SAVANNAH, Ga. – Over 85 Air National Guard Airmen from multiple medical units across the United States and its territories attended the first all-Air National Guard mobile medic training during Northern Strike 21 at the Air Dominance Center Aug. 2-8.
Instructors from Joint Base Camp Bullis in Texas traveled to Savannah to offer this mobile medic course – usually taught in a joint environment – to Air National Guardsmen who could not get into the Texas course due to high demand from all military branches.
"This is high-quality training," said Master Sgt. Jason Hester, a force health manager at the 165th Medical Group. "The scenarios the medical Airmen are facing here are specifically crafted to replicate situations we would see deployed downrange."
Participants spent two days in the classroom and multiple days of hands-on training. Hester said they transported patients onto litters from the tent clinics, loaded them onto an aircraft, and provided in-flight care during medical evacuations.
The aircraft used for the medical evacuations included a KC-135 Stratotanker from the Ohio Air National Guard, a C-17 Globemaster III from the West Virginia Air National Guard and a KC-46 Pegasus from the New Hampshire Air National Guard.
Clinical nurses and flight doctors who attended the course helped mentor the medics.
"As a nurse on the civilian side, I enjoy coming out and participating in training like this because it is completely different from what I do as a nurse at a general hospital," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Jean Machulis, a clinical nurse with the 165th Airlift Wing.
"On the civilian side, I do not get the opportunity to set up tent hospitals to treat patients in and get to load the patients into aircraft for medical evacuation," Muchulis said.
The Air Dominance Center is one of four combat readiness training centers in the country providing joint training capabilities for all branches of the U.S. military. Military units from across the country and all service branches regularly deploy to the ADC to hone their warfighting skills.