Air Advisors Focus on Medevac Skills in Kabul

(from Air Force Association)

Air advisors with the Train Advise Assist Command-Air hosted 10 Afghan flight medics and a flight nurse for medical evacuation training on July 9 at Kabul international airport, where they simulated medevac procedures on a C-130H Hercules. Advisors and their trainees worked to reconfigure the cargo compartment with stretcher stations, and conducted procedures such as offloading patients and setting up litters.  Afghan medics receive basic medical training through their national medical hospital, and then are sent to TAAC-Air for additional instructions to improve skills and techniques for medevac missions, TAAC-Air officials said. In order to build a sustainable training plan for Afghan military medics, TAAC-Air advisors are refreshing skills, such as movement fundamentals, with their trainees. The Afghan flight medics are the "cream of the crop," said MSgt. Matthew Scott, the senior enlisted advisor at the NATO clinic in Kabul and an​ emergency room manager from Eglin AFB, Fla.  "We are working to get the young medics involved and get them so they can assist the experienced medics and soon do it by themselves," he added. The TAAC-Air advisors host weekly training events with the Afghan flight medics, with assistance from USAF aeromedical evacuation experts.

Pittsburgh C-123 Vets – Agent Orange Exposures Sunday Front Page News

Three bases had C-123s: Westover, Rickenbacker and Pittsburgh with its 911th Tactical Airlift Group (now 911AW.)

Today, their Sunday Post-Gazette newspaper brought front-page new of their Agent Orange exposures and the VA's anticipated announcement within a week of approved disability benefits.

Congratulations, 911th aircrews, maintainers, aerial port, AME and life support! Congratulations, too, to VA for reaching out to us following January's Institute of Medicine C-123 exposure report, under consideration since then by Dr. Ralph Erickson's team within Veterans Health.

Barbara Haskins, wife of Dick Haskins, has passed.

Our hearts go out to Dick Haskins on the loss today of his wife Barbara. Please keep the Hanskins family in your prayers. Dick is a long-time veteran of the 74AES/439AES at Westover.

                        ....all your friends from Westover!

AME Flight Records Located

Buzz Bocynesky located a very good set of his Form 5 flight records. Because each of the missions he flew was aeromedical evacuation, others from the 74th AES with flight orders can compare their dates to his, and identify specifically which C-123K was flown. This is important as a step to prove that former Agent Orange spray aircraft were flown and by tail number.

Thus, Buzz' records establish his own Agent Orange aircraft, and because most AME kept their flight orders which didn't show tail numbers, comparing flight orders with Form 5 data completes the research. Suggestion: simply make a list of the dates flown, and compare to Buzz's records. The match of your dates and his, for Tail #s. Westover's Agent Orange spray planes included Tails 362, 361, 583, 607, 000 and 586. #635 seems to have been a spray plane as well, but research continues.

The Agent Orange aircraft on Buzz's Form 5s include only Tails #607, 365 and 361. AME without either flight orders for Form 5s can check Steve Caraker's or Paul Bailey's sets for their names – if their orders have show you listed there's your proof for the VA. Most of the Form 5s we have came from John Riley.

A spreadsheet combining what we have is available by clicking here, and we want to add crews and dates to compete the resource.

Thanks, Buzz. Everyone else, please scan your records and forward to me for our data base.

The Giff Ill Following Open Heart Surgery

William Gifford, better known for decades to fellow members of the 74th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron as "The Giff," had open heart surgery last week in Massachusetts. A subsequent emergency procedure was necessary and his kidney function is impaired.

All of us who remember (with a little embarrassment and but great admiration) Giff's tendency to grab a microphone and start singing when we'd RON'd somewhere (why did it always seem to be New Orleans or Oceana?)  and after a couple (?) drinks at a dinner bar, pray that strength of character and humor sustains him and his family now.

Its too early to sign out on the Form 40, Giff!

AME...finally in the game

Re: Finances –
Steve Caraker of the 74th AES has upheld the honor of the Air Force Medical Service and tossed in his help with financing The Cause! Thanks, Steve!

FLIGHT ENGINEERS FIRST TO PONY UP!

Flight engineers doing what Flight Engineers Do
(no, its not a prop change!)

The financial situation was explained to our membership – and our esteemed flight engineers were first to respond. No surprise there!

Many thanks to Bob Corcoran!

Where, oh where...are the AME? Time to help carry the load, dear friends. If not, others certainly will (and have) but in three years, only silence. Come on, AME...along for the ride only?

Thanks, Bob

Air Force Times Publishers Demand VA Recognize C-123 Exposures – "VA CALLOUS & TONE DEAF!"

The editorial staff at The Air Force Times took a principled stand stand last week.

The Times, published by Gannett, and in allied issues of the Navy Times, Coast Guard Times, Marine Corps Times and Military Times, published what is always recognized as an editorial statement when they used a full page for their overview of the C-123 and our exposures. This could have been a single column review of facts and a couple quotes...a few column inches, but instead the Times went deep into reporter Patricia Kime's investigation. That full page is a statement of the editor's appreciation of the problem.

Remarkably, that editorial emphasis continued to page 36. I missed this at first, but veteran Paul Bergeron is a more careful reader. Today on learning of Paul's retelling of the editorial, I got a copy and quickly came to appreciate what's been done for us: The Times took a stand, and that stand is in support of us, and proclaims the need for VA to do the right thing. No need for Congress to step in, however...the VA has enough evidence, and has enough interest in justice for its veterans, that it should come to the realization that presumptive service connection is precisely the correct choice to make. Folks at VA will realize that constructing time delays, such as the interesting but claims-irrelevant Institute of Medicine C-123 study, form both intrinsic and extrinsic ethical failures.

AF Times, 31 March

There is no legal or moral or scientific reason not to receive a complete C-123 veteran's FDC today and process without the C&P automatic orders for denial. 

There must be a moral condemnation of any VA employee who takes such an delaying action knowing it is only to prevent access to medical care by a fully eligible C-123 veteran. 

There should be, perhaps, an even stronger, more formal action taken by authorities – and not just authorities in the VA itself –  addressing the full range of actions by VA staffers who engineered these delays once the full price in C-123 deaths and suffering over the period 2012-2014 is known.

Air Force Times, 31 March 2014, page 36

Lest We Forget - "the good old days?"

Age does that to you...the good stuff gets priority in the memory banks and we tend to forget the less wonderful stuff.

And the C-123 certainly had its share of the less wonderful stuff! Besides Agent Orange, I mean!

On that list, I'll give first place credit to the AME ladies who had to tote along a porta-potty and a GI blanket to have any measure of privacy when nature called. The operation took two to hold the blanket while the third took care of business. And the rule was, first to use the potty had to empty it. I recall a couple unscheduled stops at places like Newark to use their facilities rather than do the blanket/potty drill!

For the males of the flight species, it wasn't much more fun. Last week I learned that a certain well-known engineer's first patent was for keeping the device below from freezing during use! Perhaps, there was some wisdom on Fairchild's part in not providing us a coffee pot???