Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 245

Chapter Nine

Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003

I want beans. I am not going to tell you how I want them cooked. I just want 

beans.

Lt. Col. Bryant Harp, 

36th Medical Battalion1

Afghanistan

I

ntelligence reports quickly linked the 9/11 attacks to elements of an extremist 

organization called al Qaeda (meaning literally “the base”) led by a shadowy 

Saudi named Osama bin Laden. As calls mounted for retaliation, intense diplomatic efforts began to isolate his influence, pinpoint him and his organization, 

and hold them accountable. Anticipating the President’s actions, on 14 September 

the U.S. Congress passed a joint resolution that authorized “the use of United 

States armed forces against those responsible for the recent attacks launched 

against the United States.” The Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld, immediately signed orders calling thousands of Guardsmen and Reservists to active 

duty. Bin Laden and a subordinate bevy of his group leaders were reported to 

be in Afghanistan as “guests” of its brutal Taliban regime. All signs indicated a 

winter combat campaign in the high terrain of that distant and little-understood 

nation. After reviewing options, President Bush directed the United States Central 

Command, commanded by Gen. Tommy Franks, to initiate a joint and combined 

air-ground effort that relied primarily on airpower, and—initially at least—special 

forces elements.2
246 Call Sign – Dustoff

Operations

Operation ENDURING FREEDOM (OEF)

Initial Engagements. Air and missile strikes began on the evening of 7 October, destroying key Taliban facilities and locations. Concurrently, Air Force C-17 

heavy transports began air dropping tons of rations, signaling that the war was 

against the Taliban and those they harbored, not the Afghani people or nation. 

Twelve days later, Army Special Forces Operational Detachment Alpha teams 

were inserted into the northern mountains of the country, and in conjunction with 

teams from other U.S. governmental agencies, linked up with forces allied against 

the Taliban regime.3

The teams were an immediate conduit for the flow of direct logistical support for 

the allied forces. They were also authorized to direct airstrikes for the Afghanis. 

Equipped with sophisticated communications gear, Global Positioning System 

receivers and LASER (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) 

precision designators, they immediately linked with B-1s, B-52s, and a steady 

flow of fighter aircraft overhead systematically to demolish enemy forces. In use 

since the Vietnam War, these precision weapons became a staple of the American 

way of war. Mass production made them extremely cheap, and an almost endless 

supply ensued. What could be seen could be hit—and destroyed.4

Although the actual number of Americans fighting in Afghanistan was very 

small, American presence in the theater grew. A task force of about 2,000 soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division deployed to the large Karshi-Khanabad 

Air Base in southern Uzbekistan to provide base support and security. This task 

force was the first significant conventional ground force into the area.5

The indigenous forces in conjunction with their American advisors consistently 

destroyed or defeated the Taliban units that either surrendered or slipped into the 

high mountains along the Pakistan border. As the main cities were recaptured, 

more special and conventional U.S. forces moved in. United States Special Forces 

elements began operating also in southern Afghanistan. They were joined by a Marine Corps task force that seized a remote forward base and then the airfield near 

Kandahar, which they immediately began building into a main base. A company 

of infantry from the 10th Mountain Division task force in Uzbekistan secured a 

prison at Quali Jangi when prisoners there revolted. As the large former Soviet airfield at Bagram was captured, another task force of military police and engineers 

occupied the base, secured it, and began preparing it for follow-on operations. 

Effectively, the Taliban collapsed and the capital, Kabul, was captured, allowing 

for the formation of a new government. The enemy remnants fled to the Tora Bora 

region of southeast Afghanistan. Apparently, Osama bin Laden was with them.6

On 11 December, exactly three months after the horrible events in the United 

States, Hamid Karzai was sworn in as the president of the interim government of 

Afghanistan. Within weeks a United Nations International Security Assistance 

Force, ultimately consisting of 5,000 soldiers from 18 nations, began to fan out 

from Kabul to stabilize the nation. 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 247

MEDEVAC Units

In early 2002, the 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division was deployed to Kandahar to replace the Marine task force there. Its support package included one of 

the air assault battalions and the attached 50th Med Co (AA) Forward Support 

MEDEVAC Team (FSMT) consisting of 18 soldiers and three UH-60s, under the 

command of Capt. James Stanley. Arriving in Kandahar, the team was the first 

and only MEDEVAC asset in country, and it garnered high-level attention. For 

higher risk missions launch authority had to be obtained from a general officer, 

which significantly slowed down launch times. Due to limited assets, the team 

also performed traditional lift missions. The long-distance missions in Afghanistan caused the team to operate with long-range tanks on all flights and generally 

with a support UH-60 and AH-64 Apache.

The accompanying medical support slice package consisted of Task Force 261, 

a 40-soldier detachment from the 44th Medical Command (MEDCOM) based at 

Fort Bragg, North Carolina. It had attached to it several smaller medical detachments from subordinate units. The FSMT from the 50th Med Co (AA) worked 

directly with Task Force 261.7

In March 2002, a strong force consisting of indigenous and special forces and 

troops from the 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, and recently arrived elements from the 10th Mountain Division mounted Operation ANACONDA. This 

effort was designed to capture or destroy enemy elements in the high terrain near 

the Pakistan border between the small towns of Gardez and Khowst. From 2 

through 19 March the operation cleared 129 caves and 40 buildings, killed an 

unknown number of Taliban, and destroyed or captured vast amounts of enemy 

equipment and supplies.8

The FSMT from the 50th Med Co participated in Operation ANACONDA, the 

highest fight—in terms of terrain elevation—in U.S. Army history. Two aircraft 

from the team initially repositioned to Bagram Air Base and then moved forward 

to forward arming sand refueling point (FARP) Texaco to conduct MEDEVAC 

missions. They also occasionally flew as an aerial retransmission platform for the 

widely dispersed ground elements. 

On 9 April, the detachment at Bagram received a nine-line MEDEVAC request 

to recover five patients wounded in a grenade blast suffered by a team in contact 

with enemy forces. Arriving at the site 40 minutes later, the medic, Sgt. George 

Hildebrandt, dismounted and assessed the wounded while the crew chief provided 

extra security. Within five minutes the three most critically wounded were loaded 

aboard while the two less seriously wounded waited for another inbound aircraft. 

Once airborne, Hildebrandt had to constantly work on all three to keep them alive. 

Frequently, he called on the crew chief to assist. Arriving at Bagram, Hildebrandt 

then directed the quick movement of all three into immediate intensive care at the 

forward surgical team facility. Due in large part to his quick and decisive actions, 

all three patients survived.9

After Anaconda, the team reconsolidated at Kandahar and provided general 

area support. On 17 April 2002, the 50th launched a crew to support Canadian 
248 Call Sign – Dustoff

forces when an Illinois Air National Guard F-16 dropped a bomb on 15 Canadian 

soldiers conducting night live-fire anti-tank exercises at Taramac Farms outside 

Kandahar. Four soldiers were killed and several were wounded.

Also in April, the 57th Med Co (AA) at Fort Bragg deployed an FSMT with 

three aircraft and 20 personnel to Bagram, and effectively split the theater effort with the 50th. It directly supported several task forces of U.S. and allied 

units. On 27 July a crew of pilot in command Capt. Michael Stone, co-pilot 

CW2 Ezekial Coffman, Medic Sgt. Frank Caudill, and crew chief Spc. Jose 

Peru recovered several U.S. Special Forces soldiers wounded while searching 

a village for weapons and enemy forces. When the MEDEVAC arrived at the 

incident site, the friendly forces were engaged with the Taliban. Both helicopter and fighter airstrikes were called in to suppress the enemy fire so that the 

pickup could be made. The entire event was a well-choreographed exercise of 

cool professionalism under fire that successfully recovered several wounded 

soldiers.10

After six months in the country, the soldiers of the 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne 

Division redeployed to Fort Campbell, Kentucky. A brigade from the 82d Airborne Division replaced them. The element from the 50th remained for another 

two months to support the new troops, earning the team combat patches from both 

divisions. When he arrived back at Fort Campbell, Stanley of the 50th wrote a 

detailed after-action report. In it he cited several issues:

Maj. Matt Brady, 1042d Med Co (AA) Oregon ARNG in Afghanistan 2002. 

Source: Matt Brady
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 249

Flight medic S.Sgt. Gene Teves of the 126th Med Co (AA), California ARNG, on active duty in Afghanistan in 2003. In civilian life, Teves was a paramedic with the Sacramento Fire–Rescue Department. Many guardsmen have civilian careers that directly complement their military duties, especially 

in the medical units. 

Source: Lt. Col. Pete Smart

A 1042d Med Co (AA) UH-60 of the Oregon ARNG supports weekend training at Camp Rilea, Oregon. The number 68 on the side is used for identification while performing firefighting support missions, a classical state mission. 

Source: Author
250 Call Sign – Dustoff

1. MEDEVAC launches were delayed because of launch approval issues. At one 

point, approval was maintained by a Major General who was occasionally 

hard to contact. Launch authority should rest with the aviation brigade or 

battalion commander. 

2. Army MEDEVAC needed to move away from its unarmed approach when 

functioning in combat operations. On many occasions U.S. Air Force HH-60s 

were used for recoveries because of the enemy threat. 

3. Medics needed increased medical training to the paramedic level.

4. The medical equipment set and aid bag for MEDEVAC needed to be 

reassessed. The high elevations decreased the lift ability. Weight had to be 

reduced as much as possible, to include pulling out the carousels. 

5. “A” model UH-60s did not have the power available to operate at the same 

level as other Army aviation aircraft.

Medic S.Sgt. George Hildebrandt of the 50th Med Co in Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Source: Author
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 251

6. FSMTs needed to be attached to the aviation battalion or brigade during 

combat operations. 

7. MEDEVAC aircraft should be deployed to forward operating locations for 

better responsiveness.11

Col. Scott Heintz reviewed these lessons learned and recommended that an 

Army National Guard (ARNG) unit with UH-60L aircraft be mobilized and deployed to Afghanistan. He also recommended that because of the austere conditions in Afghanistan, MEDEVAC teams deployed there should be attached to the 

aviation task forces less operational control (OPCON) that would be given to 

the medical task force, with a 67J assigned to the medical task force operations 

center.12

In response, two FSMTs from the 1042d Med Co (AA), Oregon ARNG, replaced the teams from the 50th and 57th. Under the command of Maj. Mathew 

Brady, the 1042d was ordered into federal service and activated as Operation 

ANACONDA concluded. Initially three aircraft, crews, and support personnel 

were sent to Fort Bragg, where they were assigned to the 56th Medical Battalion 

(Evacuation) commanded by Lt. Col. Dave MacDonald. 

The rest of the company joined them a month later. They assumed some base 

taskings and covered Army Ranger training at Dahlonega, Georgia. However, 

training exercises for overseas deployment consumed the majority of their time. 

The unit deployed the two FSMTs with six aircraft, crews, and support personnel in late July 2002 to Afghanistan. The UH-60L aircraft had the more powerful engines and were better suited to the demands of mountain flying. Replacing 

the 50th, the 1042d FSMTs assumed responsibility for operations at Kandahar, 

moved two aircraft and crews forward to Bagram, and positioned another two helicopters and crews to forward Operating Base Salerno near the Pakistan border. 

The crews subsequently flew more than 90 missions recovering 130 patients and 

logged more than 900 flight hours, 300 of which were flown with night vision 

goggles (NVGs). An estimated two-thirds of their patients were local children, 

who had been hurt by land mines or improvised explosive devices. In another 

incident, 1042d crews responded to the crash of a German CH-53 that was an International Security Assistance Force MEDEVAC asset and had gone down with 

a medical team on board. With its demise, the 1042d picked up coverage for the 

International Security Assistance Force, too.13

Brady deployed with the Afghanistan contingent and located his headquarters 

at Bagram where he developed an excellent working relationship with the 82d 

Aviation Brigade that supported his unit. The brigade commander retained launch 

authority over all sorties, but most often relented when Brady asked for a waiver. 

Although Brady appreciated the additional logistical, intelligence, and gunship 

support provided by the linkup with the brigade, he still wanted the unique status 

of a medical unit versus an aviation unit. On several occasions, his crews had to 

delay launching on a recovery because it took several more minutes for the AH64s to prepare for takeoff. 
252 Call Sign – Dustoff

A detachment of three aircraft and crews also remained at their home station 

in Salem, Oregon, for state taskings and firefighting duties. On 30 May 2002, the 

unit supported rescue operations for nine hikers involved in a terrible accident on 

Mt. Hood. An Air Force Reserve rescue helicopter from the 304th Rescue Squadron at Portland, Oregon, crashed trying to recover the hikers. The 1042d crews 

subsequently rescued the downed 304th crew, the surviving hikers, and the bodies 

of the three who had died in the original accident.14

Brady was also ordered to deploy four aircraft, crews, and support personnel 

to Kuwait. After activation, that contingent departed directly from Oregon to the 

theater. Two aircraft and crews provided general MEDEVAC support out of Camp 

Doha, Kuwait, for American forces in that area, and the other two were sent to the 

Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia. The unit was put under Air Force control 

and directed to remove its crosses so that they could be used for base security 

surveillance missions. Both teams remained in their assignments as U.S. forces 

were built up in the area for action against Iraq. At one point, Brady had aircraft 

and crews at five different locations around the world. They all finally returned 

home in July 2003. As the 1042d contingent in Afghanistan departed, teams from 

the 45th Med Co (AA) from Germany and the 126th Med Co (AA) California 

ARNG, also equipped with the more powerful UH-60L aircraft, replaced it. As of 

this writing, operations are still ongoing in that theater.15

The Second Persian Gulf War

Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF)

Background

When the United States led the great coalition that freed Kuwait in 1991, numerous pundits and governmental leaders felt that it was just a matter of time 

before Saddam Hussein would be overthrown by disparate, disaffected elements 

within Iraq. Almost immediately, primarily Shia groups revolted in the southern 

portions of the country. Very quickly after their victory, however, U.S. and coalition forces pulled back into Kuwait and could only watch as Hussein unleashed 

his remaining forces on the rebels and brutally suppressed them. These actions 

and similar ones taken in the north led to the death of tens of thousands of Shiites 

and Kurds, and resolidified Hussein’s grip over the nation. 

Encouraged by the rapid departure of the allied forces from his country and 

the success of his suppression of the rebels, Hussein reassumed a defiant pose 

toward the western powers. Once again, he began subtle but aggressive actions 

against Kuwait and was allegedly involved in an assassination plot against President George H.W. Bush when Bush visited the Gulf region. Hussein ordered his 

Air Force to fly in violation of a United Nations–imposed no-fly edict, triggering 

continuous patrolling of two formalized no-fly zones in northern and southern 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 253

Iraq. He also challenged these no-fly zones by ordering his anti-aircraft gunners 

to fire on allied aircraft patrolling the sectors.16

When he took office in January 2001, President George W. Bush directed his 

administration to review these actions. His administration determined that Hussein’s hostile actions and intent and stated determination to develop and use more 

weapons of mass destruction or pass them to international terrorists presented a 

serious danger to the United States and its interests in the Gulf region. Bush addressed this threat in a speech at the United States Military Academy on 1 June 

2002. To the gathered cadets, their families, faculty, and friends, he said:

The gravest danger to freedom lies at the perilous crossroads of radicalism and technology. 

When the spread of chemical and biological and nuclear weapons, along with ballistic missile 

technology—when that occurs, even weak states and small groups could attain a catastrophic 

power to strike great nations. Our enemies have declared this very intention, and have been 

caught seeking these terrible weapons. They want the capability to blackmail us, or to harm us, 

or to harm our friends—and we will oppose them with all our power...

For much of the last century, America’s defense relied on the cold war doctrines of deterrence and containment. In some cases, those strategies still apply. But new threats also require 

A fast moving Iraq dust storm. 

