Shortly after 2100 hours, DUSTOFF operations received a
nine-line MEDEVAC request to rescue the crew of a British Armored Personnel
Carrier (APC) that had been destroyed by an anti-tank mine while patrolling
near the Macedonian border. The DUSTOFF crew, led by CW3 William Fisher,
launched in under eight minutes, under NVG conditions and in a snow shower.
The initial evacuation request indicated that there was a single casualty on
the scene and that personnel on the ground had cleared the Landing Zone of
ordinance.
Enroute to the site, CW3 Fisher took the aircraft controls
while his co-pilot, CW2 Dan Adams, navigated and communicated with the
British soldiers at the blast site. After circling the scene, the crew
landed the aircraft approximately fifteen meters from the wrecked APC, which
had been flipped into the air and onto its side by the enormous force of the
explosion. Even before the crewmembers could exit the aircraft, the stench
of fuel from the ruined vehicle became nearly overwhelming, and the extent
of the damage to the vehicle was easily apparent. SGT Luis Rodriguez, the
flight medic on board, disconnected from the intercom system, climbed out of
the left gunner’s window and began moving toward a soldier who was signaling
him with a flashlight.
The British soldier informed SGT Rodriguez that there were
actually two casualties, one ambulatory and one badly injured litter
patient. While they discussed the situation, other British troops led the
first patient to SGT Rodriguez. The victim had not been severely injured by
the blast, but was suffering from acute post-traumatic stress. The soldier
had been the APC track commander at the time of the explosion and had been
thrown out of the vehicle by the blast. SGT Rodriguez led him to the waiting
MEDEVAC aircraft, where the crew chief, SPC Andrew Beckler, helped him into
the aft-facing seat between the crewmember stations. Knowing that the
patient’s seat faced directly toward the litter pan where the more severely
injured victim would be situated, SGT Rodriguez instructed the soldier to
close his eyes and keep his head down, so he would not see the injuries his
friend had suffered.
SGT Rodriguez then moved back to the soldiers on the ground
to move the litter patient. As he moved toward the place where the victim
had come to rest after being ejected from the APC, he saw a British soldier
moving on his hands and knees from the opposite direction, probing the
ground for mines. SGT Rodriguez was then informed by one of the British
troops that the area had not been cleared of mines. He immediately stopped
in his tracks and, because he was disconnected from ICS, yelled for SPC
Beckler to freeze, so loudly that the pilots heard him clearly over the
engine noise. From where he stood, SGT Rodriguez coordinated for the mine
victim to be moved. He then led the litter bearers toward the aircraft,
carefully ensuring that they followed in his own footsteps to avoid
detonating any undiscovered mines.
With the patient safely on board, SGT Rodriguez quickly
assessed the patient’s injuries. The soldier had suffered a near-amputation
of his left leg, multiple severe blast injuries and a massive open abdominal
wound. SGT Rodriguez and SPC Beckler then performed two-rescuer CPR for the
duration of the flight, while the CW3 Fisher and CW2 Adams brought the
aircraft back through the increasingly dense snow shower to the Combat
Support Hospital at Camp Bondsteel. After delivering the patients and
refueling, the crew returned to MEDEVAC parking, where they were debriefed
by the Task Force chaplain, due to severity of the victim’s injuries and the
stress they had experienced during the mission.
Approximately 90 minutes after they had returned from the
first mission, DUSTOFF 01’s crew was launched again to the site of the APC
explosion. A third British soldier had been wounded in the initial
explosion; however, due to the rush of activity following the blast, his
injuries were not immediately discovered. The same MEDEVAC crew launched
again, this time with 1LT Christopher Howard serving as co-pilot. Inbound to
the LZ, 1LT Howard confirmed the grid coordinates with British ground
personnel, as the crewmembers helped clear the aircraft through the
still-deteriorating weather. To ensure mine avoidance, CW3 Fisher used his
skill and precise guidance from the crew to land the aircraft in exactly the
same wheel marks they had created on the first mission. Once again, SGT
Rodriguez took control of the scene and directed the approach of the British
ground troops as they carried the third patient of the night. This soldier
had been following the APC when the mine detonated and had received shrapnel
wounds to the lower leg. When the victim had been loaded into the aircraft,
the crew of DUSTOFF 01 delivered him safely to the CSH and returned safely
once again to parking for the remainder of the night.
Each of the crewmembers involved in these missions acted in
the true spirit of DUSTOFF. They placed the welfare of their comrades ahead
of their own, even performing multiple flights to a known hostile LZ to
evacuate wounded personnel. Their individual skill and exemplary crew
coordination ensured that the mission was accomplished and each of the
patients was delivered to medical care.