few years ago, a testament to the progress of air mobility, according to Lt. Col. Paul Eberhardt, 816th EAS commander.

"When you have a Soldier with head trauma that requires the care of a neurosurgeon you can't afford to waste any time, make any mistakes, or cause harm to their body during the flight," said Colonel Eberhardt. "From the C-17 and aircrew to the support of the tankers to the air evacuation team - we saved lives through the use of airpower. It's amazing what we can do in such a short amount of time. What it took them to do in 24 hours could not have been done during Operations Desert Storm or Desert Shield."

For the aircrew, this mission is what it's all about.

"The pressure was definitely on - the stress, the priority ... it's at the top," said Captain Bufton. "We're glad we could do our part to help these Soldiers."