Source: Lt. Col. Brad Pecor
254 Call Sign – Dustoff

new thinking. Deterrence—the promise of massive retaliation against nations—means nothing 

against shadowy terrorist networks with no nation or citizens to defend. Containment is not 

possible when unbalanced dictators with weapons of mass destruction can deliver those weapons on missiles or secretly provide them to terrorist allies. 

We cannot defend America and our friends by hoping for the best. We cannot put our faith in 

the word of tyrants, who solemnly sign nonproliferation treaties, and then systemically break 

them. If we wait for threats to fully materialize, we will have waited too long.17

Laid out in such stark terms, Bush’s speech was immediately labeled a doctrine 

of preventive or preemptive war. The Army Chief of Staff, Gen. Eric Shinseki, 

realized that it most probably meant renewed hostilities with Iraq in addition to 

Afghanistan, and he accelerated preparations, although he had already ordered the 

Army to a wartime footing right after the attacks of 11 September. 

Weighing Iraq’s belligerence, its interest in producing and using weapons of 

mass destruction, and potential connections to international terrorist groups, Bush 

decided to remove Hussein and his Baathist Regime from power. He was heartened in that decision by the realization that the American people also saw Hussein 

and his regime as a threat, and in the face of the dramatic events of 9/11, they had 

lost their aversion to war casualties.18

While Bush made his case for war and Secretary of State Colin Powell appealed 

to the United Nations for diplomatic support, the commander of U.S. Central 

Command, Gen. Tommy Franks, directed his staff to develop the detailed plans 

necessary to execute the attack. As opposed to its unlimited support in DESERT 

STORM, Saudi Arabia put strict limits on its backing for the proposed campaign. 

Although Air Force and some ground units could be based in Saudi Arabia, the 

ground campaign would have to be mounted from Kuwait. This main attack 

would be mounted with three plus divisions and numerous supporting elements. 

Task Force Horse consisting of the 4th Infantry Division and associated support 

units including the 62d Medical Brigade would mount a secondary attack south 

out of Turkey. Additionally, the insertion of significant special operations forces 

into western Iraq would tie down Iraqi units there and prevent the launching of 

surface-to-surface rockets from the region against Israel and Saudi Arabia, as had 

been done in DESERT STORM. The timing of the campaign was not yet set. 

However, Franks wanted to initiate it as soon as possible, preferably in the cool 

weather of the winter months instead of the blinding heat of late spring and summer. February or March of 2003 seemed to be the most propitious time.

Combat Units. As the preparations to attack Iraq proceeded, Franks organized 

his forces for the operation. The Third Army, based at Fort McPherson, Georgia, 

and commanded by Lt. Gen. David McKiernan since September 2002, would 

wage the ground campaign. With the initiation of combat operations in Afghanistan, it had been task organized as the Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC), as authorized under the Goldwater-Nichols Legislation passed in 

1986. This was the first time that land forces were so organized. For operations 

against Iraq, the CFLCC commander, McKiernan, controlled two powerful units:
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 255

1. The U.S. Army V Corps, commanded by Lt. Gen. William S. Wallace, and 

consisting of the 3d Infantry Division (Mechanized), the 101st Airborne 

Division (Air Assault), two brigades of the 82d Airborne Division, the 12th 

Aviation Brigade, the 11th Attack Helicopter Regiment (AHR), the 31st Air 

Defense Artillery Brigade, and many support units. 

2. The U.S. Marine Corps I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), commanded 

by Lt. Gen. James T. Conway, and consisting of the 1st Marine Division, the 

3d Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), the 2d Marine Expeditionary Brigade the 

15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, the 

108th Air Defense Artillery Brigade, U.S. Army, the 1st United Kingdom 

Armored Division, and numerous support units.19

For combat operations in Iraq, the CFLCC staff was expanded with soldiers, marines, airmen, and allied officers and troops. Shortly after assuming command, 

McKiernan welcomed Brig. Gen. George Weightman, MC, aboard as his (first 

ever) CFLCC Command Surgeon. Almost immediately, Weightman deployed 

forward to Kuwait to serve in that capacity and also as the commander of the 

3d MEDCOM (Forward). Per Joint Publication 4-02, he was responsible for the 

planning and execution of the medical support for the operation for that much 

larger patient base that Joint Publication 4-02 defined. He discovered that the 

initial plan, Operations Plan 1003V, needed substantial updating and modification 

as actual combat operations were considered.20

Weightman noticed that the I MEF did not have any MEDEVAC capability and 

requested augmentation for that purpose. As the CFLCC Surgeon, he had to find 

the capability for that force. Initial planning called for five MEDEVAC units to 

deploy to support the operation. He resolved to assign one to directly support the I 

MEF when the units arrived (it was one of more than 40 U.S. Army units of varying sizes that augmented the I MEF). As he requested necessary medical support 

units to deploy to the theater, he noticed that the Secretary of Defense was delaying his requests. This was a deliberate action because Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wanted to push combat units into the theater first, assuming that a campaign 

quickly initiated and conducted yielded fewer casualties and required less support. 

However, Weightman continuously pushed to bring his medical units forward.21

Medical Units. The following medical evacuation elements eventually deployed 

to support the operation: 

• 3d MEDCOM (Forward – CFLCC) 

° 86th Combat Support Hospital (CSH)

° 3d Medical Battalion (Provisional) 

° 804th Medical Brigade

▶ 47th CSH

▶ 865th CSH

▶ 115th Field Hospital

▶ 110th Medical Battalion (Evacuation)
256 Call Sign – Dustoff

▷ 498th Med Co (AA) (OPCON to I MEF)

▷ 1042d Med Co (AA) (-)

▷ 112th Med Co (AA) 

▷ 159th Med Co (AA) (-)

▷ 437th Med Co (GA) 

• 30th Medical Brigade

° 36th Medical Battalion (Evacuation)

▶ 82d Med Co (AA) 

▶ 159th Med Co (AA) (-)

▶ 507th Med Co (AA) (DS to 3d Infantry Division)

° 28th CSH

° 61st Medical Battalion

° 93d Medical Battalion

° 212th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital (MASH)

• 1st Medical Brigade

° 56th Medical Battalion (Evacuation) 

▶ 57th Med Co (AA)

▶ 571st Med Co (AA) (DS to 4th Infantry Division)

° 21st CSH

° 111th Medical Battalion

• 62d Medical Brigade

° 421st Medical Battalion (Evacuation) 

▶ 54th Med Co (AA)

° 109th Medical Battalion

° 172d Medical Battalion22

The 101st Air Assault Division had its own 50th Med CO (AA).23

However, many of these units were not in place when combat operations were 

initiated on 20 March 2003. Only four U.S. Army hospitals were completely fielded and operating, and they only provided 500 beds for patients.24

As forces continued to build in Kuwait for the southern portion of the attack, the 

government of Turkey voted not to allow the passage of Task Force Horse through 

its territory to mount the northern attack. Some of the soldiers and most of the 

equipment of the 4th Division and support units were aboard ships in the eastern 

Mediterranean Sea, and Franks ordered that they be diverted to ports in Kuwait 

and Saudi Arabia. They were fed into the campaign as they arrived.25

The southern scheme of maneuver called for both the V Corps and I MEF to 

attack generally northwest to destroy Iraqi forces, clear the main roads and adjoining towns and cites, and capture Baghdad. Subsequent operations would send 

forces farther north to seize Tikrit and Mosul. Coalition special forces units would 

conduct supporting operations in western Iraq and another supporting operation in 

conjunction with the 173d Airborne Brigade and Kurdish forces in northern Iraq. 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 257

Springing forth from Kuwait, the V Corps would attack on an axis generally 

through the cities of Jalibah, As Samawah, An Najaf, Karbala, and then surround 

Baghdad. To V Corps’ right, the I MEF would use the British forces to clear the 

city of Al Basrah and also sweep generally northwest to surround Baghdad from 

the east, and then be prepared to continue operations to the north as needed. 

More than 1,800 U.S. and allied fighter, bomber, and support aircraft were 

standing by to support the offensive unit. Arrayed at airfields across the region 

and aboard aircraft carriers in the Gulf region, a portion of these forces had actually been in action against Iraq almost continuously since the imposition of the 

no-fly-zones over Iraq after DESERT STORM. 

Intelligence sources indicated that Hussein believed an extensive air campaign 

would precede any allied ground attack, as had occurred in DESERT STORM. 

Sensing an opportunity to achieve at least operational surprise, Franks decided to 

initiate the ground campaign with the forces in Kuwait before the initiation of an 

air campaign. He would do it in March, before the heat had significantly built up.26

Conflict

On 17 March, President Bush addressed the nation. He gave Hussein and his 

sons, Uday and Qusay, 48 hours to leave Iraq, explaining that, “Their refusal to do 

so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing.” Hussein 

immediately responded with his own appearance on television saying, “This will 

be Iraq’s last great battle with the malicious tyrant in our time, and America’s last 

great war of aggression, too.”27

Actual combat operations began on 19 March, when special forces elements 

entered Iraq at several locations. However, the actual initiation of the larger campaign was triggered not only by precise planning, but also a perceived fortuitous 

combination of events. In the early morning hours of 20 March 2003, the Central 

Intelligence Agency indicated that Hussein and his two sons were gathered with 

possibly other key national leaders at a compound southwest of Baghdad called 

Dora Farms. Franks was prepared for such an opportunity to decapitate the regime 

in one bold action, and he ordered the launch of 39 Tomahawk Cruise Missiles 

into the site, followed by two F-117s, each dropping two 2,000-pound bombs. 

Unfortunately, Hussein and his compatriots were not present. Franks then ordered 

the offensive to begin. Within hours, V Corps and I MEF task forces crossed into 

Iraq and allied fighters and bombers were striking targets all over the country. In 

response, Iraqi forces launched cruise missiles at the locations of the headquarters 

for both the CFLCC and the I MEF. Little damage was sustained at either location, 

but all troops had to quickly don their chemical suits.28

Within 24 hours, the 3d Infantry Division moved into Iraq and had lead elements operating near Al Najaf. The 5th Regimental Combat Team from the 1st 

Marine Division seized the vital Rumaylah Oil Fields near Safwan, while its 7th 

Regimental Combat Team destroyed several Iraqi units, secured three oil pumping stations, and seized the Al Basrah Airport. The I MEF then passed control of 

that area to British forces and turned northwest. Almost simultaneously, British 
258 Call Sign – Dustoff

forces captured the key port of Umm Qasr and cleared the Al Faw peninsula as the 

Marine Division’s 1st Regimental Combat Team attacked northwest to Jalibah.29

For the most part, regular Iraqi Army units either surrendered or ran away. As 

the U.S. units moved into the country, however, Fedayeen irregular units and Republican National Guard units began to present a spirited defense. Some of the 

attacks mounted against the lead elements of the 3d Division were almost suicidal 

in nature as enemy fighters in pickup trucks tried to swarm in among the armored 

convoys. The heavy M1 tanks were not affected, but lighter M2 Bradley fighting 

vehicles and trucks suffered losses and casualties mounted. 

In the rapid movement forward, many towns and cities had been by-passed. 

More Fedayeen forces sprang forth from them to intercept and attack the large 

and ill-defended supply and logistics convoys now moving forward to support 

the rapidly advancing heavy forces. In one particularly bloody encounter near 

An Nasiriyah, these forces isolated and captured a convoy of soldiers from the 

507th Maintenance Company, killing several and taking six others prisoner. Their 

pictures were shown on television. Marines who then rushed in to try and free 

the prisoners were embroiled in a particularly nasty fight with more Fedayeen 

who dressed as civilians, who pretended to surrender and then opened fire. They 

used the local populace as shields and attacked out of schools, hospitals, and 

mosques. They quickly learned and exploited the American rules of engagement 

and mounted suicide attacks against security checkpoints. 

After an intense engagement near Samawah, Capt. Clay Lyle, a cavalry officer with the 3d Division, reported that, “Several hundred Hussein loyalists had 

recently arrived in Samawah and had taken over the town ... and the fighters had 

moved into the schools and occupied the mosques. Iraqi soldiers who failed to 

demonstrate sufficient determination were being executed. Townspeople were being pressed into service against the U.S. troops.”30

The marines of the I MEF continued to fight northwest along Routes 1 and 7, 

fighting sharp battles at An Nasiriyah, Ash Shatrah, Ar Rifa, and Ad Diwaniyah. 

These marines faced still resistance as they fought and eventually crossed the Tigris River at An Numaniyah and Al Kut on 2 and 3 April, respectively. From there, 

Baghdad was 90 miles northwest.31

On the night of 23–24 March, the 11th AHR launched a two-battalion attack 

against the Republican Guard Medina Division located a few miles northeast of 

Karbala. The enemy used cell phones and flashing lights to signal the advance 

of the helicopters and alerted the considerable enemy air defenses located in the 

villages and towns in the region. Every aircraft in the attack was damaged. One 

AH-64 was forced down and the crew was captured. Task Force Gabriel, the personnel recovery task force including MEDEVAC helicopters, was with the 11th 

AHR but did not respond to the downed aircraft because the recovery aircraft had 

not been refueled at an intermediate Forward Operating Base (FOB) set up for the 

operation. 

Reviewing the debacle, Wallace said, “Deep operations with the Apaches, unless there’s a very, very, very clear need to do it, are probably not a good idea.”32

For the next two days, the battle area was encased in the “Mother of all Sand-
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 259

storms” (MOASS, as the troops quickly dubbed it), with winds routinely as high 

as 50 knots. Aviation units were grounded, and even ground vehicles had a hard 

time traveling. The storm was interspersed with rain showers, which made it 

worse. 

Said one soldier as he tried to dig out a stuck vehicle, “It’s raining mud!”33

The Aviation Brigade of the 101st Division did a detailed review of the attack of 

the 11th AHR and mounted a second and more successful raid against enemy formations just north of Karbala, destroying 47 enemy vehicles and crewed weapons 

and suffering only one damaged AH-64.34

The enemy forces adjusted their tactics, too. They used the cover of the severe 

sandstorms to mount close-in individual attacks. More troubling, the enemy began to detonate bombs placed along roads or in derelict vehicles. These hellish 

creations were quickly named “improvised explosive devices,” or more simply, 

IEDs. Commanders also noticed that the populace was not rallying to the allied 

forces as had been predicted. 

Reviewing the first two weeks of operations, the V Corps commander, Lt. Gen. 

William Wallace, commented that the Iraqis were “not the enemy we war-gamed 

against.”35

Wallace realized that changes in tactics were necessary. He resisted the temptation to pull back his armored units to provide convoy escort. Instead, he brought 

forward strong task forces from the 101st and 82d Divisions to clean out the 

Fedayeen pockets in the cities and towns and provide overall rear-area and mainsupply-route security forces. 

The efforts allowed supplies and sustenance to flow forward to the lead task 

forces of the 3d Division as they steadily destroyed the Iraqi elements being 

pushed back toward Baghdad. Heavy battles were fought to secure Samawah, 

Najaf, Karbala, and Al Hillah. 

In western Iraq, special forces units worked closely with U.S. Air Force, Navy, 

Marine, and allied airpower steadily to decimate Iraq units and prevent the area 

from being used to launch missile strikes against other nations in the region. Concurrently, Turkey allowed U.S. and allied aircraft to transit its airspace, and a 

task force consisting of the Italy-based 173d Airborne Brigade and strong special 

forces units parachuted into northern Iraq. Reinforced with a company-plus of M1 

Abrams tanks and supported by thousands of air strikes using precision weapons, 

this strong force linked up with Kurdish Peshmerga fighters to tie down significant enemy units along the “Green Line,” thus preventing their movement south 

to reinforce their countrymen in the looming climactic battle for Baghdad.36

By early April, the 3d Infantry Division had fought through the Karbala—Al 

Hillah Gap and approached Baghdad. On 4 April, its lead brigade seized the Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) on the southwest edge of the metropolitan area. 

