Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility walls moving stateside

Published Aug. 11, 2011
By Maj. Pamela Carroll
332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq -- The Great Wall of China is known as the biggest wall and for protecting the Chinese empire, the Berlin Wall symbolizes the end of the Cold War and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall pays tribute to those who paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Vietnam War.

Soon, another wall, that originated at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, will become part of history at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Since 2005, when the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility was built at the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group, messages have been written on the walls in the lounge area to memorialize comrades who have fallen or been injured, along with thanks for the health-care technicians, nurses and doctors who have helped them.

Prior to the drawdown of U.S. forces out of Iraq, the CASF was used as a transition point for injured service members from all branches of service who waited anywhere from hours to a few days for aeromedical evacuation out of Iraq. With the drawdown, the CASF mission has been moved to Kuwait.

The wall also has messages from distinguished visitors, such as former Air Force Secretary Michael Donnelly and Army Generals Davis Petraeus and Raymond Odierno, as well as celebrities who traveled with the USO.

Beginning around 6 a.m. July 20, the 389th Engineer Company from Armed Forces Reserve Center, Iowa., began cutting out the walls and packing them into a storage container for shipment.

"It is hard to disassemble it with so much history attached," said Army Capt. Heidi Curry, 389th Engineer Company platoon leader, who is a native of Davenport, Iowa., "But it is wonderful to be able to be a part of it and it is awesome they are preserving the legacy."

The 389th Engineer Company worked for two days preparing for the moment the first and longest wall was removed. They took special care to make sure the walls were not damaged in the process. Just as the walls were not built in a day, they required much effort to take them down.

The final wall has been boxed up and is awaiting shipment.

"Thanks to the supreme efforts of Col. John Mitchell (previous 332nd EMDG commander), Col. Mike Myers (previous 332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group commander) and Evelyn Dole, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing historian, these walls were taken down intact and should find a permanent place in Air Force history," said Col. Roy Dileo, 332nd EMDG commander, who is deployed from Wilford Hall, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

Dileo is a native of Medford, Massachusetts.