KHOST PROVINCE, Afghanistan - The "Cowboy Dustoff" troops of the
Wyoming National Guard know all too well the rush of excitement and dread
that accompanies receiving an urgent medical evacuation call.
"Your heart starts beating," said Spc. Wesley E. Morris, a medic for Company
C, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment. "You run over to the [tactical
operations center] to get what information they have from the nine-line and
you run out to the aircraft, going to expect the unexpected."
the time Morris reaches the flight line, the pilot and crew chief have
already donned their gear and started the twin engines of the UH-60 Blackhawk
helicopter, which rise to a slow crescendo. The whirring blades become a
steady hum, and the 8,000-pound aircraft rises from the concrete.
Ten minutes have elapsed. If they do not reach the right grid coordinate
within an hour, the chances of someone will losing life or limb are
increased.
"It really comes down to our ability to sprint to the aircraft... and push
the aircraft to its limits in order to get the patient to the hospital in
time," said Chief Warrant Officer Christopher M. Arnold, a pilot with the
unit.
The second rotation of Company C Soldiers, consisting of about 20 Soldiers
from the Wyoming National Guard and several more active duty add-ons, arrived
in southeastern Afghanistan last September.
Operating out of Forward Operating Base Salerno here and Forward Operating
Base Orgun-E in Paktika province, the troops are responsible for providing
the medical-evacuation support in a belt of land across southeastern
Afghanistan that covers two and a half provinces-a little smaller than the
state of Maryland.
Since their arrival in theater, the troops with Company C have flown more
than 500 flight hours, completed almost 400 patient movements, and received
close to 200 urgent missions. They have provided support for three mass
casualty incidents which all occurred within a three-week period.
According to the unit's log, less than 40 percent of their patients thus far
have been American troops, the rest have been Afghan National Police, Army
and Border Patrol, civilians other International Security Assistance Force
troops or enemy prisoners.
Lt. Col. Mike Musiol, the commander of Task Force Viper, a command umbrella
that oversees a diverse array of air assets including Company C, said that
the experience and training of the troops in the unit reflects well on the
National Guard.
"Charlie Company is a pretty unique unit," Musiol said. "They don't have the
turn-over that other conventional units have, so you've got a very
experienced set of aviators and crew chiefs and medics that have worked
together for a fair amount of time compared to most conventional units."
"They are a disciplined, well-trained unit and I am very grateful to have
them as a part of my unit," he added.
Even troops who are part of a well-trained, disciplined unit like Co. C can
find Dustoff operations a demanding business. Before the medic can begin
treating patients, the pilot has to navigate the difficult Afghan terrain as
quickly as conditions will allow.
The Khost bowl is situated at about 3,000 feet elevation and many of the
surrounding installations are at elevations as high as 8,000 feet, so the
pilot must beware of the tensions being putting on the aircraft.
"When you're flying in these conditions you always have to be ready to think
four or five steps ahead," Arnold said.
On one of his first missions in Afghanistan, Arnold had an urgent call to the
narrow Khost-Gardez pass. Upon arrival they lost communication with the rest
of the company and made a decision to land the aircraft on the crowded road
with a rock wall on one side of them, and a drop-off on the other.
The first time they tried to land they got a "brown out" as the aircrafts
rotors stirred dust in the area, but they extracted the patients successfully
on the second attempt.
Once the patients are on the aircraft the medic goes to work stabilizing the
patient until the air craft arrives at a more advanced medical facility. This
involves stopping bleeding, unblocking air flow, treating shock and
reassessing the first aid that has already been administered.
"The most difficult part of my job would be treating some of the patients
that we see," said Morris, who has been working as an emergency medical
technician-intermediate since 2005 at Memorial Hospital of Converse County in
Douglas, Wyo., where he lives. "No patient's ever the same and ... this is my
first time seeing some of these injuries. And treating them in the back of
the helicopter ... it's a lot tighter space and I don't have the room to move
around the patient like I do in my civilian ambulance."
"The most rewarding part of the job," he added, "is getting the Soldiers up
to where they can go out and fight again-they're healthy-and getting the
local nationals so that they feel better and can live their lives more
normally than ... they might have."
Meanwhile, returning with patient in-tow, the Blackhawk touches down on the
flight pad and rolls to a stop over a large Red Cross symbol painted on the
concrete. Two personnel from the Salerno Combat Support Hospital rush forward
to assist the "Dustoff" troops with lowering the patient, who has been
secured to a litter. There is still time to save him.
For the troops of Company C, this is how a good day ends.