To the east, the lead elements of the I MEF crossed the Tigris River and closed in 

on Baghdad from that side, before engaging and destroying a Republican Guard 

Division dispersed in the suburbs of the capital. The 173d Airborne Brigade and 

attached elements in the north broke through the “Green Line” and prepared to 

seize Mosul and Tikrit. All forces closed in on the remnants of Hussein’s regime 
260 Call Sign – Dustoff

now squeezed within its last bastion in Baghdad. 

On 5 April, a reinforced armor battalion from the 3rd Infantry Division attacked 

into the heart of the capital and then withdrew. Two days later, a 3d Division 

heavy brigade conducted a “Thunder Run” into the western sector of the city and 

then formed into defensive laagers. The enemy response was ferocious. Mayhem 

broke out as Iraqi soldiers and—apparently—civilians assaulted the American 

units with every conceivable weapon that they could bring to bear, including suicide bombers who rushed up to the tanks and personnel carriers in vain attempts 

to destroy them and their soldiers inside. Firing was continuous as the Americans 

held their ground, expending vast amounts of ammunition and calling in continuous airstrikes from ever-present allied fighter aircraft and attack helicopters. 

Despite the enemy response, the soldiers of the 3d Division steadily crept forward 

into the center of the city, and the lead elements of the I MEF entered from the 

east. Both came into full view of the international media recording the event. On 

9 April, a small team of U.S. Marines and Iraqi civilians pulled down the Saddam Monument in the center of Baghdad. Almost instantaneously broadcast to 

the world by the now ever-present press, it seemed to signal the final end of the 

Saddam regime and a successful conclusion to the war.37

Task Forces Tarawa and Tripoli from the I MEF continued north and attacked 

enemy units in Baqubah, Samarra, and Tikrit, freeing seven American soldiers: 

five who had been taken prisoner in the ambush in An Nasiriyah, and two who 

were aboard the AH-64 shot down in the 11th AHR raid near Karbala.38

On 14 April, the press office of the Secretary of Defense in the Pentagon released a terse message that all major combat operations had ended. The campaign’s casualties had been relatively light. The CFLCC declared that the U.S. 

Army reported 42 killed and 133 wounded, the Marines reported 41 killed and 

1,521 wounded, and the British reported 19 killed and 36 wounded. As symbolic 

as the fall of Saddam’s Monument was, however, there was no precise end to 

Hussein’s regime, no formal surrender or treaty, cease-fire, or capitulation. For 

the most part, the soldiers of the various parts of the Iraqi Army and Fedayeen just 

deserted and went home. Many kept their weapons or stashed their armaments 

in weapons caches. The Iraqi national identity and infrastructure had been fragmented by the war, both physically and emotionally. 

Postcombat planning attempted to address this with mop-up and reconstruction 

efforts. Campaign planning had assumed that the majority of the Iraqi people 

would welcome the invading forces as liberators and willingly support them as 

they removed Hussein and his supports. Experience gained in the recent combat 

indicated that this was not a valid assumption. Hostility was already being noticed 

throughout the country, and as the Iraqi military forces and even local police elements melted away, the locals massively vandalized government offices, commercial centers, and even their neighbors’ homes. Only the Kurds in the north fully 

excised the Baathist party, maintained order, and welcomed the Americans. On 24 

April, a task force from the 82d Airborne Division occupied Fallujah, a lawless 

Sunni city 25 miles west of Baghdad. The local populace demonstrated against 

the troops. Somebody fired shots that triggered a street battle. Seventeen Iraqis 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 261

were killed and 60 were wounded. The demonstrations continued. Protesters hung 

out a sign that said, “U.S. killers, we’ll kick you out.” These were troubling harbingers and indications that perhaps the war was not over.39

Postconflict plans for U.S. forces called for a reduction to 30,000 residual troops 

by September. However, efforts to engage other nations to send troops for occupation duty were not very successful. Several nations agreed to small contingents, 

many with significant caveats as to how their forces could be used. Most notably, 

though, Arab countries and even India declined to participate. As the “Phase IV” 

reconstruction efforts began in earnest to address the drastic needs of the people 

and nation, crimes of violence, and then attacks on American and allied troops, 

contract personnel, and governmental employees steadily increased. Those who 

still opposed the liberation seemed to rejuvenate and reappear Phoenix-like to 

precipitate a guerilla war of indeterminate scope and eventually allied with the 

larger antiwestern elements active throughout the world. It appeared to those who 

understood events that perhaps this would not be a short war, but a long and involved one, with more troops, including MEDEVAC units, needed ultimately to 

pacify and stabilize the country.40

MEDEVAC Units

1042d Med Co (-) (In place in Kuwait). Capt. Brian Houston commanded the 

detachment of two aircraft from the 1042d Med Co (AA), Oregon ARNG. He and 

his troops sat alert for MEDEVAC duties as the allied forces built up in Kuwait. 

As the war approached and the other MEDEVAC units arrived, Houston and his 

troops stood down and packed up their gear and helicopters to go home. When 

Weightman interceded and had their orders changed, they unpacked and went 

back on alert. As the battle unfolded, they remained in general support under the 

3d MEDCOM and flew backhaul missions in support of the other units that provided direct support to the combat units. They returned to Oregon in July 2003 

for demobilization.41

Weightman also tried to take control of the 1042d detachment that was supporting the Air Force at the Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, but could not get 

them released from that assignment.42

159th Med Co (-) (In place in Kuwait). An FSMT from the 159th Med Co led by 

Capt. Dustin Elder had also been pre-positioned. However, it was attached to the 

2d Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, as part of the personnel recovery task force, 

Task Force Gabriel, and located at the huge Ali Al Saleem Air Base in Kuwait. Elder and his troops had trained with aviation units for this mission in Germany and 

on deployments into eastern European nations. They used the three-ship package 

first tried in Albania. The command UH-60 lead followed by the security aircraft 

with a small infantry team onboard and special heavy crash equipment for extricating trapped crewmembers. The MEDEVAC aircraft was number three. In 

December, Elder was transferred to the 421st Medical Battalion (Evacuation), 

and his second in command, 1st. Lt. Anthony Borowski, took over the FSMT.43
262 Call Sign – Dustoff

Evacuation Battalions. At Fort Hood, Texas, the 36th Medical Battalion (Evacuation), commanded by Lt. Col. Bryant Harp, received a warning order for deployment to the Gulf region on 15 January 2003. Harp had initially enlisted in the 

Army and trained as a crew chief before entering the warrant officer program and 

attending pilot training. While serving a tour with the 498th Med Co (AA), he 

received a direct commission into the Medical Service Corps (MSC) in 1984. He 

subsequently served a ground tour with a medical company of the 2d Armored 

Division in DESERT STORM and then commanded the 571st Med Co (AA) at 

Fort Carson, Colorado. Next he served a tour as a medical planner with the Army 

component of Central Command, which gave him a very good knowledge of contingency plans for operations in the Gulf region. He took command of the 36th in 

July 2002.44

At home station, the 36th commanded three air ambulance units: (1) the 507th 

also at Fort Hood, (2) the 82d at Fort Riley, Kansas, and (3) the 571st, still at Fort 

Carson. The warning order specified that the 36th would deploy with the 507th 

Med Co (AA). Separately, the 82d would also deploy. The 571st was on a completely different order and would deploy to Turkey as part of Task Force Horse 

under the 62d Medical Brigade. That order was subsequently cancelled, when the 

government of Turkey refused to allow the deployment. The 571st eventually was 

diverted to Kuwait to join the southern campaign.

By early February, all 36th vehicles, equipment, and shipping containers full 

of Class VIII medical supplies had been shipped by rail to the port of debarkation. On 12 February, the troops of the 36th departed Fort Hood by commercial 

charter aircraft for the long flight to Kuwait. Arriving 26 hours later, Harp and 

his troops were met by representatives from the 3rd MEDCOM who helped with 

their initial in-processing and then moved them to Camp Udairi. The 36th was 

placed under the 30th Medical Brigade, with the mission of commanding and 

controlling the evacuation assets for V Corps. It was physically located with the 

12th Combat Aviation Brigade from Germany, which provided operational and 

logistical support.

The 421st Medical Battalion (Evacuation) also deployed from Germany. Like 

the 571st, it was initially designated to support Task Force Horse, but was diverted 

to Kuwait with all the other units. Upon arriving, however, it was not assigned a 

mission and returned to Germany two months later.45

The 110th Medical Battalion (Evacuation) from the Nebraska ARNG was activated in February and deployed to Kuwait in April. It served under the 3d MEDCOM and eventually provided military command and control for the MEDEVAC 

detachment from the 1042d and the 159th Med Co (AA) and 112th Med Co (AA) 

when they arrived in theater. The unit returned home in August 2003.46

The 36th Battalion moved to Camp Doha as the 507th and 82d arrived. They 

were both also slated to be under the 30th Medical Brigade, but their roles had not 

yet been determined. All commanders assumed that air evacuation was the primary mode of movement for all casualties. The 507th was placed at Doha, and the 

82nd went to Camp Arifjan. Harp got involved in the discussion about possibly 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 263

putting an air ambulance company in direct support of the 3d Infantry Division. 

He recommended that the 507th was the best unit to do so, and the 507th received 

the mission.

As combat approached, Harp moved his headquarters and headquarters detachment to collocate with the 12th Aviation Brigade. This move gave him the ability 

to directly monitor the Army Airspace Command and Control arrangements under 

which his crews would operate. Harp also appreciated that the aviation brigade 

commander was responsible for airspace management, and he (Harp) wanted to 

make sure that the commander knew what the MEDEVAC helicopters and units 

were doing. All other Army helicopters were equipped with a new tracking device 

called “Blue Force Tracker.” These devices were specifically designed to provide 

for constant real time flight tracking, and they gave the brigade the ability to 

quickly determine the overall aviation picture. However, the MEDEVAC helicopters had not been equipped with these devices, and their movements had to be 

coordinated manually, which required close coordination with the aviation units. 

Harp resolved that he would make a special effort to get his aircraft equipped with 

these devices when they returned to their home stations.

To facilitate the necessary flight coordination procedures, Harp made arrangements to have liaison personnel in the various command centers, which enabled 

the expeditious handling of MEDEVAC requests. His planners helped develop a 

plan to handle mass casualty (MASCAL) events, and they were promised the use 

of CH-47s configured to haul casualties if needed. The planners also developed 

tactics, techniques, and procedures with the aviation battle captains so that when 

a MEDEVAC aircraft was dispatched into an area with a significant enemy threat, 

an AH-64 would be concurrently dispatched without any launch delay to provide 

en route and on-site security. 

The 82d Med Co also joined the 12th Aviation Brigade at Udairi. They were 

actually in a compound that belonged to the 35th Armored Brigade of the Kuwaiti 

Army. Working with planners at the 30th Med Brigade, Harp and his operations 

officer, Capt. Corey Beaudreau, developed the overall evacuation plan for the V 

Corps. The 507th directly supported the 3d Division. The 101st Division had its 

50th Med Co (AA), but, by design, needed general support from the 36th and its 

companies for backhaul. The 36th maintained control of the 82d and a possible 

additional air ambulance unit and provided overall area general support as the 

campaign developed. The 3d MEDCOM remained in Kuwait and provided theater support with the 110th Medical Battalion, the detachment from the 1042d, 

and the FSMT from the 159th that was released from its assignment to the 2d 

Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, for personnel recovery operations with Task 

Force Gabriel. That tasking went to another unit.47

As combat operations commenced, the 36th moved up to Tallil with the 82d 

Med Co. It established an ambulance transfer point called AXP Beaudreau, named 

after the 36th operations officer because he set it up. 

As soon as Harp’s crews started hauling patients, he realized that they had a 

communications problem. Their assigned high frequency long-range radios were 
264 Call Sign – Dustoff

not working. The FM radios were adequate, but only had a short range at the 

lower altitudes at which the helicopters were flying. The issued TACSAT radios 

worked adequately, but not all command centers nor the MEDEVAC helicopters 

were equipped with them. The only system that worked reliably was Iridium cell 

phones. Harp procured several and distributed them to his commanders, liaison 

officers, and as many crews as possible. Then the 86th CSH moved a hospital 

detachment up to Tallil and began accepting patients. As the battle developed, this 

became the location for all enemy wounded prisoners. To make room for them, 

Harp used the 82d to move the wounded U.S. soldiers back to Udairi.

All battalion-assigned helicopters monitored common “MEDEVAC” frequencies while in flight and generally diverted if they received a call from somebody 

hurt along the heavily used main supply routes. The battalion also routinely received requests to provide support to special forces elements operating in support 

of the campaign all the way from Kuwait to Baghdad. 

Urgent MEDEVAC requests were answered without delay. As the operations 

tempo increased, Harp and his planners tried—as much as possible—to delay 

noncritical patient pickups so that the wounded could be gathered into larger loads 

and handled during the day. He also closely monitored crew usage at his units to 

ensure that flight safety was not compromised because of flight personnel fatigue. 

He was very concerned about his crewmembers flying while wearing chemical 

warfare suits, body armor, and survival vests. He assigned either a flight surgeon 

or physician’s assistant to each unit with the authority to remove from the flight 

schedule any person that they thought was either over-tired or over-stressed. The 

company commander could override this decision, but only for clear operational 

reasons. On many occasions, too, the flight surgeon or physician’s assistant provided direct psychological counseling to soldiers who were overwhelmed with 

what they were seeing in their work.

As the V Corps gathered its combat power near Karbala for the fight into Baghdad, the 212th MASH moved forward and set up at FOB Rams. It was a Level 

III medical facility with beds for 36 patients. The 82d Med Co located several 

aircraft, crews, and even a small maintenance team there, and picked up a direct 

support tasking from the 82d Airborne Division when it committed a brigade to 

clean out enemy elements in the key city of Samawah. Harp then took control of 

the 159th Med Co and moved it up to Tallil, also in the general support role. Once 

the 159th was established at Tallil, Harp gave it the general support mission all 

the way from FOB Rams back to Kuwait, while the 507th and 82d moved forward 

with the battle as it closed on Baghdad.48

When the BIAP was seized, the 507th with the 3d Infantry Division was one of 

the first units to move in. Harp took a small detachment from the 36th and moved 

it forward to co-locate with them to provide for the best possible responsiveness 

in the Baghdad area. A few days later, he decided to leave a liaison officer with the 

12th Aviation Brigade at Tallil and move his entire headquarters to BIAP. His unit 

and its attached MEDEVAC companies were responsible for evacuation operations for a swath of southern Iraq spanning more than 400 miles. 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 265

498th Med Co

Maj. Greg Gentry was still in command of the 498th Med Co (AA) at Fort 

Benning, Georgia, when he received a call on 24 December 2002 to alert him that 

his unit would deploy to Kuwait to support future operations. The official order 

arrived two days later. At home station, the 498th was assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps, but the Corps was not deploying. Initially at least, the 498th was the 

only Corps unit slated to go to Kuwait. 

