News

Air Force Reservists excel at Global Medic 2010

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nicole Celestine
  • 446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  "It was unbelievable. The most realistic exercise I've ever experienced. I learned a lot about the differences and similarities between the Air Force and the Army and our roles in a deployed situation," said 1st Lt. Janine Shreve, a flight nurse with the 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron here.

This was just one of the many praises Reservists from the 446th Airlift Wing had as a result of their participation in the Global Medic 2010 exercise which wrapped up July 22. Global Medic 2010 is an annual exercise to test the operational readiness of assigned medical units in a joint and coalition training environment. Integrating live and virtual simulations, the exercise provides realistic, battle-focused training settings. This year's exercise saw the 44 Reservists participating at Travis Air Force Base, Schoonover Air Field and Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., Fort Gordon and Bush Field, Ga., and Scott AFB, Ill.

For Senior Airman Kyle Knox, 446th AES operations scheduler, this year's exercise gave him a broader perspective on how the Army Reserve processes patients from point of injury to when they receive Air Force medical assistance. In addition to preparing the battle staff area with computers and other equipment, Airman Knox acted as one of the patients where he saw firsthand how the Army moves patients through the various steps.

"We, the patients, were first given our injuries," explained Airman Knox. "We then went to the field and waited for Army medics to pick us up and perform the first phase of medical treatment. From there, we were taken to the combat support hospital and triaged (sorted by severity of condition), before being transferred to the intermediate care ward."

"It's a good training platform for those preparing to deploy," said Airman Knox, a Reservist since 2008. "We sent Reservists who are preparing to deploy or who have never deployed, to get an idea of working with the Army and the whole picture through the entire medical evacuation system."

This exercise was especially useful for Lieutenant Shreve who will be deploying soon. The University of Utah student said for this exercise, her first, she acted as a liaison, working directly with Army Reservists. She said she became familiar with her Army Reserve counterparts, what they do, how they deploy and the logistics involved when Air Force and Army Reservists deploy. The part-time professor said the most interesting aspect of the exercise for her was that she will be deploying in the same unit type code (UTC) she acted within. A UTC is the deployment bracket that indicates mission capabilities.

"I'll be working with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps to get the equipment I'll be using for my mission," said Lietuenant Shreve." This exercise gave me a really good idea of how to prepare myself."

Although this was Airman Knox's second time participating in the exercise, he said it was good to see how eager Army Reservists were to learn in a simulated deployment setting. He said the experience also enlightened him because, as flying medical personnel, he never really understood what ground medical personnel did as part of the medical evacuation procedure.

The Reservists said Global Medic was an essential training tool for aeromedical evacuation personnel here because it helped them understand how both military branches work to make the entire medical evacuation system operational. Both Airmen highlighted the need to be flexible and work as a team to provide quality patient care, both on the ground and in the air.