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Travis airmen save soldier's life

TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (USTCNS) --- Roy, a senior master sergeant with the 615th Air Mobility Operations Group, has O-negative blood, which makes him a universal donor and an old hand at blood donation. The pint he gave Oct. 10, though, went right into the veins of an Army soldier, helping to save his life.

Roy was just one of several members of a deployed Tanker Airlift Control Element who went into action to help a soldier critically injured when he was crushed between a "humvee" and a water storage trailer.

The soldier was marshalling the vehicle when he lost his balance and fell between the vehicle and the trailer, according to Chris, the TALCE's operations officer, who is a first lieutenant. The vehicle driver, who could still see the spotter's marshalling wands, continued to back up, accidentally pinning the soldier against the trailer.

As medics at the deployed location responded to stabilize the patient, the TALCE -which is responsible for turning bare-bones airfields into working aerial ports - began looking for an aircraft to be used for a medical evacuation. They quickly identified a C-17 scheduled to arrive in approximately two hours.

"Anytime you're dealing with anyone being injured, you work as quickly as possible," said D-Mac, a technical sergeant and the TALCE's ramp coordinator. "You know they have a family back home that is counting on you."

When the patient's condition worsened about an hour after the accident, the medics and deployed personnel team identified Roy, who was catching some much-needed sleep, as the best possible donor.

"Of course, I said yes," Roy said. "It was something I could offer, and it was something he needed."

With the help of Roy's blood, the medics were able to stabilize the patient until the C-17 arrived, but the TALCE's work wasn't done yet. With aircraft engines running, the team had to unload the plane's cargo and prepare it for the medevac all in austere, near-freezing conditions that Laurie, a tech sergeant and noncommissioned officer in charge of the TALCE's port operations, described
as "'Survivor' times three."

"They loaded him, shut the doors and took off," said Jim, the lieutenant colonel who serves as the TALCE commander. "I believe we saved his life by being there."

The C-17 left the airfield one-hour after it landed, carrying the patient to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey. He was later airlifted to the military hospital in Germany where he is now recovering.

Asked how he felt being in a life-and-death situation, Gary, a technical sergeant and aircraft maintainer, said, "It doesn't feel much different, because we're trained like we fight."

The four squadrons of the 615th AMOG must be prepared to pack up and deploy at a moment's notice. They are usually the first Air Force people on the ground to set up airfield operations capable of handling mobility aircraft. The group has played a significant role in most major military and humanitarian relief operations in recent years.

"It's just a job that we do, and we are lucky to be the first ones called upon," Gary said. One could guess that a bit of that luck rubbed off on a soldier in need, hurt but not alone.

(FROM TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE PUBLIC AFFAIRS)

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