Serving with Gentry as the 498th Operations Officer was Capt. Casey Clyde. He 

had been with the unit about nine months and was preparing them for a required 

deployment of four aircraft and crews to the Gulf region to support Operation 

DESERT SPRING, when Maj. Sean Bailey, the 3rd MEDCOM MEDEVAC officer working for the G-3 Air, called him and suggested that he go to the Gulf 

region for a deployment conference. When Clyde arrived, he was informed that 

the planned four-ship deployment was being cancelled, and the entire unit was 

deploying over for a larger operation. Bailey also told him that the 498th would 

be directly supporting a Marine Division. When Clyde returned home, he briefed 

Gentry, who found this information perplexing because the unit had an almost 

habitual relationship with the 3d Infantry Division that was already in the Gulf 

region.49

The 498th deployed in late January 2003. Clyde led the advance team with three 

aircraft and 42 troops aboard C-5s. The rest of the unit shipped their other aircraft 

by sea and then departed Fort Benning on chartered commercial air. Clyde’s C-5 

broke down and he and his troops arrived after the rest of the company. When 

the 498th arrived in Kuwait, they settled at Camp Arifjan. Initially, they were 

assigned to the 3rd MEDCOM pending the arrival of a medical evacuation battalion. The first three aircraft were quickly assembled so Gentry could start training 

his crews for desert flying and, especially, maintain their currency with NVGs. 

The rest of the aircraft arrived by sea two weeks later and flight training began in 

earnest, especially night flying. The pilots needed to become comfortable using 

their NVGs while flying over terrain much different than home.50

As the 498th crews trained, Bailey visited the unit and confirmed for Gentry 

that his unit was aligning under the operational control of the I MEF for the upcoming operations. Additionally, the 498th would provide general support on an 

area basis for all units in Kuwait as they arrived. Gentry received a set of formal 

orders directing the unit’s assignment OPCON to the I MEF. He immediately 

contacted the I MEF staff to begin the necessary coordination and was directed 

to contact the staff of the 3d Marine Air Wing. He was informed that he would 

be further assigned to the Marine Air Group 39 (MAG 39) commanded by Col. 

Richard Spender. This unit already had six helicopter units assigned to it. It was 

the Marine equivalent of an Army combat aviation brigade. Gentry immediately 

began to establish the necessary connections to operate with them and draw upon 

them for general support such as security, lodging, meals, etc. The Marines did 

not have UH-60 helicopters, so Gentry quickly established a relationship with an 
266 Call Sign – Dustoff

Army helicopter maintenance unit at Camp Doha for necessary Aviation Intermediate Maintenance support.51

At first, the Marines did not know what to do with the MEDEVAC guys. Their 

attitude was, “You’ve got to stay out of our way and not hurt yourselves.” The 

Marines’ evacuation procedure was CASEVAC and they were very proficient at 

bringing out their wounded on backhaul cargo helicopters. However, CASEVAC 

was one of many missions accomplished by the Marine lift units including the 

movement of KIAs. As combat operations approached, the 3d MAW commander, 

Maj. Gen. James Amos, developed an overall evacuation plan. He would use his 

CH-46s to pick up casualties at the forward aid stations and deliver them back 

to medical companies that were Level III facilities. The crews from the 498th 

would then move them to theater hospitals or to hospital ships at anchor in the 

Gulf region. 

Gentry tried to convince the planners to use his helicopters forward. He was 

unsuccessful until the 3d MAW held a “rock drill” walk-through of how they 

would logistically support the movement of the I MEF forward into Iraq. Gentry 

made his case, and once Amos and his planners saw how the 498th operated, they 

realized that Gentry’s troops were a true force multiplier and completely supported the 498th and its concept of operations. Gentry then moved his unit from 

Arifjan over to the Ali al Salem Air Base where MAG 39 was located. He set up 

his operations center right next to the MAG 39 operations center, which gave 

him excellent access to intelligence, operational updates, and overall battle space 

command and control.

As the unit commander, Gentry retained launch authority for his aircraft. Only 

he or Clyde would dispatch their crews. Spender did not put any restrictions on 

them. As the crews would report for duty, Gentry or Clyde would brief them on 

the weather and operational conditions under which they could launch. The pilots 

in command were then free to fly within those parameters. If conditions changed, 

either Gentry or Clyde would be immediately available for a more detailed analysis and decision. If necessary, they could then go to the MAG 39 commander for 

operational support or their medical commander, Weightman, the CFLCC Surgeon General, for medical support.52

MAG 39 and the 498th were both linked to the direct air support center (DASC) 

for integration into the overall operations of the I MEF. All nine-line requests for 

MEDEVAC would come in through the DASC. They would then be immediately 

passed to the 498th and shared with the Navy patient evacuation team for overall 

medical regulation of the patient and determination of the optimum medical facility 

to which the patient should be evacuated. All of the I MEF medical companies were 

assigned to the 1st Force Services Support Group. Clyde maintained direct contact 

with the patient evacuation team so that the 498th’s MEDEVAC efforts were closely integrated with the CASEVAC missions being flown by the Marine lift units.53

Gentry then task organized his unit to support the upcoming operation. He designated his 2d and 3d FSMTs to support the 1st Marine Division. Capt. Adrian 

Salvetti was the overall leader for that element. Capt. John Hartman led the third 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 267

FSMT that supported Task Force Tarawa and the United Kingdom forces operating with the marines. The other five aircraft of the area support medical team 

remained behind for general support and provided spare aircraft for the FSMTs. 

Gentry maintained contact with his crews through the Secret Internet Protocol 

Router Network (SIPRNET) system.54

The crews would fly single-ship or obtain armed escort (if available) from the 

other units in MAG 39 or even fixed-wing fighters if it was necessary. The FSMTs 

would move forward with the combat task forces and deliver their casualties to 

the Level III medical facilities. The CH-46s would then be used to move them in 

larger numbers back to the larger theater hospitals, just the opposite of what Amos 

had first proposed. Subsequent movement of patients to the off-shore hospital 

ships would be done—as necessary—by the crews from the 1042d.55

Lt. Col. Greg Gentry commanded the 498th Med Co in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Source: Author
268 Call Sign – Dustoff

Many casualties could also be carried to Fleet Hospital 3, a Level III facility 

that had been forward deployed to Iraq. It had 116 beds and 21 distinct surgical 

specialties, and was the most advanced Navy medical facility ever deployed so far 

forward into a combat zone.56

At 0600 local time on 21 March, the I MEF initiated combat operations and 

crossed the border into Iraq. Almost immediately, the 498th was called into action 

and its crews carried casualties. It was also directed to send its large tanker trucks 

forward to carry fuel to a temporary refueling site being set up by the Marines 

on Safwan Hill, a small rocky edifice located just three miles north of the border. 

They refueled helicopters and AV-8 Harriers in direct support of ongoing operations as the Marine task forces surged forward. Although the site only existed for 

a few days, the fuelers of the 498th pumped more than 100,000 gallons of aviation 

gas into the thirsty machines before operations moved farther north. For the next 

two weeks, the 498th fuelers stayed with the support units and gassed up both 

Army and Marine aircraft at the FARPs.57

As the campaign progressed, Gentry’s crews displaced forward 23 times with 

the advancing marines, even at night. They had never trained to do this and literally developed the procedures on-the-fly and even slept in their helicopters when 

a lull in the action occurred. Most crews flew at 50 feet or lower, so in-flight 

communications were a problem. When they could, the crews talked to the Marine DASC. Gentry procured several satellite cell phones and issued them to the 

teams. They provided the best and most reliable way to maintain contact with the 

Company Tactical Operations Center (TOC).

Salvetti and his two-FSMT element collocated their six-ship team with either 

the “Main” or “Forward” Division Headquarters at all times to receive missions 

and maintain situational awareness. They worked diligently with the Marine 

Corps and Navy operations personnel at the division headquarters to familiarize 

them with the Army concept of MEDEVAC. Despite these efforts, there were 

attempts early on to assign classic lift missions to the Army MEDEVAC crews, 

including one to transport a Navy Sea, Air, and Land team. The FSMT aircrews 

had to be diplomatic but resolute in handling these requests. They found that if 

reminded, the Marine Corps and Navy Operations personnel understood that any 

MEDEVAC helicopter dispatched on a nonmedical or nonpriority mission was 

not available to evacuate critically wounded marines. This simple logic slowly 

permeated the thought process of the DASC and patient evacuation team personnel as the value of MEDEVAC on the battlefield was demonstrated in the large 

number of successful evacuations performed by the 498th. Yet among the marines 

on the ground, the Army MEDEVAC mission was not always understood. On one 

occasion, a small Marine Corps element pinned down by enemy gunfire along a 

main support route flagged down a MEDEVAC crew. The crew made a hasty approach to their position—thinking injured may be on the ground—despite possible enemy gunfire. At the bottom of the approach, it became clear through the marines’ hand and arm signals given to the crew that they simply wanted the aircraft 

to make a gun run on the suspected enemy position, which was an impossibility. 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 269

Clearly the unarmed status of the Army MEDEVAC aircraft with the red crosses 

was not communicated to all.58

Even though he stayed very busy as the operations officer, Clyde flew his share 

of missions, including some night low visibility runs where he and his crew operated with their NVGs. On several occasions, he carried marines who were in 

terrible pain or near death. He remembered: 

My rule is ...try not to look back. Don’t focus on what is going on in the back of the aircraft. 

You’ve got a job to do and that is to get that patient somewhere as quickly as you can.

There are a few missions that really stick in my head with guys who were dying or very close 

to death or did die in the back of the aircraft. It sticks with you because you know that if you 

stop and think about it that that’s the same guy who . . . He’s got a family, he’s got a mom, 

he’s got a dad.

If you let yourself think about it, you jeopardize the crew and the airframe.... But sometimes 

you’ve got to look back because you hear the medic in your [intercom] system. You’d hear the 

medic telling the crew chief, “Put pressure here! Hold this!” Sometimes the crew chief is not 

into it . . . He’s scared. He’s a nineteen, twenty, twenty-one-year-old guy who never thought 

he was going to be doing that. Now he is applying pressure to an amputated leg or he is bagging a patient while the medic is working on the other patient... When they chose their MOS 

[military occupational specialties], I don’t think a lot of them figured they would be seeing 

things like that. 

Yes, there are a few missions that stick in my head. Guys dying. And even afterwards, cleaning 

out the back of the aircraft. ...A lot of blood ... a lot of biological matter. We brought out the 

pressure washer and it failed on us, so we were using 5-gallon water jugs to clean out the back 

of the aircraft.59

Salvetti and his teams received nearly all of their missions and situational 

awareness through the 1st Marine Division DASC. Unfortunately, the speed of 

the advance of American forces into Iraq made it difficult for the MEDEVAC 

crews to procure accurate intelligence on enemy forces. Salvetti worried about 

the safety and accountability of his crews as they departed on their single-ship 

missions because there was little he could do to mitigate the inherent risks in their 

mission. 

The 2d and 3d FSMTs jumped between the Main and Forward Division Headquarters locations 17 times during the 30-day Marine Corps advance to Baghdad. 

The intensity of this constant movement was a test of endurance for the aircrews. 

Everybody flew; Gentry himself flew 34 MEDEVAC missions. The two division 

headquarters were not designed to support or sustain aviation operations. The DASC 

was simply an air support coordination group, and logistical support had to be procured to facilitate the six Army MEDEVAC UH-60As frequently at their location.60

In a disheartening turn of events some weeks into the operation, Salvetti’s team 

was criticized by a Fox News reporter, retired U.S. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Oliver 

North, for not carrying out the body of a deceased U.S. Navy medical corpsman. 

North later wrote a book that contains his version of the incident in an inaccurate 

and perhaps sensationalized account. 
270 Call Sign – Dustoff

The 2d and 3d FSMTs crossed paths with North while stuck at an FARP during 

the murky aftermath of the MOASS [Mother of all Sandstorms]. No aircraft could 

fly that day because of the extremely poor visibility. Luckily all six of the team’s 

aircraft assembled at the FARP that morning to wait out the weather with several 

other Marine Corps helicopters. As soon as the weather lifted, the team planned to 

jump to the DASC to receive any missions that were waiting. 

At one point during the day, Salvetti was informed that one of the pilots in command on his team had just had a discussion with a Marine aviation crew regarding 

a KIA held by a Marine Corps CH-46 also stuck at the FARP. The MEDEVAC 

crew had not taken possession of the KIA. Salvetti understood that one of the 

missions of the CH-46s in the area was to transport remains. As Salvetti discussed 

the situation with another pilot, CW3 Barnett, North approached their position.

North explained that he was flying with a CH-46 crew that had a very important 

mission and had to leave and had no time to transport the KIA and that it would 

be “a shame if they had to leave him on the side of the road.” Salvetti listened but 

did not offer to take the KIA because it was clear no aircraft were going anywhere 

that day and did not feel it necessary to debate mission priority with a reporter. 

In North’s written account of the exchange he claims the FSMTs’ aircraft were 

full of supplies and food headed for the rear. However, this was false. One of 

six aircraft carried the team’s supplies that were meant to sustain the team as it 

advanced forward with the division headquarters. All other aircraft were mission 

ready. North also suggested a dramatic exchange between Salvetti and himself. 

However, according to Salvetti, it never occurred.61

The next day the CH-46 crew flew forward and dropped off the KIA at another 

FARP. Once the MEDEVAC team flew forward and established contact with the 

DASC, one crew went back to the FARP and transported the KIA rearward. During the conflict the 498th moved KIAs as directed. 

The day after the sandstorm turned out to be the busiest flying day of the war 

for the 2d and 3d FSMTs because many casualties had accumulated while the 

helicopters could not fly. 

Unfortunately, the “encounter” with North spawned criticism of the 498th. In 

reality, the 498th provided the best medical evacuation possible for the Marines. 

The 498th FSMTs stayed forward without replacement throughout the conflict, 

and at the conclusion of the mission, there was little doubt that Army MEDEVAC 

was valued a great deal by the Marine Corps.62

However, difficulties such as this incident were minor and few in number. As 

the operation proceeded, the relationship between the 498th and the 1st MEF 

steadily strengthened. The rapid 300-mile advance tested the tentative plan for 

MEDEVAC support that Gentry and his staff had created. The flexibility of the 

company structure and the dedication of the crews showed the 498th fully capable 

of the mission.

Some of the 498th flight medics initially had trouble dealing with the severity of 

wounds that they encountered. All had been well trained for their work. But little 

actual combat had occurred in the past 10 years, so most of the younger troops had 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 271

no real experience dealing with severe trauma. S.Sgt. Greg Givings was forward 

with Salvetti’s team. With 13 years of Army service as an Army medic and his 

share of Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic (MAST) missions, he felt that 

he knew what to expect. He later remembered:

I was very well prepared with my medical skills, but as far as being mentally prepared to see 

so many severely wounded patients, I don’t think I was ready for that...Most of my missions 

consisted of marines that had either been shot, or that had been in vehicle rollover accidents. 

Also, I provided aid for a few enemy prisoners of war, ... and maybe five or six civilians and 

three children. Dealing with civilians that were hit—most were females who had stepped on 

land mines.63

All of the medics learned quickly. As a team sergeant, Givings also had to watch 

over his younger troops as they instinctively recoiled from the shock and horror 

of war. After several missions, he assembled his soldiers and provoked them to 

express their feelings that they frequently suppressed to get their missions done. 

Givings was on one mission that diverted from a flight forward when the 

crew spotted a fuel truck that had turned over and was hanging on the edge of 

a ravine. One of the drivers was waving frantically and pointing to the truck 

cab. As the pilot hovered the aircraft, Givings jumped off and ran to the marine. 

He was okay, but told Givings that the other driver was pinned in. The two of 

them extricated the second driver from the cab just before the truck fell into the 

Roadside MEDEVAC in Iraq 2003. 

Source: U.S. Army.
272 Call Sign – Dustoff

ravine. During his time in Iraq, Givings cared for many wounded marines and 

civilians. This was the one time that he actually believed his actions directly 

saved someone’s life.64

Some of the crew chiefs also had difficulty adjusting to the realities of MEDEVAC work. Trained as helicopter mechanics and responsible for maintaining the 

aircraft, all learned very quickly that they had duties beyond caring for the machine. First, they were also crewmembers with designated duties such as providing an additional set of eyes to scan for external threats: towers, power lines, 

other aircraft, enemy fire, etc. They had to stay on the intercom system at all times 

and monitor the communications flow between all crewmembers and, sometimes, 

external agencies. Second, they had to acquire a basic set of medical skills so 

that they could effectively serve as the backup medic in case the primary was 

wounded or was just overwhelmed with critically wounded patients. 

