CHIEF WARRANT OFFICER 2 RICHARD COOPER
The air ambulance business can be challenging, but it’s absolutely necessary. Sometimes I feel it doesn't receive the recognition it deserves. Nevertheless, I hope to never have to fly a medevac mission because that means one of our own or an ally is a casualty. Unfortunately, casualties are a part of war, and the following story chronicles one of my experiences in Iraq in 2010.
It was a hot summer day and I was on a 48-hour medevac duty as the pilot of a four-man crew that also included a pilot in command, medic and crew chief. We had already completed our morning aircraft run-up and checks. Also, we conducted our morning crew mission briefs for the duty day. When on-duty in a ready-up status, the No. 1 priority for the crew is to be rested. There is no set schedule of when Soldiers could get hurt, so the crew has to be diligent in being rested and ready at all times day or night.
After our crew finished the aircraft run-up and checks, which are to be completed every morning, I decided to go to my room and take a nap. It was rare to receive urgent medevac missions, so many times I would take off my uniform top, kick off my boots and relax or nap if needed. But today, for some reason, I chose to fall asleep in my full uniform.
It was about noon and I was deep into a nap when the call came on my handheld radio — “Medevac, medevac, medevac!" It immediately woke me and I jumped up, grabbed the radio, ran out to our aircraft and strapped in to start going through the checklist all the way to engine start. The crew chief met me at the aircraft to prepare the cabin for the mission. The PC and medic ran to flight operations to receive the mission information.
As I was going through the checklist, I radioed into flight operations and requested the grid coordinates for the injury and input them into the aircraft’s GPS. The PC and medic finished the flight operations briefing and ran to the aircraft and strapped in. We then finished the start-up procedures and lifted off. Our Black Hawk was wheels-up in less than eight minutes. What a rush to come out of sleep to taking off less than eight minutes later on an urgent mission.
We flew toward where the GPS was pointing, and I coordinated with the PC to double-check that I input the correct grid coordinates. The PC and I then coordinated. I would fly and he would navigate the leg to the point of injury, and vice-versa on the leg back to the hospital on the base. The information we had at the time was that the point of injury was a convoy on a highway in the middle of nowhere. Also, the convoy had secured the area and we were told to look for and land at the green smoke. With my inexperience, I figured it would be fairly easy to identify the landing zone, but I had a hard time interpreting what was on the ground from altitude. With the PC’s help, I saw the green smoke and the LZ came into sight.
Experience has shown us that a major concern for all desert landings is browning out in the dust. The PC and I briefed the element of dust on the landing and I initiated the approach. We were landing on an asphalt highway, so I assumed the dust wouldn't be too bad. I was mistaken; we completely browned out! I could barely maintain a piece of the road through my chin bubble. It was a very intimidating moment for me, but, thanks to good unit pre-deployment training, I landed the aircraft without any issues. To my surprise, it was one of the smoothest, softest landings I've had to date! It's interesting how your best performance can prevail in the heat of the moment.
After landing, the medic and crew chief exited the aircraft and performed their duties to receive and secure the patient inside the cabin. We flew back to base and handed off the patient to the medical team. The injured individual was an Iraqi national contractor who was driving a vehicle that was towing an M93A1 Fox (a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear reconnaissance vehicle) on a trailer with a Mercedes cab. Apparently, this individual was distracted and drove into the back of the semi-trailer in front of him. The impact severed both of his legs near the knees and caused other injuries. A former British special forces soldier trained as a combat medic was the first responder on the ground caring for this patient. I believe his excellence in packaging the casualty for medevac saved the man’s life.
One lesson learned from this was to never be complacent. Even when op-tempo is slow, be prepared for the worst. I was sleeping when this call came through, which is fine, but it was noon and I was tired from staying up late the night before doing personal non-mission-related activities. Also, I learned to approach every potential dust landing as a brownout. As I've stated, the mission went well, but I could have been better rested and mentally prepared, which would mitigate the potential for any mishaps.