JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-Lackland --
A joint training exercise between the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard is proof that the Air Force is one total force made up of the Acitive Guard and Reserve triad. Two 433rd Airlift Control Flight members, eight loadmasters from the 733 Training Squadron and aerial porters from the Alamo Wing trained a nine member Consequence Management Team from the Texas Air National Guard here July 17 to 19 at the Cargo Load Training Facility and on the flight line utilizing a C-5 A Galaxy.
"We have never airlifted before, this is a first step for us," said Maj. Harold Hill, Consequence Management Program Manager with the TANG.
"What we are accomplishing today with the 433rd AW is training on building the core processes and the core products to allow our team to airlift where ever we need to go on short notice," Hill said. "Because we are a new capability, there are not load plans built for the equipment that we have."
Hill's team is part of the Expeditionary Medical System that can be tasked to respond when a natural disaster occurs in or outside the United States. His prime responsibility is plans and operations for the Consequence Management Team.
The Guard partnered with the 433rd AW to get the expert advice with Senior Master Sgt. David Delgado, 433rd ALCF Affiliation Manager, and the ALCF team. The ALCF team knows how to prepare vehicles, build load plan, and is well practiced in getting vehicles and cargo on and off the aircraft.
"They were ready for highway travel. Highway and air travel are totally different. Highway travel you can throw things in your trailer and it will be alright. In air travel, everything has to be strapped down, otherwise it becomes a projectile," Senior Master Sgt. Delgado said.
"The bottom line is, we know the phone is going ring," Hill said. "We were the second team into New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. We evacuated 5,000 people in 18 hours. We were the emergency room on Galveston Island in 2008 after Hurricane Ike taking care of 1800 people," he said.
"Part of our requirement is that we can move over ground and air, we are tasked to move out with six hours notice," Hill said.
The CMT currently moves to disaster areas by road.
"This training is very important because I have a great team of medics, but they are not aerial porters, and they are not loadmasters. We know we have to go. We want to make sure we fill this niche in case we go by air. This training is a wonderful opportunity. We've never loaded on a C-5 before, but we have great teachers," Hill said.
Senior Master Sgt. Delgado emphasized teaching the Guard medics the fundamentals. "We want them to learn the do's and dont's of loading and securing," Delgado said.
"This is a new world for them, we are really enjoying getting the methodical instruction on how to build a load plan, on how to tie down," Hill said.
"We will be teaching them how to do the tie downs in the Cargo Loading Facility prior to going to the airplane. It will be a loud environment where we won't be able to talk. Our goal is to get everybody familiar with the equipment prior to going out to the C-5," Delgado said.
"We are an EMEDS CM, which means we are Expeditionary Medical System Consequence Management team. In other words, a normal EMEDS is designed for static operations in support of a military contingency operation, we are not. We are optimized to treat a high patient flow in a large disaster site on very short notice," Maj. Hill said.
Training like this takes on more urgency at this time of the year since it is hurricane season.
"We stand by from June to Sept. 30th for hurricane season. It's a very high priority for us," he said.
One of the major challenges the CMT faces is their vehicles.
"Our equipment is not standard. Our trucks, trailers and medical equipment are commercial. With an ordinary military specific vehicle, it is already prepared for us. We are breaking a lot of ground today getting this figured out. We couldn't do it without the ALCF, they are phenomenal," Hill said.
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