Spc. Robert Dahlen was a 22-year-old crew chief and also forward with Salvetti’s team. He remembered his initial exposure to MEDEVAC:

This was my first dealing with MEDEVAC, and I had no clue...I had no idea what my job 

was, what I was supposed to do if I was supposed to help out with the medical part, with the 

medic and the patient. It wasn’t until I got over there and sat down with some of the medics 

and we had little classes, they walked me through the crew brief on how to load patients into 

the carousel...We had a kind of crash course on combat life saving, stick an IV, just basic stuff.

The first time I was helping somebody, we picked up seven guys that walked into a minefield, 

a bunch of Navy guys. Two of them had lost their legs and three or four had a bunch of shrapnel, just miserable guys...We only had room for four litter patients in the litter pans and two 

ambulatory patients able to sit down in our seats. So one of my pilots said, “Well, let’s run half 

of them down to Kuwait and we’ll come back up and get the other guys.” I told him, “I don’t 

think that it is a good idea, sir...If I was in their shoes I wouldn’t want to be split up right now, 

I’d want to stay with my guys. Get them in and we will work something out.” 

Me and the medic gave up our seats, and I took a cargo strap and strapped one guy sitting down 

with his back against the wall...I just didn’t feel comfortable splitting these guys up. It was just 

a good feeling ...I am doing something that is important and that helps.65

On 4 April, the bulk of the 498th moved 250 miles forward with MAG 39 

and its squadrons to a temporary air base called “Three Rivers” near Al Kut. 

That dramatically cut their reaction time for MEDEVAC missions in the Baghdad 

area. The 498th directly supported the I MEF until the company was relieved and 

shipped home on 10 June. They did not have any personnel killed or wounded, or 

aircraft shot down, although several did take hits from small arms fire. 

There were aircraft maintenance challenges. The maintenance officer, Capt. Tom 

Mallory, later stated that the biggest single problem was broken windscreens—

caused by the blowing rocks thrown up by rotor blast of helicopters taking off 

and landing. Also, the blowing sand played havoc with the engines, rotor blades, 

infrared jamming devices, and electrical wiring and components. Overall, the 

maintenance platoon did an outstanding job of keeping the aircraft flyable. For the 

previous three years, the 498th had won the Army Master Readiness, Operational 

Readiness Award. The unit’s performance in the desert reinforced these honors.66
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 273

The 498th evacuated 740 patients, including 126 enemy prisoners and 118 Iraqi 

civilians. Most were delivered to Marine medical companies or the Fleet Hospital 

3. Throughout the operation Clyde maintained contact with the 3d MEDCOM 

operations section and tracked the location of U.S. Army Level III facilities. On 

a few occasions, his crews crossed command boundaries to deliver critically 

wounded marines to Army hospitals so that their wounds could be more expeditiously treated.67

The 498th crews flew 1,600 flight hours, the majority in combat. The maintenance teams performed superbly, in many cases dispatching on short notice to 

forward locations to fix aircraft and return them to duty. The unit was well recognized for its outstanding work and received the Navy Presidential Unit Citation 

for the tour. All soldiers of the 498th proudly wear the 1st Marine Division patch 

on their right shoulders.68

For the soldiers of the 498th, the deployment was a powerful and bonding experience. Salvetti later recorded:

I will always remember the folks I was with, especially the 30 days when the major portion of 

the fighting was actually going on. The crew I flew with, us four individuals, that’s always going to be a real crisp, clear memory. And...the first time we ever went into Iraq, ...I remember 

looking at those guys and going, “Okay, this is the real thing.”69

112th Med Co

Another MEDEVAC unit sent to the Gulf region was the 112th Med Co (AA) 

from the Maine ARNG. Commanded by Maj. Mark Sullivan, the unit was activated in February 2003 and processed for deployment at Fort Drum, New York. 

The unit then flew to Kuwait, arriving on 28 March, as the V Corps and the I 

MEF were engaged in heavy combat on the road to Baghdad. Arriving at Camp 

Arifjan, the unit was assigned to the 110th Medical Battalion (Evacuation) under 

the 3d MEDCOM and provided general support in Kuwait, including the transfer 

of patients out to hospital ships. 

With the termination of combat operations in early May, the 112th moved forward into Iraq and assumed area responsibility for the area south of Baghdad 

down to Kuwait. The 112th maintained detachments at different times at Camp 

Doha and the Ali Al Salem Air Base in Kuwait, and Tallil, Ad Diwaniyah, and Al 

Kut in Iraq. This included some direct support to the I MEF elements as they disengaged and withdrew. The unit flew 761 MEDEVAC missions and carried 1,170 

patients. While deployed, the unit was awarded the Master Readiness Award for 

maintaining the highest operational readiness of any aviation unit in the theater. 

The soldiers of the 112th returned to the United States in March 2004.70

82d Med Co 

The 82d Med Co (AA) based at Fort Riley was also alerted for deployment. It 

was commanded by Maj. James Schwartz, who had commissioned into the MSC 

in 1989 after graduating from Wofford College in Spartanburg, South Carolina. He 
274 Call Sign – Dustoff

initially served with a divisional medical company before attending flight school at 

Fort Rucker, Alabama. His initial posting as a MEDEVAC pilot was to the 498th at 

Fort Benning. Subsequently, he served with the 377th in Korea and had the requisite staff and school assignments before taking command of the 82d in June 2002. 

In October 2002, Schwartz began to hear rumors that his unit would deploy to 

the Gulf region. This caused a bit of a morale problem because the unit had just 

returned from a one-year tour in Kuwait as part of Operation DESERT SPRING. 

However, many of the personnel who deployed—like his executive officer, Capt. 

Ricky Ortiz—were still with the unit, and knew how they needed to prepare the 

unit to return to the Gulf region. The rumors were confirmed when Schwartz received a warning order on 8 January and a deployment order four days later. The 

unit kicked into high gear to prepare and delivered 14 of their assigned 15 UH60A aircraft to Beaumont, Texas, for surface shipment to the Gulf region. One aircraft was left behind because of structural damage discovered just before the deployment. Another deploying aircraft was undergoing a required phase inspection 

and had to complete it in theater before it could fly. Schwartz anticipated austere 

operations and packed lots of extra Class VIII medical supplies for his crews. The 

unit personnel traveled by commercial contract air from Topeka, Kansas.71

The troops of the 82d arrived in Kuwait on 16 February. Their equipment pulled 

into port a week later. Schwartz and his soldiers used the time to acclimatize 

and accomplish myriad tasks necessary to prepare for operations. Frustrations 

abounded when they hunted for individual support units to provide them with 

specific types of equipment or personal gear. One of the biggest difficulties was 

getting their Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck tankers certified to carry 

fuel. The unit had been required to purge them with water before shipping. Before 

they could be used in Kuwait to carry aviation fuel, they had to be inspected by 

a special laboratory, which took three weeks before all of their Heavy Expanded 

Mobility Tactical Trucks were released. Since the tankers were at a premium in 

the area, Schwartz worked around this limitation to get his helicopters and crews 

flying to prepare for the upcoming missions. His training requirements were not 

that heavy because his unit had experience in the area on the earlier DESERT 

SPRING deployment. Most of his pilots knew the hazards of night desert flying 

and brown-out landings. He did get three crews qualified to land aboard Navy 

hospital ships, if that was necessary. However, he could not procure the maintenance help necessary to complete the phase inspection on his 14th aircraft, which 

meant that it was not available for combat operations. 

Once all in-processing was complete, the unit moved to Camp Doha and co-located with the 36th Medical Battalion (Evacuation) and the 12th Aviation Brigade 

with an associated Aviation Intermediate Maintenance battalion. The brigade provided them with intelligence, weather, and flight operations support. The 36th also 

supported the unit during in-processing. It also provided the unit with some cell 

phones that were indispensable because the troop buildup overwhelmed the base 

phone system.72

The 82d would provide general support to backhaul casualties for the 507th and 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 275

the 50th as they covered their divisions, and possibly the 498th Med Co (AA), 

which was providing direct support to the I MEF. 

The 82d Med Co effectively lost two more aircraft and crews when it was ordered to assign them to the 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, to serve as 

recovery vehicles for personnel recovery missions with Task Force Gabriel. That 

battalion had taken over the personnel recovery tasking from the 2d Squadron, 6th 

Cavalry Regiment, and the 82d crews replaced the crews from the 159th so that 

they could join their unit, which was arriving in Kuwait. Capt. Justin Avery led 

the 82d detachment.73

Schwartz and Ortiz were very concerned about the personnel recovery tasking 

because their crews had never received any training on the mission. However, the 

aircraft and crews went to Task Force Gabriel, and the 82d went into combat, not 

as a 15-ship company but as an 11-ship company. 

With the initiation of combat operations, the 82d operated out of Camp Doha 

until 24 March, when Schwartz deployed a three-aircraft package to Camp Udairi 

to support the 86th CSH. He also ordered a four-aircraft package with a small 

maintenance team and two Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck tankers and 

refueling personnel to the newly seized Tallil Air Base near Nasiriyah. They located next to a detachment of the 86th Combat Surgical Hospital, which was a 

Level III facility with 40 beds.74

The next day, Schwartz dispatched another five aircraft, crews, and maintenance team up to FOB Rams near Najaf. They launched just at sunset and adjusted to the almost zero illumination and the obscurant mix of dust and smoke 

as they flew over the barren desert. When they stopped at Tallil for fuel, they also 

loaded up with medical supplies and fresh blood for the flight north. Arriving at 

Rams, they found the landing on the crusty soil that rapidly converted to fine dust 

when dislodged by the helicopter downwash to be very challenging. The spotlight 

mounted on the nose of the helicopter helped the pilots with the landings and immediately became a priority item for night flights. 

The 82d crews located with the 212th MASH, another Level III facility. When 

not flying, the 82d medics worked in MASH helping take care of the massive 

number of Iraqi civilians—some with severe trauma—who were seeking care. 

The Iraqi Army had shut down many of the local hospitals and told their people to 

go to the American units and ask for help. When the 82d medics arrived, the hospital was full. S.Sgt. Dan Ledbetter and his fellow medics helped clear out many 

patients to make room for anticipated casualties from the upcoming battles.75

The crews and helicopters of Task Force Gabriel, the personnel recovery team, 

were also at Rams. They saw little action except for the evacuation of one AH-64 

pilot wounded on the ill-fated attack mounted by the 11th AHR. Most of their 

flying consisted of logistical runs to support the task force or transport VIPs. On 

one occasion, one of the 82d crews assigned to Gabriel spotted two soldiers left 

behind to guard and repair a maintenance vehicle belonging to one of the aviation 

units. The 82d crew contacted the aviation unit to inform it of the status of the 

soldiers and stayed with them until a detachment from their unit came back and 
276 Call Sign – Dustoff

picked them up. Their actions possibly precluded a repeat of the horrific events 

of the ambush and capture of the soldiers of the 507th Maintenance Company.76

Avery did launch one aircraft on 2 April to look for the pilot of a U.S. Navy 

F-18 that had been shot down by a Patriot Missile over Lake Razzaza, northwest 

of Karbala. The crew joined a large armada of U.S. Navy and Air Force air and 

ground units looking for the pilot. Eventually, the aircraft wreckage and pilot’s 

body were located and recovered. In comparison, though, the troops of Avery’s 

team posted to Task Force Gabriel were doing very little while their fellow 82d 

crews were constantly flying MEDEVAC missions.77

The 82d Med Co crew chiefs had their hands full keeping the aircraft mission 

ready. Routine duties were difficult enough in the austere conditions. Additionally, the wind and talcum-like sand played havoc with the windshield, wiring 

bundles, engines, and sophisticated electronic elements such as radios, transponders, and jamming systems. Fortunately, Schwartz included in the package sent to 

FOB Rams a small maintenance team to assist with the upkeep of the aircraft and 

give the crew chiefs a break so that they could rest when they were not flying.78

In addition to their maintenance duties, the crew chiefs were also crewmembers 

and had to perform those functions inherent in that capacity. Many had served as 

crew chiefs on non-MEDEVAC helicopters and were familiar with their job description. One of the critical functions was to control the approach of any personnel 

to the aircraft when they were on the ground. Often the aircraft settled into the soft 

dirt, and the whirling blades drooped down to head height. The crew chiefs had 

to dismount and physically block and then lead anybody approaching the aircraft. 

On MEDEVAC they had to also become proficient at providing medical assistance to the medic. The reason was simple: First of all, the medic could be 

wounded or killed at any point, and the crew chief would have to take over. More 

commonly, the medic was overwhelmed with several wounded on board, or one 

seriously wounded patient who needed his or her immediate and continuous attention to the exclusion of the other wounded. The crew chief was medical plan 

B. Most crew chiefs and medics developed into a smoothly running team and 

anticipated each other’s needs to accomplish the mission.79

As the 3d Infantry Division fought past Najaf, the 212th MASH began to 

receive casualties delivered by crews from the 507th. Once the patients were 

stabilized, the 82d helicopters either moved them to Tallil for more care, or tail-totail transferred them for further transport to the 86th CSH at Udairi, or other medical 

facilities as necessary. More often than not, coming out of Udairi, the 82d helicopters were loaded with class VIII medical supplies for delivery to Tallil or Rams.80

For communications, Schwartz tried to use the aircraft HF radios, but they 

would not work. This was a problem because many missions took the crews out 

of range for the other tactical radios that they were issued. Schwartz noticed that 

battalions and higher had satellite radios that worked. He requested some for his 

unit but was not issued any. He found that the only thing that worked with any 

consistency were the satellite cell phones that he had received from the 36th. They 

were also used with secure voice mode and became his most reliable link to his 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 277

teams for everything to include passing MEDEVAC requests.

Communications were a problem throughout the operation. Many times, the 

crews arrived at a medical facility for a pickup only to find that the patients were 

not ready to go or subsequently land for a dropoff only to discover that the receiving facility had not been notified that they were coming or were expecting a different number of patients than they were carrying. Schwartz had to work through 

this because the long flight distance back to Kuwait meant that fewer flights could 

be flown. Each flight carried more patients, which required more communication properly to coordinate for proper individualized medical care. Challenges 

abounded.81

There was another problem. As his crews moved forward to more austere and 

remote locations, they did not have access to secure communications for intelligence updates and Army Airspace Command and Control or weather information. 

They had to scrounge it from whatever TOC or headquarters that they could find.82

Schwartz brought six sets of long-range fuel tanks for his aircraft. Because of 

the long distances involved, he made sure that all of the aircraft sent to Rams were 

equipped with the tanks so that they had the range necessary to fly back to Tallil 

or Udairi. As the temperatures increased, however, he had to restrict the external 

tank fuel load to 100 gallons each versus the full 230 gallons because of thrust 

limitations dictated by the heat. 

On 29 March, the 2d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division, began operations to secure Samawah. At Tallil, Schwartz received a request from the 82d Division Medical Operations Center to provide MEDEVAC support for its operation. Schwartz 

relayed the necessary radio frequencies to use for requesting MEDEVAC and 

then detailed one aircraft and crew to move forward and locate with the forward 

support battalion medical company in direct support of the brigade. Simultaneously, he also directed the main body of the 82d Med Co to move forward to Tallil 

and again to collocate with the 12th Aviation Brigade, which had moved into the 

airfield.

As the rest of the company arrived at Tallil on 3 April, Schwartz brought forward 

his FSMT from Udairi and also moved his entire company up to Rams on 4 April. 

