A Year of Combat MEDEVAC

So I finished up my last scheduled duty cycle this morning.  No more flying MEDEVAC in Iraq for this tour.  We are almost done for this round.  The new replacement unit is on the ground, they are almost ready to stand up and take over the mission, and I am off to another country in a few days to watch over all our stuff until its headed home.

This tour somehow seemed longer than the last, although it was 3 months shorter.  I guess I feel it more – the time away, the long days, the exhausting work and optempo.  This tour aged me and I feel it, unlike last time.  I now there are new challenges, a family to reunite with, and a year old daughter to get to know.  I hope to be sitting on my own couch using my “free” PDMRA leave within a few weeks.  I also plan on developing some stories and adding pictures once I get time to rest, process the year, and get out from under the operational restrictions here.

Now for the raw numbers for those of you that are interested.  Flight units keep meticulous records of flight time and mission profiles, unlike ground units.  Whereas I can tell you I had over 450 combat patrols, ranging from 1 hour to 28 hours, last tour, I can give more detailed and exact information for this one.  So without further ado, I give you my personal stats for OIF 08-10 as of this date.  The caveat, as always, being that this is the Army and OPSEC rules.  Also these are subject to change should something pop-up before my feet hit home soil.

• Total Combat Hours Flown: 184
• Combat Missions: 88
• Patients: ~60 (there was an error early in the year and I lost a few from the count)
  • Urgent: 31
  • Priority: 20
  • Routine: 7
  • Other (Blood, Equipment, Convienence,): 2

That might not seem like much in the context of 450 combat patrols, but remember almost every one of these was a patient, a person, someone needing medical care.  Also, most of the other crews are averaging about the same hours, patients, etc so multiply this number by the total number of crews we have. That’s pushing it hard for a flight unit, especially a MEDEVAC. 

So, now its time to pack the connexes and return home to await the next set of orders.  I am looking forward to being with my family and putting all that leave to good use.