Air Force Now (1970s, afn 114)

[Music] radios and offing hi I'm captain Kathy lasauce a 141 pilot at Norton Air Force base and I'm your Hostess for this issue of Air Force now [Music] this is one way the Air Force has to get you to a hospital for emergency or even routine treatment but what happens if the treatment you need is at a hospital halfway across the country well the Air Force has a way of getting you there too Paris 1870 the prussians and French are engaged in a fierce bloody battle amid the turmoil the French launch 66 balloons sending 160 sick and wounded to safety this was the beginning since the early days of Mann flight military doctors have fought for an effective aeromedical evacuation system and things have come a long way today the C9 night Andale is the primary aircraft for airlifting patients throughout the world but its story doesn't begin on a Runway or in the air it begins when the military member or dependent or retiree needs specialized Medical Care since it's impractical to have every type of specialist at every medical facility the Air Force has established six Regional Medical Centers with top-notch specialists at each one the 375th aeromedical airlift Wing Scott Air Force Base has European and Pacific based squadrons which move patients by C9 to staging facilities where Mac c-141s bring them back to the States all activity is monitored by the wings patient airlift Center at Scott the routine movement of patients in the United States begins with a phone call from the originating hospital to the patient reporting section the patient information that is received is then transferred to one of the six patient status boards located in the AA medical evacuation control center the medical service cord duty officer accomplishes the mission planning for the next day's Mission based upon the information that is contained on these six status ques after this is accomplished the flight itineraries are given to the flight clinical coordinator a qualified flight nurse who reviews the itineraries for any special patient requirement or medical restrictions the C9 is the only airplane ever designed specifically for aeromedical evacuation it can carry 30 to 40 stretcher patients more than 40 ambulatory patients or a combination of both together with two specially trained flight nurses and three aeromedical technicians most of the patients are ambulatory and many times they're permitted to have a family member accompany them to their destination Hospital the mission as today starts off to Fort leonardwood Army Airfield from for we're going to go on in to Kansas City one of the bigger uh international airports from there through salinaa Kansas on out towards Buckley Denver Colorado area and from there back on up through offet down to Forbes Air Force Base and then into Fort leonardwood again for the second time in the afternoon and then back into Scott that'll be the full mission and it's going to take us approximately 14 hours from the the time we start our briefing until the time we land to complete this Mission probably one of the the major problems I have with the patients that we carry on board the nine is the the fact that they are afraid of fine and many times the disease process or the injury that they have to their body is second most in their mind they're more concerned with with whether they're going to get from point A to point B safely and comfortably I believe all members of the irac system do look at each patient as an individual person to be taken care of as best as possible the crew never seems to be too tired to make an extra effort for the patient that we're carrying or their family today on the mission we have been brief that we will have some patients that have difficulties with hypertension and thus I will be monitoring ing their blood pressure and pulse and respiration throughout the flight to make sure that they are not being harmed in any way by our patient movement procedures we like to feel that the the care that the patients receive while they're on the aircraft is comparable to the treatment that they receive while they're in a fixed medical facility we have the necessary equipment on board to care for these patients we like to feel that the patients are patients and they receive the the best possible treatment and care that can be offered the ability to be able to move somebody on an urg Mission such as a heart heart problem or a burn victim or a small baby and be able to save their life because of the medium of air transportation has really giv me a lot of joy and probably a lot of satisfaction a lot more than I've ever received anything else I've done in my career since I've been in the Air Force aeromed evacuation has come a long way since its Inception during the early days of flight today within a matter of hours the C9 can deliver a patient to some of the best medical facilities available anywhere another example of the Air Force taking care of its own this cold front will be passing through Southern California in next 18 hours with improving conditions thereafter thank you a weather briefing is one of the most important things a crew needs before departing on a mission the information we obtain here helps us to determine a safe route of flight and tells us what to expect along each leg of our flight and at our destination our next story is about people who also forecast the weather only the guys you'll be seeing don't work in a place like this their office can be just about anywhere once you leave the aircraft especially when the shoot pulls off your back and you get the opening shock of it opening and you look up it's a beautiful site to see a canopy above your head because then it's uh uh the worst part's over Landing is you know takeoffs are optional but Landings are mandatory we're what is known as the unconventional warfare weather team we support the Airborne forces in Europe and our primary mission is to provide second weather Wing the capability of deploying Personnel into any part of the ukom theater if necessary by means of parach I'm captain will Higley as sergeant which Roberts Sergeant Jerry rug we're signed olc 7th weather squadron at bats Germany right now there are only three units in air Weather Service that have parachute qualified people we provide forecast support for Airborne operations for flights specialized support to the commander that uh he may need for planning purposes Services which range from observations on the local Army Airfield to uh climatology data for particular team missions that a special forces team may be going on climatic surveys for some of the