Then he dispatched four helicopters and crews to backhaul for the 507th now 

located at FOB Chickenhawk and another helicopter to support the 2d Brigade 

of the 82d Division at Samawah. This gave him aircraft at three locations. Additionally, three aircraft and crews from the 159th Med Co (AA) that had arrived 

from Germany moved up to Tallil.

For the next several days, Schwartz’s crews picked up patients from the 507th 

in tail-to-tail transfers and either brought them to the 212th at Rams or down to 

Tallil, where the 86th CSH detachment cared for them, or the 159th crews further 

backhauled them to medical facilities in Kuwait. They also made a few point-ofinjury recoveries to pick up wounded for the 82d Airborne Division. The 82d Med 

Co crews also responded to numerous vehicle accidents along the main supply 

routes used by the endless supply convoys moving back and forth. Many of these 

resembled the MAST missions that many had flown in the United States. 
278 Call Sign – Dustoff

When the 3d Infantry Division seized the BIAP, the 36th Medical Battalion 

(Evacuation) and the 507th Med Co moved to the airport. Schwartz gave the mission to support the 2d Brigade of the 82d Airborne Division to the 159th Med 

Co and consolidated his entire unit at Logistics Support Area (LSA) Dogwood, 

60 miles south of Baghdad, co-located with the 28th CSH. For the next several 

weeks, he shuttled teams of aircraft and crews to support the I MEF as it pushed 

Task Force Tripoli up to Tikrit. Schwartz also dispatched aircraft and crews to 

again support the 2d Brigade, 82d Airborne Division as it moved into western 

Baghdad, and even a team back down to Tallil when the 159th redeployed north.

The team sent to support the Marine Task Force going to Tikrit was Avery’s 

detachment, recently relieved of its assignment to Task Force Gabriel. Lashing 

up with the task force, Avery discovered some residual ill will among the marines 

about the Salvetti–Ollie North incident. He assured the task force commander that 

his crews would provide the best support possible. Relations improved rapidly as 

he and his soldiers provided the task force with the MEDEVAC it needed for the 

drive to Tikrit. Avery and his crews were then dispatched to Al Taqaddum Air Base 

to support a brigade from the 82d Airborne Division as it swept through that area.83

On 13 May, the 82d Med Co moved six aircraft and crews to BIAP to provide 

general support to forces around Baghdad. However, all of the 82d Med Co elements were relieved a few days later by aircraft and crews from the 159th and 

then returned to Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. Simultaneously, Schwartz’s aircraft and 

crews that were working with Task Force Tripoli were replaced by CASEVAC assets from the 3d MAW, and they also flew back to Arifjan. The soldiers of the 82d 

Med Co spent the next week cleaning their aircraft, vehicles, and equipment, and 

packed up so that they could go home in late May. During the combat portion of the 

operation, they had logged 1,023 flight hours and carried more than 500 patients. 

However, the 30th Medical Brigade planners decided that one FSMT from the 

82d Med Co needed to remain in Iraq longer to augment the MEDEVAC units in 

place. Avery and three full crews volunteered to stay. They were dispatched back 

to Tikrit where they were then parceled out piecemeal to different MEDEVAC 

units. Avery and his crew joined the 159th—now at BIAP—and flew with them 

until August, when they were finally allowed to go home.84

Like the other units, the troops of the 82d discovered that the harsh desert conditions were very hard on the aircraft. They only had to change out two engines, 

but they also had trouble with damage to the auxiliary power units, electrical systems, and windscreens. Overall, Ortiz noted that they never cancelled a mission 

because of nonavailability of aircraft.85

Schwartz was extremely proud of his 141 troops and their unselfish accomplishments. The general support mission was very challenging. They had to fly long 

flights to support a multitude of units. Most of their patients were backhauls, but 

some crews did work directly with units in enemy contact and had to do point-ofinjury recoveries. Frequently, they were out of contact with anybody, especially 

medical units. Ortiz had difficulty on several occasions as they moved forward 

with getting current intelligence updates for his dispersed troops. He felt that at 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 279

several points his troops’ integration with aviation units was poor. However, the 

troops made the best of the situation and were very proud that none of their crews 

had a patient die while under their care.86

159th Med Co

As OIF approached, Maj. Art Jackson commanded the 159th Med Co (AA). 

He had entered the Army in 1988 as a distinguished military graduate from the 

University of Guam. His first choice for branch was aviation, but he was given 

the MSC. After graduating from the basic course, he was assigned as a medical 

platoon leader for the 2d Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 197th Brigade at Fort 

Benning. He was there when Hussein invaded Kuwait in 1990. Shortly thereafter, 

the 197th was ordered to deploy to the Gulf region as part of the 24th Infantry 

Division. Unfortunately, Jackson had broken his ankle and the necessary surgery 

to repair the damage kept him from deploying. He stayed behind as a rear detachment commander. 

In the summer of 1991, Jackson learned that he was supposed to be in flight 

school. For some unexplained reason, he had been selected to attend right after 

the MSC basic course, but instead had received the orders to Fort Benning. He 

headed off to Fort Rucker and flight school. After graduation, he served with the 

Flatiron Detachment at Fort Rucker where he flew many MAST missions, and 

then he did a tour with the 229th Med Det (RA) at Fort Drum that included duty 

with a medical detachment under a United Nations tasking in Haiti in 1996. After 

a subsequent tour working with reserve forces in Atlanta, Georgia, he was posted 

to Germany and the 421st Medical Battalion (Evacuation) in 2000 as the executive officer. At this post he was selected to command the 159th.87

The 159th actually deployed to OIF in pieces. In October 2002, the unit was 

participating in a major V Corps exercise in Poland when it was ordered to deploy an FSMT to Kuwait. This was Capt. Dustin Elder and his team. Arriving in 

Kuwait, they located with the 2d Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment, and prepared 

for their personnel recovery tasking. Additionally, they shared MEDEVAC duties 

with the crews from the 1042d Med Co as the massive ground combat units arrived in Kuwait.88

Four months later, Jackson was working with the 421st Medical Battalion as 

it was preparing to be part of the northern task force when he received orders to 

deploy the rest of his unit to Kuwait. Within two weeks, the unit flew its 12 remaining aircraft to Antwerp, Belgium, for shipment to the Gulf region, and then 

the 102 unit personnel were flown to Kuwait. Assembling at Camp Doha on 13 

March, the rest of the unit quickly became combat ready and was assigned to the 

36th Medical Battalion. Jackson then learned that Weightman wanted his initial 

FSMT to stay under 3d MEDCOM control for intra-theater transfer or movement 

of casualties to the hospital ship off shore. Effectively, Jackson commanded a 

12-aircraft company. 

When the V Corps crossed the border on 21 March, the 159th started receiving 
280 Call Sign – Dustoff
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 281

missions. They moved forward to Tallil Air Base near Nasiriyah on 27 March. 

They were in general support of the V Corps. When Jackson asked Harp what the 

159th’s mission was, Harp responded, “I want beans. I am not going to tell you 

how I want them cooked. I just want beans.” Jackson got the message. They were 

the MEDEVAC swing force. They had to be ready for anything. Jackson told his 

troops, “Guys, this is it. We’re just going to have to be ready to do whatever it is he 

[Harp] needs us to do and there’s not going to be any excuses. I want the aircraft 

flying. I want the vehicles out. I want the fuelers ready. I want people ready to go.”89

To Jackson, this general tasking made sense because he knew that the ebb and 

flow of the battles to come would dictate a very irregular flow of casualties. Every 

injured soldier was important, so they had to be ready 24 hours a day. When they 

started operating out of Tallil and then LSA Dogwood, north of Karbala, they 

received even more immediate taskings. 

When the MEDEVAC helicopters flew, the crews monitored common radio 

frequencies. These frequencies were passed to the ground units. As more convoys 

were ambushed along the main supply routes, they spontaneously called for 

MEDEVAC on the common frequencies. Additionally, teams from the 82d and 

101st Divisions operated in many dispersed locations trying to destroy the scattered Fedayeen elements. They took casualties and followed the same procedure. 

Therefore, Jackson and his crews received taskings through the 36th and also 

immediate point-of-injury requests directly from soldiers in combat. The crews of 

the 159th were very busy.90

Jackson generally maintained launch authority for his aircraft, although he did 

designate it to some of his more senior and experienced officers. His vast medical experience in several capacities helped him develop a sharp mental matrix for 

determining mission execution. He explained: 

If the medic on the ground said that this guy needed to be air-lifted well then I was not going 

to question that. Because I’m not there...seeing how bad this person is injured. And as long as 

we ...had good weather, we had cleared the C2 [military command and control] — I had an 

aviation [liaison officer] and we would call and make sure that the skies were basically clear 

from anything...So as long as we cleared those two or three nodes I would go ahead and brief 

the mission was okay to fly. And then on some occasions depending on the risk category my 

Captains would have the ability to make that decision on whether or not we flew a mission. 

I’m talking my pretty senior Captains... I had some great Captains, guys that had been flying 

MEDEVAC and they’d been med platoon leaders... guys that I just had trust and confidence in 

based on their performance throughout their career and were totally capable of making those 

decisions...I mean it’s the last thing you want is to see your guys get shot up or shot down. But, 

having been a med platoon leader in an infantry battalion and seeing guys get hurt and working 

in the environment and being trained on what it is that a MEDEVAC pilot does, and working 

with mentors that have been doing MEDEVAC for years...and then having done it in MAST 

missions in the past and you look back and you know what your medics are doing. Clearly that 

lends an enormous amount of weight to a decision on whether or not you’re going to launch an 

aircraft to pick somebody up. The thing is, is you don’t have much time. You’ve got to make 

the decision otherwise soldiers die.91

On rare occasions, if there was a significant risk to a mission because of weather 

or enemy threat, Jackson passed the launch decision to Harp. It all worked, and 

Jackson prided himself on getting his MEDEVAC flight airborne in seven minutes 
282 Call Sign – Dustoff

or less. The 159th also received mission requests from the 212th MASH, and all 

of those also had to be cleared through the 36th.92

One of the youngest pilots in the 159th was 2d Lt. Tom Powell. He had just 

reported to the unit when they received their deployment notice and was not able 

to do any qualification training before leaving for Kuwait. When he arrived in 

Kuwait, he was initially assigned duty as a liaison officer in the S-2 section of the 

12th Aviation Brigade. Before being commissioned, Powell had been an enlisted 

soldier and served in the intelligence field. He used that background to prepare 

the daily intelligence briefings and updates sent to all of the flying units on the 

SIPRNET. 

When the 159th deployed forward into Iraq, he led the ground convoy of the 

unit support elements up to Tallil Air Base and then worked in the unit TOC. 

When the operations tempo slowed down, he started his mission qualification and 

was paired with CW3 Mike Hackworth, one of the unit instructor pilots, who gave 

him his initial aircraft and combat checkout.

One evening, Powell and another pilot, CW3 Clint Miller, were scrambled to 

pick up a soldier who had been shot in the face in Baghdad. Landing in the city 

using NVGs, they successfully picked up the soldier and headed for the nearest 

hospital. While the medic, S.Sgt. Eric Hartmann, worked desperately to keep him 

alive, the soldier died en route. Three hours later, the crew received another call to 

return to the same location. This time they picked up the enemy who had shot the 

Lt. Col. Art Jackson commanded the 159th Med Co during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Source: Author
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 283

soldier. He had been injured and captured. Without hesitation, Hartmann gave him 

the same level of care, and he was delivered alive for necessary medical care. On 

two occasions, the crew also recovered injured military working dogs.93

The flight medics and crew chiefs greatly impressed Powell. He remembered:

I don’t know how they do it. I swear, sometimes I’d look back and . . . [S.Sgt.] Eric Hartmann 

was the medic I flew with most. And I have more respect for that guy than almost anybody else 

I know in the military. There were several times I’d looked back and he was back there working on a patient. I mean his elbows all the way into this guy...

I have seen him back there doing CPR on a guy who didn’t have a face. The crew chief is back 

there trying to hold somebody’s head together, trying to save his life.

He also remembered another somber detail from his deployment, the unforgettable smell of MEDEVAC. He recalled:

[It was like] metallic blood. Mixed with—I don’t know—it’s like a body stench. I can’t even 

describe it. For me, the smells are all mixed up. We would fly . . . I can still smell burning 

flesh. I can still smell stinky body odor. I can smell . . . there were a lot of patients back there 

that defecated all over the place. The fire department [would] come out and spray down our 

helicopters, but the smell still stuck there. The blood and guts kind of seeped under the boards, 

the floorboards. I don’t know how else to describe the smell.94

After initial hostilities ended, the 159th was ordered to move to BIAP, then to 

Balad Air Base near Baqubah, and eventually to Mosul. In all instances, it was 

located with an aviation element that provided all necessary intelligence, and operational and logistical support necessary to operate. When Jackson had teams 

at remote sites, he made arrangements to pass all necessary data to them via the 

classified SIPRNET. Before returning home in April 2004, the 159th crews flew 

over almost every part of Iraq, logging more than 5,000 combat hours on almost 

2,500 hundred missions and carrying more than 5,200 patients.95

507th Med Co

Maj. Scott Drennon commanded the 507th Med Co (AA). He had taken over the 

unit from Maj. Bob Mitchell in May 2002. Drennon had entered the Army in 1988 

after attending Georgia Southern University. He initially asked for military police, 

but there were no openings. So he selected the MSC with hopes that he would fly. 

At the completion of the basic course, there were no flight school slots. Instead 

he was assigned as a medical platoon commander with the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 24th Infantry Division at Fort Stewart, Georgia. Subsequently, he 

deployed with the division to DESERT STORM and experienced Army medicine 

at the ground combat level. Afterward, he completed flight training with Art Jackson, and then served with the 507th, where he flew his share of MAST missions. 

He attended the aviation advanced course and then did a tour as an observer/controller at the Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk, Louisiana.

His next posting was in Korea where he commanded a ground ambulance 
284 Call Sign – Dustoff

company assigned to the 52d Medical Battalion (Evacuation), led by Lt. Col. 

Scott Heintz. He was sent to Panama to command the 214th Med Det and inactivated the unit. He also attended the Command and General Staff College at 

Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and graduated in June 2000 with Mitchell. Then he 

moved to Fort Hood to be the executive officer of the 36th Medical Battalion 

(Evacuation). He held that job until February 2002, when he took command of 

the 507th.96

Later that year, the unit was notified that it would deploy a six-aircraft package to Kosovo in the spring of 2003 for a six-month rotation. In preparation, 

Drennon took his aircraft and crews to the High Altitude Army Aviation Training 

Center near Eagle, Colorado, for mountain training. When that was complete, he 

deployed them to Fort Irwin, California, for a training cycle at the National Training Center with the 1st Cavalry Division. Extended-range fuel systems were used 

there to practice long-range missions. On both deployments, he sent the three 

HH-60L aircraft assigned to the 507th, the newest and most advanced MEDEVAC 

aircraft in the fleet. These training cycles allowed the unit to get these aircraft 

fully certified and released for combat operations.97

All of that changed in February 2003 when he was notified that the deployment to Kosovo was cancelled and that within 72 hours his unit would deploy to 

Kuwait. Drennon and his soldiers frantically scrambled to meet the movement 

schedule that also required them to fly their aircraft to Galveston, Texas, to be 

loaded aboard cargo ships for the passage. They took the three HH-60Ls, 14 UH60As, and their long-range fuel kits. The unit deployed with 132 soldiers plus 

several augmentees from the base and three highly experienced ARNG MEDEVAC pilots. All the personnel flew over on contract airliners that were now being 

called upon for the massive personnel movement to the Gulf region. They arrived 

in Kuwait in mid-month.

