Photo By Spc. Cal Turner | A Soldier with the 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment, packs the unit's ambulatory...... read more read more
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By Spc. Debrah Robertson
40th Public Affairs Detachment
KUWAIT— Working 24-hour shifts and ready in a moment's notice, the Soldiers of 1st Battalion, 111th Aviation Regiment, save lives, despite all the dangers of flying over Iraqi soil.
Combining flight medics, pilots and crew chiefs from the Florida and Arkansas National Guard, the 111th's Aviation Air Ambulance has bonded to create a team of highly skilled lifesavers, said Chief Warrant Officer Tom Mix, a pilot with the 111th.
The 111th, a Blackhawk ambulatory service, transports patients from Tallil Air Base, Iraq, to Camp Buehring, Kuwait, where the patients are then transported to another air ambulance and brought to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait, to receive lifesaving treatment at the United States Military Hospital- Kuwait, supported by the Expeditionary Medical Clinic-Kuwait and Third Army/U.S. Army Central.
The 111th also works as a medical evacuation unit for troops on the ground during firefights and improvised explosive device attacks. Arriving at the scene within 10 minutes of the first notification is the standard, said Sgt. Jeff Dixon, a flight medic with the 111th.
Quick responses are the difference between life and death, said Dixon, a San Antonio native.
Working as an air ambulatory service is a necessary, but very dangerous job, according to the Blackhawk crew. With the number of crashes in the past several weeks in Iraq reaching a half-dozen, the crew of the 111th must remain alert.
"Helicopters get shot down," said Mix, a Mount Vernon, Ark, native. "We're going to have to learn from it and we may have to challenge some [tactics, techniques and procedures]. Once the investigation is complete, we'll incorporate it into training.
"It's shocking, but it's war," he said. "Although we don't want a tragic event to happen, it's something we come to expect and fight to prevent."
Spc. David Bankston, an aircraft structural repairmain with the 111th, said of the helicopter crashes, "The enemy is coming up with new ideas."
Working an ambulatory service means there is no time for doubt and hestitation. The Soldiers of 111th must do their jobs no matter what has happened to their fellow flight units.
"We have to trust the individuals we depend on every day," Bankston, a Colorado Springs, Colo., native, said of the bond the Soldiers of the 111th have forged in Iraq.
The Soldiers have grown as a team through the tragedy they see on a daily basis and the dangers they face on the ground during firefights and now in the air with the elevated dangers of flying over Iraq.
"You get emotional about it. Then you get angry," said Mix on discovering that he had lost some of his fellow servicemembers in the downed helicopters. "You wonder if it was all worth it and hope it was."
"If even one person gets to go home to see their family because of us, it was worth it," said Dixon.
| Date Taken: | 02.14.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 02.14.2007 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 9135 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 322 |
| Downloads: | 212 |
This work, Soldiers reflect on helicopter crashes in Iraq, by SPC Deborah Ledesma, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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