Reserve C-17 crew diverts mission to help sick child

by Stacy Vaughn
445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

3/14/2014 - WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio -- A 445th Airlift Wing C-17 Globemaster III was on a routine passenger movement mission March 7 when it was diverted to Yokota Air Base, Japan, to pick up a sick 2-year old child that needed to be transported to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, for medical treatment.

The original mission called for the 11-person crew composed of reservists from the 89th Airlift Squadron, 445th Operations Support Squadron and 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron to stop at March Air Reserve Base for an aircraft swap, then fly to Kadena Air Base to pick up 45 Aerial Port Squadron Airmen from Pope Army Airfield, N.C. for transportation back home.

The routine mission changed with a phone call from Hickam asking for help.

"We got a call from PACAF air mobility division out of Hickam March 7 asking us if we would be able to support a medical evacuation mission. We called our Air Force Reserve Command point of contact and he touched base with the Force Generation Center Battle Watch and they worked the legwork with PACAF to get our crew to Yokota," said Master Sgt. Steven Palsgrove, 445th Operations Support Squadron current operations planner. "By that evening, everything was worked out. The crew was on its way the following morning."

Capt. Ryan Fallon, 89th AS aircraft commander, said when they got the call from the AFRC Command Post asking for support, he and his crew didn't hesitate. "Yes of course we'll support!"

The tasking was a challenge at first for Fallon as this was his first mission as a new aircraft commander.

"It was actually the first trip that I was in charge on paper. It was interesting being on the ground floor when it all changed and then trying to coordinate everything that needed to happen. One of the biggest hurdles was all the coordination that had to take place. We were doing a lot of coordination in the air and were making phone calls from the airplane to get as much information as we could and to put it together," Fallon said.

Fellow 89th AS pilot Maj. Ryan Wellman said at the beginning they didn't know the patient was a child or the medical circumstances. They were only told it was an emergency medical evacuation. "It wasn't until we were about to land in Yokota that we found out that the patient was a toddler," Wellman said.

"I asked the AE before we left Kadena what's the particulars of the patient and she said she was a toddler and that's all she knew. By the time we got to Yokota, as they were getting ready to load her, she had heard that the child had leukemia."

Wellman said with the new mission, the whole crew stepped up to the plate to meet the additional requirements needed. Oxygen and fuel requirements changed, extra crewmembers were on board now, plus the constant communication with the air evac medical personnel.

"I'm so thrilled it all worked out. We faced some challenges but were able to make it happen. Since the crew had never been to Yokota before, we had to figure out how much gas to take on to fly the mission and we had to fly through Tokyo air space," Wellman said.

Master Sgt. Jerald Cremeens, Jr., 89th AS loadmaster, was in the back with the passengers and coordinated the equipment placement with AE and made sure the patient and other passengers were comfortable.

"The whole air evac mission is pretty special but when it involves children, it's more emotional because most of us have kids. This mission was a team effort on all accounts," Cremeens said.

Aeromedical evacuation crews are trained and ready to fill the need when events, such as this one, are required. AES teams usually consist of a medical crew director, flight nurse, a charge medical technician and two medical technicians. The crew carries with them the necessary equipment to turn any cargo aircraft in the Air Force inventory into a flying ambulance almost instantly.

When the crew landed at Hickam, the child was taken to medical facilities at Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii. The C-17 then completed its mission.

"Teamwork was key from the very beginning until the end--our current Ops, AFRC, PACAF AE, maintainers at Kadena working with our flying crew chief to get us out of Kadena, our crew. It's also a story I'm sure the Pope APS Airmen told their families when they got home since they stayed on board for the whole ride," Fallon said.