Theater in-processing and environmental training began immediately as they 

awaited the arrival of their aircraft, maintenance package, and other gear. As the 

aircraft arrived, the 507th troops picked them up, reassembled them, and got them 

flying so that the crews could accomplish their area orientations and practice desert dust landings. Drennon and his crews also discovered that the Forward Looking Infrareds (FLIR) on two of the HH-60Ls of the 507th had all been broken in 

the shipment. They would not be easy to fix.98

Weightman informed Drennon and Harp that he was going to attach the 507th 

to the 3d Infantry Division so that it could provide direct support to that unit. 

Drennon visited the commander of the 3d Division Aviation Brigade, Col. Curtis 

Potts, and made arrangements to attach to it. The 507th located and integrated 

with the 3d’s battalions. This provided the 507th with all of the aviation support 

that it needed to operate. Very shortly thereafter, his troops were directly working with the aviation brigade planners and attending their “rock drills,” as they 

reviewed in detail the projected flow of the campaign. Drennon also coordinated 

with their planners and the 36th Battalion for medical resupply, medical regulation, and patient movement. 

In analyzing the projected operation from both a medical and aviation perspec-
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 285

Change of command of the 507th Med Co (AA), 2002. Left to right: Maj. Scott Drennon, new commander, Col. Scott Heintz, Lt. Col. Bryant Harp, commander of the 36th Medical Battalion (Evacuation). 

Source: Scott Heintz. 

“Lonestar Dustoff,” UH-60 of the 507th Med Co in Operation Iraqi Freedom 1. 

Source: Scott Drennon.
286 Call Sign – Dustoff

tive, Potts and Drennon decided not to disburse the unit as FSMTs but to keep it 

together. Then he could use his aircrews and maintenance teams more efficiently 

to provide constant coverage for anticipated significant night combat operations. 

His plan was simple—he put his strongest and most experienced crews on nights 

and his younger troops on days.99

Anticipating communications challenges, he coordinated with the medical 

companies assigned to the division combat brigades so that they could contact the 

507th TOC via cell phone with their nine-line requests. 

Few missions were flown by single MEDEVAC aircraft. Potts and Drennon 

were concerned about the enemy threat. Accordingly, Potts decided to provide 

escort for all MEDEVAC missions with up to two AH-64s if the threat warranted 

it. Drennon knew that the Apaches needed more time to prepare for takeoff, but 

felt that the potential threat to his crews justified the minimum delay. 

To make his system work, Drennon worked through liaison officers in the division, aviation, and combat brigade TOCs. He explained:

Because we were all together at the same location...launch authority was extremely easy. I 

had two LNOs [liaisons] that I kept in the aviation brigade TOC. The missions came through 

Iridium telephone to me or the aviation TOC and every one of the Charlie company commanders [in the forward support battalions] was given an Iridium telephone—that is how we did 

better in OIF than we did in DESERT STORM for comm[unications]. 

I would say, for the first three weeks, I got about 70% of my MEDEVAC missions called 

directly to me or my ops officer over those Iridium phones because the other [communications systems] were either too busy... So I would relay those missions to the brigade TOC 

where my [liaison officer] was; he would tell the battle captain in the TOC “MEDEVAC 

mission, this is a request.” They would plot it on the map, they would look at the threat, see 

what the threat was, and determine the best route. The Apache [pilots] were also in the TOC 

so my MEDEVAC PIC [pilot in command], the escort Apache [pilots] took the brief at the 

same time from the brigade S2, the battle captain, and the S3...[and then] they would go out 

to the aircraft and launch.

Launch authority was delegated within the TOC to the S3, the battle captain, and my MEDEVAC LNO [liaison]. All had launch authority, particularly during the day. At night, the aviation 

brigade commander a lot of times, particularly when we had zero illum[ination] nights in the 

desert—he would direct serious mission analysis. The division commander delegated to him to 

make sure that the aviation operations were conducted safely and timely. He did, and he gave 

us a lot of room to do things when we needed to...Col. Potts was a great combat commander 

who fully supported MEDEVAC and ensured that we had the tools to accomplish the mission. 

It worked very well.100

With the other aviation elements, the 507th moved into Iraq on 21 March. It 

flew constant missions in support of the divisional units and relocated to Jalibah, 

FOB Rams near Najaf, FOB Chickenhawk north of Karbala, and finally settled 

at BIAP on 4 April. 2d Lt. Mark Knight led the first 507th team of two aircraft 

and crews into BIAP. The pilots in command were CW3 Craig Richardson and 

CW2 C.D. Foster. During combat, the unit flew 206 missions of which 170 were 

urgent. The unit carried 401 patients including 236 U.S. military personnel and 

121 enemy prisoners. 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 287

The 507th experienced the same tough maintenance challenges as the 498th. 

The big problems were wind and sand damage that necessitated the continuous 

taping of blades, seven engine changes, and the replacement of 16 infrared jamming devices, 10 windshields, and three auxiliary power units. The HH-60Ls 

were mission ready 95% of the time, and the UH-60As were mission ready about 

86% of the time.101

As the campaign ensued, the evacuation distances continuously increased. 

Working with Harp and his soldiers at the 36th Medical Battalion, the crews from 

the 507th rendezvoused with helicopters from the 82nd Med Co (AA) and transferred patients to that company for transport to medical facilities in the rear areas, 

which maximized the presence of the 507th crews with the 3d Infantry Division 

as it closed in on Baghdad.

On 24–25 March, the 507th, like all other aviation units, was grounded because 

of the Mother of all Sandstorms. Ground ambulances had to perform all medical 

evacuation. Doctrinally, air ambulances are ideal, but there are still times when 

they cannot fly.102

Drennon’s command and control system worked very well, but he had to draw 

upon his own manning to provide the TOC liaison officers. Fortunately, he had 

received the extra manning before deployment. In his after-action report Drennon 

noted: 

CW3 Dave McCurry and Maj. Scott Drennon of the 507th Med Co in Operation Iraqi Freedom 1. 

Source: Scott Drennon
288 Call Sign – Dustoff

Issue: Location of MEDEVAC, AVN BDE vs. BCT(s) (Sustain)

Discussion: Due to the nature of OIF combat operations during the initial combat operation 

(fast moving offense over great distances) it was advantageous for the 507th to co-locate and 

maneuver the entire company with 4th AVN BDE. This enabled us to stay within supporting 

distance of the BCT(s), increased our survivability, ensured reliable communications, and provided access to essential aviation products (weather, intelligence, maintenance, aviation fuel, 

ATO Routes, SPINS [Special Instructions], Mode 4 [IFF], etc.). Most importantly, it allowed 

for the integration of AH-64 escort and CASEVAC. The 4th BDE CDR was an advocate for 

MEDEVAC and fully supported the 507th, making us part of his team. 

Recommendation: Continue to train MEDEVAC units with AVN TF during FTX(s) and at 

the CTC(s).103

Potts effusively praised the MEDEVAC effort. In an interview after the war, he 

stated, “I will tell you that I was very impressed with the heroism of the 507th....

Those MEDEVAC pilots were the bravest guys. ... Those were really the heroes 

of the battlefield.”104

The 507th returned to Kuwait on 9 May, packaged up all of its equipment and 

then departed for home on 3 June. After some well-earned leave time, Drennon 

directed the unit to recover its equipment and address training deficiencies caused 

by the long deployment. Numerous personnel left for new assignments and new 

troops arrived. He sent several more crews to Colorado for mountain training and 

worked closely with his maintenance crews to repair the hard wear and tear suffered by the helicopters and other unit equipment in the harsh desert conditions. 

There was a certain urgency to their work because ongoing events in Iraq indicated that the 507th might have to do another tour in the theater. Drennon commanded the unit until January 2004, when he passed it to Maj. Jack Leach, and 

moved to Alexandria, Virginia, where he served as the MEDEVAC assignments 

officer at the Army Human Resources Command.105

50th Med Co

The 50th Med Co (AA) deployed with its parent unit, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Maj. John Lamoureux was in command, having taken over on 

26 June 2002. At that time, the unit had an FSMT with three aircraft and crews in 

Afghanistan as part of an aviation package to support the 101st’s brigade fighting. Within days of assuming command he heard rumors of some kind of larger 

deployment to the Gulf region. The Afghanistan team came home in August. The 

50th was still busy with MAST commitments and range coverage for Fort Campbell and Fort Knox, Kentucky. Lamoureux stepped up the unit training program—

especially for his pilots—and accomplished the myriad details necessary to take 

his unit to combat.106

In November and December, the entire division conducted an exercise to prepare all units to pack and deploy on short notice. Lamoureux had to push his 

maintenance crews to ensure that the three aircraft that had just returned from 

Afghanistan were ready to go again. He also had his troops pack the shipping 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 289

containers with extra carpentry tools and plywood so that they could build showers and latrines for their soldiers when they were in the field.107

Lamoureux was finally notified that his unit would deploy to Kuwait in February for a projected four-month tour. He was also told that the 812th Med Co (AA), 

a UH-1V unit from the Louisiana ARNG, would activate and a detachment from 

that unit would deploy to Fort Campbell to provide MAST and range support for 

the post and Fort Knox. Lamoureux was directed to plan and execute the swapout. In communicating with the 812th, he discovered that their activation orders 

would not have them in place before the 50th deployed. He had to plan to keep 

some of his aircraft on alert at Fort Campbell and Fort Knox until the day before 

his aircraft were due at Jacksonville, Florida, for shipment by sea to the Gulf 

region. Working with the two bases, he crafted a plan to have civilian helicopter 

ambulance companies provide coverage on a contract basis for both installations 

between his departure and the arrival of the 812th.108

Once the unit was packed up and relieved of its base duties, Lamoureux had 

his pilots fly their UH-60A aircraft (some of the oldest UH-60s in the entire Army 

fleet) to Jacksonville, Florida, in two flights of six aircraft each. They made one 

stop near Atlanta for fuel and delivered all 12 aircraft with no en route breakdowns. They were the last of the 275 aircraft from the division to arrive for the 

journey to the Gulf region. The pilots then returned to Fort Campbell by chartered 

bus. For the next several days, they finished packing the unit and put all of their 

ground vehicles and CONEX storage boxes aboard the chartered train. They welcomed in the arriving 812th and gave them orientation briefings and rides. On 1 

March, they boarded a charter airliner for Kuwait.109

When they arrived in Kuwait, the troops of the 50th were transported to Camp 

Victory. The 159th Aviation Brigade of the 101st Division, commanded by Col. 

Bill Forrester, was located there, and upon arrival, Lamoureux was advised that 

the 50th would be attached to the 159th for the war. Additionally, each of his 

FSMTs would align with the aviation assault battalions supporting each of the 

brigades. Forrester made it very clear to his staff that the 50th would be treated 

as one of their own, and it would be fully integrated into their operations. This 

arrangement guaranteed that the 50th had the maintenance, logistical, and operational support necessary to do its job. Lamoureux was pleased and said, “It 

couldn’t have worked better. We were always considered for all of the things we 

need[ed] to make our mission successful aviation wise.”

Falling back on his experiences as a ground medical company commander, 

Lamoureux designed a simple medical support plan. He would locate his FSMTs 

with the medical “Charlie” companies of the forward support battalions. However, he did not do that until the Charlie company commander assured Lamoureux 

that he had a plan for supporting the FSMT with a place to sleep and eat and a way 

to get fuel for their helicopters. He also realized that—most probably—his biggest 

challenge would be to effectively integrate into the theater medical plan.110

A few days later, the 50th’s first shipment of equipment arrived and it included 

only three helicopters. Lamoureux pushed his troops to get the helicopters flyable 

so that all crews could get their theater indoctrination flights. In anticipating when 
290 Call Sign – Dustoff

the attack would begin, Lamoureux worked with the 36th Medical Battalion to 

use an FSMT from the 82d Med Co for the initial push. However, the other nine 

aircraft arrived before hostilities started, and the plan was scrapped. Just before 

the operation started, one of the aircraft had a total transmission failure and was 

not usable. The 50th had to go to war with 11 aircraft.

The attack on Hussein at Dora Farms signaled the initiation of the campaign. 

The 50th moved its TOC to Camp Udairi near the border with two FSMTs ready 

to fly forward. Almost immediately, Lamoureux assessed that communications 

would be problematic. The high frequency radios did not work. Cell phones were 

issued, but his unit did not receive any. His unit also did not have any of the satellite radios or the blue force trackers. Out of necessity, he located the 50th TOC 

with the 159th Aviation Brigade TOC and placed ground assets at the FARPs 

being established by the 159th Brigade as the division moved forward. This methodology was also used to procure the unit daily intelligence updates and SPINs 

(special instructions) updates. 

The first FARP, which was called Exxon, was 155 kilometers into Iraq. The 

Maj. John Lamoureux and 1st Sgt. Charles Thompson of the 50th Med Co. 

Source: John Lamoureux
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 291

50th dispatched its first FSMT to that location to provide cover for the massive 

convoys moving northwest. The next day, the 159th established FARP Shell 220 

kilometers farther northwest. It was not far from Objective Rams, just south of 

Najaf. The second 50th FSMT flew there and assumed alert. The medical company from the 626th Forward Support Battalion and a forward surgical team accompanied the second 50th FSMT. However, when the 212th MASH, a Level III 

facility, moved to Rams on 24 March, the 50th started taking its patients there. 

One week later, the 21st CSH set up another Level III facility at LSA Dogwood. 

Throughout the campaign, the 50th elements repositioned 14 times. The aircraft 

held up well, although Lamoureux noted that the maintenance trends that he saw 

replicated the problems of the other units, which were caused mostly by the high 

operations tempo, the intemperate wind, and the fine sand. 

As the battle closed in on Baghdad, the 159th Aviation Brigade and the 50th 

headquarters moved to a small airfield near the city of Iskandariyah, 20 miles 

south of the capital. The 626th Forward Support Battalion and the 2d Brigade, 

101st Airborne Division joined them. As the Iraqi defenses steadily crumbled and 

their forces capitulated, the emphasis shifted to Phase IV stabilization operations. 

50th Med Co (AA) roadside recovery in Iraq 2003. 

Source: Maj. Bill Howard
292 Call Sign – Dustoff

The 3d Brigade was ordered to Tal Afar, 250 miles to the north, to guard the Syrian border. The 1st Brigade was ordered to move to Qayyarah, 40 miles south 

of Mosul. Both brigades took their forward support battalions and FSMTs with 

them. In support, the 159th Brigade set up FARPs so that the lift helicopters and 

MEDEVAC aircraft could overfly the movement of all of their ground vehicles. 

The elements of the 50th settled into their dispersed locations with their brigades. 

A few months later, the 2d Brigade and support package moved to Mosul, and 

the division was assigned responsibility for the northern half of Iraq. It became 

apparent to the soldiers of the 50th that their projected four-month tour in Iraq 

would last longer.111

571st Med Co

Maj. Bill LaChance commanded the 571st Med Co. After he left his reserve 

advisor job in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1996, he was the comptroller and then hospital company commander for two years at Landstuhl, Germany, before reporting 

to Falls Church, Virginia, where he was the aide-de-camp to the Surgeon General, 

Lt. Gen. Ron Blanck. When Blanck retired in 2000, LaChance attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth. After graduating in 2001, 

he then reported to the 10th CSH at Fort Carson until he took command of the 

571st in the summer of 2002. 

