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THIS IS AN EXCERPT: For years, many veterans and active military have been alarmed about the idiocy of the changes in battlefield evacuation known as Dust Off. For reasons having nothing to do with patient care, Dust Off has been removed from the control of the professionals, the medics, and put under the control of amateurs, aviation staff officers. According to Gen. Creighton Abrams, former U.S. Army chief of staff and former supreme commander in Vietnam: “A special word about the Dust Offs … Courage above and beyond the call of duty was sort of routine to them. It was...

Open Letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and President Barack Obama Gentlemen, For the last seven years I have written about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have covered the US Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy. I’ve also covered the British, Lithuanian, Afghan and Iraqi forces, among others, in places ranging from Iraq to the Philippines and beyond. My most recent embed in Afghanistan was at personal invitation from then-General David Petraeus. It is said that I have spent more time with American combat forces than any writer in US history. I do not know if this...

5/15/2008 - BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- May 14 marked another significant event when members of the Iraqi air force flew its first medical evacuation mission since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The crew consisted of an Iraqi pilot, flight medic and aerial gunner -- each with a U.S. military counterpart -- as they transported their first patient, an Iraqi man, from the Air Force Theater Hospital at Balad Air Base to the U.S. Army's 86th Combat Support Hospital in Baghdad. "This is the first (medevac) mission in the history of the Iraqi air force," said Iraqi Lt....

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, Nov. 27, 2007 – “Medevac! Medevac! 2nd Up.” As the call comes over the radio, the living room of the pilots, crew chiefs and medics of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, springs to life. Members of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, perform a preflight check on the Black Hawk helicopter the team will use for the day. The preflight inspection begins at 6 a.m. each day to ensure the aircraft is ready to go when the medical evacuation company receives a call. Photo by Pfc. Monica K. Smith, USA  (Click photo for screen-resolution...

Staff Sgt. Bryan Resh stands in front of a medical evacuation helicopter at Forward Operating Base Sykes where he is serving in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Resh is one of several crewmembers of Dustoff 77, which has been awarded the Army Aviation Association of AmericaÂ’s Rescue of the Year Award. U.S. Army courtesy photo Air Ambulance Team Awarded for Daring Rescue The crew of Dustoff 77 risk life and limb to save the lives of their fellow soldiers. By Spc. Daniel Bearl 25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 29, 2007 --When the soldiers from the 68th Medical...

CAMP TAJI, Iraq (Army News Service, July 10, 2006) – One unit has sole responsibility for getting Baghdad-stationed coalition forces and civilians in need of medical care to the right treatment facilities. Since November 2005, more than 3,500 patients have been transported by Company C, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division. The more than 80 Soldiers assigned to the unit operate from Camp Taji and Forward Operating Base Falcon. Missions taken on by the “Dustoff” Company are categorized as urgent or priority according to patients’ conditions. “Our overall mission is to facilitate the safest and...

CAMP ANACONDA, Iraq - First, the grievously wounded arrive for the flight on stretchers, some carried by volunteers who show up for special duty in the middle of the night after working on the base all day. After the last stretcher is loaded aboard the military evacuation plane, the ambulatory patients prepare to ascend the ramp, one after the other. Volunteers and staff from Camp Anaconda's tent hospital flank their path. They clap vigorously and cheer loudly as the first patient appears, and they do this until the last one makes the climb, the circle closing, the salute echoing through...

Lord, Keep our Troops forever in Your care Give them victory over the enemy... Grant them a safe and swift return... Bless those who mourn the lost. . FReepers from the Foxhole join in prayer for all those serving their country at this time. ...................................................................................... ........................................... U.S. Military History, Current Events and Veterans Issues Where Duty, Honor and Countryare acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated. Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel...

I just watched a program on the Military Channel called "In the Shadow of the Blade." What a great tribute to the dust off crews and our vets. It will show again and I highly recommend it. It follows some of the crews flying a Huey around the states reuniting with people they had saved and families of those they were unable to save. I am truly humbled by the courage and bravery of our Viet Nam vets. May God bless you all. One story was exceptional as it showed a nurse to whom our soldiers brought a tiny baby...