Mobility team answers call for critically injured Soldier

Published July 13, 2007
By Capt. Teresa Sullivan
379th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Airmen turned a typical transport mission into a lifesaving effort for a critically injured Soldier when time was of the essence and he had no room for error.

Airmen from across the area of responsibility -- a C-17 Globemaster III aircrew, two KC-135 Stratotankers and medical evacuation teams -- immediately responded when members of the 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron were alerted to transport the injured Soldier and other wounded Soldiers.

The Army sergeant, who was conducting a ground operation in Iraq, was stabbed in the head and in need of a CONUS brain surgeon in order to stay alive.

The afternoon of July 3, Capt. Corbett Bufton, 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-17 aircraft commander planned to fly a routine cargo run in Iraq. In the time he left his dorm room to arriving at the squadron, the mission changed into 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 native of Lake Forest, Calif., assigned to 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 and get halfway around the world."

Meanwhile, squadron members were busy making quick decisions on how to accommodate 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, removing 50,000 pounds of cargo from the replacement aircraft.

Tanker units from Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, and Royal Air Force Mildenhall, United Kingdom, were called upon to be available for aerial refueling support for the long haul. Meanwhile, medics in Iraq kept the Soldier stable anticipating the C-17's arrival.
Upon landing at Balad AB, medics reconfigured the cargo compartment to hold the incoming patients, which included one with a gunshot wound to the neck.

"They weren't talking at all," said Senior Airman David Methvin, an 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."

As night closed in, the crew began a trek over Turkey, the Black Sea, Europe and the Atlantic Ocean. The flight proved to be challenging. The first refueling attempt was not successful, 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," Captain Bufton said. "We had a little (rough) 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, got a full load of gas to make it down the homestretch, and landed at Andrews AFB, 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 native of Vinemont, Ala., and 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 wounded 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 were in stable condition. This mission would have been impossible to pull off a few years ago, said Lt. Col. Paul Eberhart, the 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," Colonel Eberhart said. "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."

The C-17 crew for the mission was Captains Bufton, Scott Frescette and Justin Herbst, Staff Sgt. Matt Nemeth, Airman Methvin and Lt. Col. Jesse Strickland, all based out of Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. 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," Captain Bufton said. "We're glad we could do our part to help these Soldiers."