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Teamwork in the field

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  • By Danielle Gregory
  • Tinker Public Affairs
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla., --  The players probably don't know the game. When it comes to exercises, the evaluation team did something that hasn't been done in several years and will be new to the players that participated this time around. 

Last week several Tinker members ran through a mock missile crisis exercise. The exercise included several Unit Type Codes or teams including the Medical Management Augmentation Team, the Flight Medicine Team, Preventative Aerospace Medicine Team Three, Patient Decontamination Team, the Logistics and Manpower Augmentation Team, 32nd Combat Communications Squadron, 72nd Medical Group, 72nd Security Forces Squadron, Chaplain Services, contractors and engineers. An Air Transportable Clinic was also deployed and it is another type of UTC than includes only equipment. Many units deployed, but part of the main focus was on the UTCs are all components that can be used to build or augment Expeditionary Medical Support. 

EMEDS is a modular, scalable rapid response medical package that can provide medical support for wartime contingencies, disaster response and humanitarian relief.
"Our team members demonstrated their medical readiness skills in the exercise, simulating deployed conditions. In addition, our Airmen showed how they were able to survive and operate in a hostile environment by performing post attack reconnaissance sweeps following conventional, chemical or biological attacks," said Capt. Ryan Gabel, EMEDS commander, who will be deploying as a member of the Medical Management Augmentation Team. 

During the missile crisis, the Airmen's goals were to train and improve their skills while maintaining a high state of readiness. If attacks occurred on location, the teams were expected to react accordingly which meant donning mission-oriented protective posture gear and waiting out an attack. After attacks, the PAR teams and Bio personnel ensured that the camp was safe and worked with other deployed personnel to identify and deal with hazards. 

"Our mission was also to provide medical care to the personnel assigned to the base, which included our military personnel as well as US contractors and local nationals who work on the base. This included preventative care, care for disease, non-battle injury and treating any personnel wounded during attacks on our camp. Some personnel were injured to an extent that we could only stabilize them and prepare them for Aero-medical Evacuation," said Captain Gabel. 

Should this have been a real-world deployment, another consideration would have been to work with the local community to build and strengthen ties with the local populace. Captain Gabel said this is often done by sending out medical teams to provide basic medical and dental care, give immunizations and distribute items donated by friends and family back home. 

The group participated in the exercise to prepare for wartime contingencies and possible deployments. Exercising as a team helps them to understand both roles, the roles of other personnel on the UTCs, and the roles of other UTCs that might be present at the deployed location.