Total Force support brings injured Sailors home

  • Published
  • By Capt Karin McWhorter
  • PACAF Public Affairs
HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE, Hawaii --  When the call came in that six Sailors were critically injured when a steam line ruptured on board the USS Frank Cable (AS 40), a submarine tender based on Guam, the Theater Patient Movement Requirements Center (TPMRC) and the Aeromedical Evacuation Control Team (AECT) based here sprang into action.

The first step was to get the Critical Care Medical Attendant Transport Team (CCMAT) to Guam. A KC-135, assigned to the 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, Japan, flew the Kadena-based team to Guam and, upon arrival, the team loaded all their equipment on a Hickam-based C-17 that had just landed.

The CMAT readied the patients for transport and loaded them on the C-17 for immediate aero medical evacuation. Fifteen hours after the steam line ruptured, injuring the sailors, the first leg of their journey home had begun.

Meanwhile, a McChord C-17 and crew from the Air Force Reserve's 728th Airlift Squadron diverted to pick up the nine-member Army Burn Center Flight Team from Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC), Texas; the only one of its kind in the Department of Defense. The Team arrived in Hawaii before the patients and stood by at the Army Tripler Medical Center.

"There were a lot of moving pieces to this evacuation and it came together beautifully because of the support we received from all the services," said Lt. Col. Leslie Ann, TPMRC director. "When the C-17 landed here, there were medical personnel from the Army, Navy and Air Force as well as local first responders from Hawaii."

Less than ten hours after their arrival here the Sailors were stabilized and ready for the last leg of their trip.

The Army Burn Center team accompanied the Sailors on board another Hickam C-17, assigned to the 15 Airlift Wing, and landed safely at San Antonio International Airport where they were transported to BAMC and are undergoing continued treatment.

The successful aero-medical evacuation of the injured Sailors is attributed to the total force effort.

"When we have a sailor injured anywhere in the world, we will move Heaven and Earth to get them the care they need," said Pacific Fleet Surgeon Navy Captain Bob Kiser. "In order to do that, it takes all of us together."