CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. –
While Hurricane Ike was preparing to make landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast, Charleston AFB was preparing to lend a helping hand to those who needed it the most.
Aircrews from the 16th Airlift Squadron and the 17th Airlift Squadron took off from Charleston AFB Sept. 9 and headed to Texas, but not before stopping to pick up medical supplies and equipment from throughout the U.S.
Capts. Paul Dorrance and Travis Elliott, both from the 17th Airlift Squadron, were the aircraft commanders aboard two C-17s which respectfully left Charleston AFB and headed to Pope AFB, N.C., and MacDill AFB, Fla., where they picked up mobile aeromedical staging facilities and repositioned them along the Texas coast.
In wartime, MASFs are used to prepare stabilized patients from an Army Battalion Aid Station or Forward Surgical Team for aeromedical evacuation, said 1st Lt. Jason Estes, 6th Medical Support Squadron, MacDill AFB, and director of operations for the MASF team.
"It's peacetime, or humanitarian purpose is basically the same, but patients are simply moved to a safer area out of harm's way," he said.
A single MASF is made up of 15 team members -- one medical service corps officer, four nurses, seven medical technicians, one medical administration personnelist and two radio communications Airmen.
A third C-17, commanded by Capt. Paul Kelly from the 16th Airlift Squadron, took off and headed for Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, then onto Little Rock AFB, Ark.
"Our crew carried 95,238 pounds of medical supplies and equipment to Corpus Christi and Brownsville, Texas," said Captain Kelly. "Then we moved 64,845 pounds of medical equipment out of Corpus Christi and Beaumont."
Just how important are these missions Charleston crews were flying?
"The crews from Charleston AFB were instrumental in strategically placing medical personnel and supplies throughout southeast Texas and Arkansas," said Captain Elliot. "In cooperation with the Air Force Reserves, we were able to place people and equipment where they could be readily available to provide help for the victims of Hurricane Ike."
By airlifting MASFs into Texas, many lives were saved.
"We had approximately 53 patients pass through our MASF," said Lieutenant Estes. "Twenty-five of those were evacuated via a C-130 and the rest were loaded onto ambulances."
Members of the MASF team from MacDill AFB worked more than 36 hours straight, some even worked as long as 48 hours.
"It was a very challenging but rewarding mission," Lieutenant Estes said.
While the MASF team from MacDill AFB was readying patients for transport, the MASF team made up of members from the 43rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and the 43rd Medical Group from Pope AFB, was staging itself as well.
In the end, the MASF team from Pope AFB did not evacuate any patients because their assigned staging area did not require a mandatory evacuation.
"They did evacuate almost 400 patients from Louisiana before Hurricane Gustav hit and more than 2,500 from the New Orleans Airport after Hurricane Katrina," said Ed Drohan, 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs, Pope AFB.
Charleston AFB is always ready to "take the fight to the enemy," but sometimes the enemy may not always be a group of people.
"'Taking the fight to the enemy,' sometimes the enemy is a natural disaster ... and the 'fight' is humanitarian relief," said Col. John "Red" Millander, 437th Airlift Wing commander. "This is just as much a part of our mission as delivering mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles or resupply parts to Iraq."