mountainous areas here for exercises that are being planned and then we have specialized teams which require a very unique form of data and we try to assimilate all this into a digestible form for the Special Force personnel something that's not totally couched in the terms of a meteorologist or a weatherman but something that the average military person can understand and utilize in this especially once we are on the ground depending on what mission uh you're uh task to do if you're one of the first people in you may be tasked to set up the Dy the Drop Zone Itself by putting up a a balloon to catch an effective wind an effective drift so you can put the panels where the aircraft will fly and release over if you're just on a long-term uh exercise type thing and uh once in the field you becomeing a part of the unit that you're supporting whether it be the Army Special Forces or a different army unit uh whether it be back in the states with the 82 airborn division or up in Northern Germany with an Armored Division you become part of that unit as an functional part you'll take the observations you support the headquarters you support the people that need the weather and at the same time you're expected to pull your own your own weight around the camp when they're inserted into the field with the team um they will not come out of the field until that team comes out of the fet completing their mission so aside from doing their normal duties of getting the weather u in addition they have to survive with that team in the field uh if that team goes on combat missions they're going to have to be able to defend themselves with that team um they're going to have to uh uh be integrated puling uh with that team and whatever they do um and for this of course this requires a little extra uh of the man uh than what would normally be required from a uh a weather Observer we expect that the anyone attached to a Special Forces Unit to include the Air Force weather team to be able to do anything physically that we can do if uh if we took someone Along on a mission or committed someone into an operational area they could not physically stay with the team then they would jeopardize the the mission that they're committed to and uh I think the the I can say for the team here they work just as hard as we do at staying ready to go I spend a considerable amount of time jogging and in PT because other than personally enjoying it it gives me a chance to get out see quite a bit of the countryside we've got uh trails that wind in and out of the forest areas Villages that uh look like something out of postcard out of picture books uh tremendously beautiful area in addition to enjoying the running and to using it as a uh mental cleansing function it leads into the PT program that we have here to maintain our ability to deploy with the special forces and to maintain our general physical condition so that we are capable of worldwide deployment they support us on our our drops um they're always uh uh ready whenever we need them the c141 has been the Workhorse of Mac for over a decade now and it has proven itself to be one of the safest most reliable aircraft the Air Force has ever had but before it was accepted into the inventory it went through a period of extensive testing at Edwards Air Force Base California Through The Years Edwards has seen most of the planes that have made it into Air Force service and many that haven't we'd like to take you back now a short step in history to when Edwards was mostly blowing sand and empty desert it was 1910 when the Cor Family First settled this vast desolate area of California located near Rodriguez dry lake it was so isolated that early homesteaders like the Corum were given special consideration by the government just to get them to move [Music] here the corms called this settlement Muro a reverse spelling of the Korum family name from this a community began to grow the flat dry lake beds surrounding Muro were ideal for auto racing and some of the earliest speed trials were held there in 1933 the Army aircore bombing and Gunnery Range was established at what was then called mck field soon after Colonel half Arnold Commander at marchfield California sent his Planes here for Maneuvers on May 11th 1937 the entire Army airc 200 planes strong participated in war games at Muro field the US had entered World War II the Muro Maru a mock Japanese Cruiser was built to prepare Crews for anti-shipping race meanwhile preparations were being made for the flight of our first jet the XP 59 which took place on October 1st 1942 the jet age had [Music] begun in 1947 Captain Chuck joerger broke the sound barrier in the Bell X1 rocket plane 2:00 4 rock 5 6 7:00 8:00 Rock 9 10 11 the YB 49 flying wing in 1948 one crashed killing all five crewmen among them Captain Glenn W Edwards and on January 27th 1950 mck field was renamed Edwards Air Force Base in 1951 the test pilot school and the Air Force flight test center were established [Music] [Music] be he Edwards has 350 days a year flying weather and the 65 square miles of surrounding lake bed provides natural Landing fields for experimental aircraft and those with inlight emergency in addition its 307,000 Acres provide space for a variety of test related functions including sled tests designed to evaluate various aircraft components and ejection systems [Music] the X Series a long line of research Vehicles among them the [Music] X15 helicopters and other aircraft having vertical takeoff and Landing capabilities are also evaluated at Edwards even the Army's Aviation engineering flight activity gets involved with some of its new and modified [Music] [Music] aircraft the xp70 triple Sonic bomber was one of the major test programs at [Music] Edwards another test was the yf-12 Forerunner of the SR71 the swing wi f111 with its terrain following [Music] features and the [Music] C5 the Air Force rocket propulsion lab T at Edwards develops and tests new and modified systems and frequently works with NASA and other federal agencies the 70s have seen tremendous advances in close air support aircraft like the [Music] A10 and sophisticated high performance fighter aircraft [Music] B1 testing which will benefit new bomber studies and the space shutle which will provide the nation with a series of reusable space Vehicles Edwards Air Force Base witnessing flight from its earliest days and playing a major role in the development of air power these advances were the result of the courage vision and Ingenuity of its men and women qualities which will one day make space travel in ships like these a reality [Music]