The aviators, assigned to G Company, 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment (New Mexico Army National Guard), spent their time overseas training the diverse skills that make for an effective aeromedical evacuation (MEDEVAC) unit. These skills included not only individual flying skills, but also the medical skills, crew tasks, and teamwork that contributes to the prompt and effective evacuation of critically-injured patients. The unit can apply these skills in a variety of non-combat and combat missions, whether at home or abroad. “The team building was phenomenal,” said Capt. Casey Voss, the unit’s commander, remarking upon the event, which brought some crews together for the first time in a complex training environment outside the United States. The training, conducted at the Joint Multinational Readiness Center (JMRC), afforded New Mexico Soldiers an opportunity to work with both Regular Army and foreign counterparts, including military personnel from the United Kingdom and Germany. Together, these Soldiers completed 15 simulated MEDEVAC scenarios and executed over 200 accident-free flight hours. The unit also trained with use of a hoist to aid patient evacuation and extraction from difficult or remote terrain. In addition to conducting a variety of exercises, the unit was called upon to conduct the real-world evacuation of a U.S. Soldier who had broken his tailbone following a parachute jump. “We functioned exactly like we trained,” said Chief Warrant Officer Anita Guderjohn, who served as co-pilot during that mission, which resulted in the successful evacuation of the Soldier to a local hospital. “It was rewarding to actually help somebody,” she added. The successful completion of this overseas training will allow these Soldiers to more effectively perform their mission of providing MEDEVAC support both within the state of New Mexico and as part of any mission to which the unit may be called.