He had been commander of the Fort Carson-based unit for about six months 

when he was informed that some III Corps units were going to be deployed to 

the Gulf region. The 571st belonged to the 36th Medical Battalion (Evacuation), 

which was one of the Corps medical units, so LaChance lobbied the medical planners at the Corps. He was rebuffed in his effort. Instead, he was ordered to deploy 

detachments to Forts Riley, Hood, Sill (Oklahoma), and Bliss (Texas) to cover 

units from those bases that were deploying. In an abrupt about-face, four days 

later, 20 January, his unit received a warning order. The 571st would deploy as 

part of Task Force Horse into northern Iraq. As he prepared the unit, he received 

the actual deployment order one day later. His unit was ready to deploy within 

five days. As his troops at home station scrambled to prepare, he had the crews 

just dispatched to the assigned bases fly directly to Corpus Christi, Texas, for 

shipment.112

Almost immediately, the commander of the 4th Aviation Brigade of the 

4th Division contacted LaChance and informed him that the 571st would locate with the brigade’s 2d Battalion, the General Support Aviation Battalion 

(GSAB). He also found out that he would be working with the 421st Medical 

Battalion (Evacuation) from Germany and the 62d Medical Brigade from Fort 

Lewis, Washington, that would be the overall medical command in direct support of Task Force Horse. 

The troops of the 571st loaded their 15 UH-60A aircraft and equipment aboard 

the ships. When the ships arrived in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, their helicopters sat out on the decks in shrink wrap as the Turkish government debated 

and then rejected access for Task Force Horse. As the troops waited back at Fort 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 293

Carson, LaChance and his crews had no aircraft to fly and all went non-current 

for required flight operations. LaChance had to scramble to develop training programs to keep his troops occupied and focused. 

In late March, as the campaign began, the ships carrying the vehicles and equipment of Task Force Horse were ordered to steam to Kuwait and unload. LaChance 

and his troops departed snowy Colorado Springs in charter airlines on 30 March 

and arrived the next day in the 90 degree heat of Kuwait.113

Allied forces were heavily involved in combat operations, and their reception 

was at best chaotic. There was no prearranged billeting for his soldiers. LaChance 

claimed his vehicles from the ships, and on the first night he formed them in a 

circle in an empty field and had his troops sleep in the middle for protection from 

randomly driving convoys. The next day, LaChance checked in with the 30th 

Medical Brigade. He discovered that the 62d Medical Brigade, with the 421st 

Medical Battalion, and the 1st Medical Brigade were also arriving. Instead of lashing up with them, he was given orders attaching the 571st to the 4th Infantry Division. He would not work with the 421st or the 36th that was closing in on Baghdad. He would travel with the 4th Division. The 4th Infantry Division Aviation 

Brigade commander contacted him again and sub-attached him to the GSAB. 

Subsequently, the operations officer for the 30th Medical Brigade contacted 

LaChance to determine his location and status. LaChance reported that the 571st 

was with the Aviation Brigade of the 4th Division and preparing to move out together. The operations officer told LaChance that he needed 30th Medical Brigade 

approval to do that. LaChance explained to the operations officer what attached

meant and quickly obtained from him the designations and locations of all Level 

III medical facilities. LaChance then fully integrated with the battalion and brigade, which provided all of the maintenance, logistical, and operational support 

necessary to perform the mission. It was specified, though, that LaChance would 

maintain launch authority for his aircraft.114

When the 571st departed Fort Carson, it was reinforced with additional personnel from the collocated 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment, its home base parent unit. 

The 571st was assigned 154 troops, but left with 168 that included additional 

maintenance personnel and aviation officers. The unit suffered misfortune as it 

prepared for operations in Kuwait. As its aircraft were unloaded and reassembled, 

one of the crews taxied an aircraft into a light pole. All four blades and the transmission were destroyed. The aircraft was lost for combat operations pending a 

complete rebuild. 

The 571st pressed on and departed with the Aviation Brigade on 17 April as 

they all flew to BIAP. The next day, the unit was scheduled to fly to Tikrit, with 

an intermediate stop at the Balad Air Base, 45 miles northeast of Baghdad. Before the war, Balad had been a premier Iraqi Air Base, and the 4th Division had 

dispatched its cavalry unit to seize it. That operation was delayed, but the crews 

from the 571st were not so notified. When the MEDEVAC crews landed at Balad, 

they only saw Iraqis, none of whom were hostile. The 571st crews remained until 

the cavalry troops arrived, wondering if they would get credit for “seizing” the air 

base. Then the crews flew the last leg to Tikrit, where the 571st set up with the 4th 
294 Call Sign – Dustoff

Infantry Division Aviation Brigade. LaChance dispatched FSMTs to each of the 

4th Division maneuver brigades. The crews literally flew “top cover” as the brigades moved into Iraq and assumed their assigned sectors. The aviation brigade 

commander directed that all units would fly all missions as two-ship elements because of the lack of reliable communications and radar control or tracking facilities in Iraq. LaChance felt that it was not the optimum way to use MEDEVAC but 

did as he was told, although as the units settled in, the GSAB could occasionally 

supply the second aircraft.115

A few weeks later the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment arrived in Iraq and was 

sent to the Al Anbar Province in western Iraq. Its commander, Col. David Teeples, 

requested that the 571st be reassigned to him. Subsequently, the unit was moved 

west to Al Asad Air Base to be attached to the 3d. It stayed in action until March 

2004, when it was finally returned to Fort Carson.116

57th Med Co. As OIF began, Maj. Brad Pecor commanded the 57th Med Co 

(AA). Initially entering the Army in 1984 as an aviation warrant officer, he had 

Lt. Col. Bill LaChance commanded the 571st Med Co during Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

Source: Author
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 295

been commissioned in 1988 and served MEDEVAC tours with the 571st Med 

Det, the Flatiron Detachment at Fort Rucker, the 159th Med Co, and 421st Med 

Battalion in Germany, including deployments to Bosnia and Kosovo. He took 

command of the 57th in June 2002. 

The company was notified in February 2003 of deployment to Kuwait for combat duty. The unit rapidly prepared for the move. It was hectic at times as its soldiers competed with other Fort Bragg deploying units for supplies and equipment 

issue.

The unit deployed with the 56th Medical Battalion, still commanded by Lt. 

Col. Dave MacDonald, and arrived in Kuwait on 13 April. Like the 56th, the 

unit initially did not have an assignment. MacDonald pushed Pecor to get the 

unit’s helicopters flight ready. When he had the first one in commission, he and 

MacDonald flew into Iraq and visited hospitals and medical units at several sites 

before MacDonald decided to move both units to Tikrit. When the rest of Pecor’s 

helicopters were all flight ready, he and MacDonald dispatched the aircraft and a 

70-vehicle convoy to move all of the equipment and personnel for the two units 

to that northern city.117

Upon arrival, the 57th crews assumed alert for area support to any units in the 

vicinity. A few weeks later, MacDonald changed the 57th’s orders and directed it 

to move to the Al Asad Air Base to support the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment as 

it arrived in Iraq. However, when its commander requested that the 3d be assigned 

the 571st Med Co because of their home base relationship, MacDonald complied 

Two 57th Med Co (AA) UH-60s in flight over Iraq in 2003. 

Source: Lt. Col. Brad Pecor
296 Call Sign – Dustoff

and redirected the 57th Med Co to return to Tikrit to be attached to the 4th Infantry 

Division. When the unit arrived back at Tikrit, Pecor set up his area support section and dispatched FSMTs to airfields at Tikrit south, Baqubah, and Balad. Pecor 

aligned his unit under the GSAB. He was satisfied with this arrangement because 

he was given all the help he needed and allowed to run MEDEVAC with little supervision. However, Pecor was directed to fly all missions dual-ship, with the second 

aircraft occasionally coming from the GSAB or Brigade. Pecor put a liaison officer 

in the aviation brigade TOC, which expedited the passage of nine-line requests, 

and then operated well with the 4th Division until ordered home in February 2004.

With redeployment orders, Pecor moved the unit back to Kuwait where the 

crews cleaned, packed, and shipped their equipment. Just 48 hours before scheduled departure, the unit was informed that it would stay longer. Unit morale

immediately began to collapse, and Pecor convinced his troops that they had no 

choice but to follow orders. His next concern was to reclaim his aircraft and return 

them to flight status. Most of his aircraft had been badly worn down by a year of 

desert flying and needed significant maintenance. Fortunately, a contract maintenance team was in Kuwait and was able to answer many of their maintenance needs. 

Once the aircraft were ready, the unit was placed under the control of the 429th 

Medical Battalion (Evacuation), a U.S. Army Reserve unit from Savannah, Georgia. Under that unit, the 57th did not need most of its support troops, and Pecor 

sent many of his enlisted troops home. The unit then sent detachments to Al Kut, 

Tal Afar, and Diwanyah, and operated under the 429th until June 2004, when they 

were finally shipped back to the United States.118

54th Med Co

The 54th Med Co (AA) was the last MEDEVAC company to join the initial 

units. Commanded by Maj. Martin Kerkenbush, the unit deployed its 13 UH-60A 

aircraft and equipment from Fort Lewis with the 62d Medical Brigade starting 

in early February. Both were slated to support Task Force Horse with the 421st 

Medical Battalion (Evacuation), as part of the operation through Turkey. Initially 

slated to ship out its equipment through the port at Beaumont, Texas, with the 

4th Infantry Division, the 54th Med Co was subsequently ordered to load aboard 

transports at the huge port at Tacoma, Washington. 

When the attack through Turkey was cancelled, the 54th’s equipment was also 

diverted into Kuwait, and the troops joined it there after flying over by commercial contract airlift in mid-April. Several members of the 54th accompanied their 

equipment aboard the transports and spent 72 days at sea awaiting the Turkish 

government’s decision. When the main body of 54th Med Co troops arrived in 

Kuwait, the unit moved to Camp Udairi and was aligned under the 56th Medical 

Battalion (Evacuation). 

As the V Corps and the I MEF closed in on Baghdad, the 54th deployed an 

FSMT that joined the 62d Medical Brigade at Mosul to provide general support 

to the 101st Division. The entire 54th then deployed to Balad Air Base/LSA Anaconda to provide general area support for northern Iraq. At times, the 54th Med 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 297

Co also provided specific direct support to brigades of the 101st and 4th Divisions, and special operations forces operating in northern Iraq. At Balad, the 54th 

Med Co set up its operations at the southern end of the air base. Some of the more 

enterprising unit soldiers there set up the Tiki Bar and Coffee Shop, which quickly 

became a popular gathering spot for the troops at LSA Anaconda. 

Before returning home to Fort Lewis in March 2004, the 54th flew more than 

3,700 hours, conducted 660 life-saving missions for U.S. and allied personnel, 

and logged 631 medical re-supply missions in support of area medical units. The 

men and women of the unit were justifiably proud of the great work that they had 

done during their long tour in Iraq.119

Rotation of Units

Harp traveled to the 30th Medical Brigade on 8 May 2003 for a planning update 

conference. Col. Donald Gagliano, the 30th commander, notified Harp that the 

36th had completed its mission and the just arrived 56th Medical Battalion (Evacuation) commanded by Lt. Col. Dave MacDonald would replace it. The 36th, the 

507th, and the 82d were going home. Harp saluted smartly and then ordered the 

159th to move its entire unit to BIAP. When the unit assumed the mission, he 

directed the 507th and 82d to return to Kuwait for redeployment. 

The 56th Medical Battalion (Evacuation) had arrived in Kuwait on 12 April 

with the 57th Med Co. It was assigned to the 1st Medical Brigade and located with 

Change of command for the 56th Med Battalion, June 2003. Left to right: Lt. Col. Dave MacDonald 

(departing), Cmd. Sgt. Maj. George Sosa, Lt. Col. James Rice (incoming), and Col. Charles Hightower, 

1st Med Brigade commander. 

Source: Dave MacDonald
298 Call Sign – Dustoff

the Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division located at Tikrit. As the 36th Battalion, 507th Med Co (AA) and the 82d Med Co (AA) were released and sent home, 

the 56th assumed control of the 159th Med Co (AA), the 57th, and two ground 

ambulance units. The 50th was still with the 101st Division, the 571st was still at 

Tikrit attached to the 4th Infantry Division, the 54th was at Mosul working with 

the 62d Medical Brigade providing general support to several units, and the 112th 

remained in Kuwait and southern Iraq. 

As he settled in, MacDonald met with Harp at the 36th for a theater briefing. He 

discovered that there was—in fact—no overall theater evacuation plan. 

“I was making it up as we went,” Harp explained, as the evacuation units tried 

their best to adjust to the movements and placements of the combat units and 

hospitals, which provided for the movement of soldier casualties. However, it 

made no allowance for humanitarian needs or the evacuation of Department of 

Defense civilians or contractors, members of nongovernmental or international 

organizations, displaced civilians, or enemy prisoners of war. MacDonald could 

not find an overall combat health service support plan. One subsequent lessons 

learned noted that: 

MED[ical] planners at all levels failed to plan as a team. The maneuver elements recognized 

this and began to make the medical plan on their own. We saw air ambulance teams being 

moved and reorganized by the maneuver elements they supported. Those moves placed duplicate efforts within minutes of each other, while other maneuver elements were left uncovered.120

Consequently, he and Harp developed a theater evacuation plan. MacDonald 

explained: 

He [Harp] and I sat down and looked at the map and he, understanding how the operational 

forces work, gave me that knowledge and we drew the boundaries for the areas...that are currently being used in Iraq. We briefed that, or I briefed that with Brian sitting in the audience. 

Col. Gagliano, [30th Medical Brigade] he checked the box and gave that to V Corps.121

MacDonald also had to deal with the somewhat onerous issue of the assignment of the 571st Med Co to work directly with the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment. In May that unit arrived from Fort Carson and was assigned to the Al Anbar 

Province, a very dangerous sector west of Baghdad. Initially, MacDonald directed 

the 57th to support the 3d with nine aircraft and crews, although a regiment-sized 

unit was normally assigned one FSMT with three aircraft and crews. Nine more 

MEDEVAC aircraft from other units were available in the same area in general 

support. Pecor, the 57th commander, complied and moved his aircraft and crews 

to Al Asad Air Base. However, Col. David Teeples, the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment commander, was not happy with that assignment. At Fort Carson, he and his 

unit had developed a strong habitual relationship with the Fort Carson co-located 

571st Med Co, and he sent a request to the V Corps commander, Lt. Gen. Wallace, 

asking that the 571st be taken from the 4th Division and exchanged with the 57th. 

MacDonald heard about this and strongly objected. He saw no value in swapping 

out the two units that were settled in their very different areas of responsibility 
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 299

and established with their supported units. He briefed the commander of the 1st 

Medical Brigade, Col. Charles Hightower, and his executive officer, Lt. Col. Bob 

Mitchell, who concurred with his position. Hightower also tried to intercede. 

MacDonald followed up with a detailed background paper explaining that doctrinally, the 3d Armored Cavalry Regiment rated the support of an FSMT. The 

57th supported it with the equivalent of three FSMTs. The assignment of an entire 

company of 14 aircraft provided an over-abundance of evacuation assets to the 3d 

Armored Cavalry Regiment, which meant that some other area or unit had fewer 

than it was authorized. He also explained that the necessary communications and 

administrative links were established and fully functioning, and that the 4th Infantry Division was satisfied with its present arrangement and did not support the unit 

swap. MacDonald also pointed out that it was also doctrinally incorrect to attach 

any MEDEVAC unit to a combat maneuver unit. 

When briefed on the issue, Wallace concurred with the 3d Armored Cavalry 

Regiment request and ordered that the unit change be carried out. MacDonald 

saluted smartly and directed the changes. Both units had to be ready to respond 

to evacuation requests during the switch. Consequently, the move had to be 

phased out over five days and required support from the 159th and 54th Medical 

Companies. The units completed the move with only minor challenges. MacDonald was disheartened that the maneuver unit commanders ordered the realignment 

of medical units without any concern for the medical consequences of the move.122

Three months later, MacDonald passed command of the 56th to Lt. Col. Jim 

Rice, another career MEDEVAC officer, and departed for the Army War College. 

He was determined to return to the MEDEVAC community to resolve some of 

the disconnects that he saw in Iraq. While he was in Iraq, his unit oversaw the 

evacuation of 1,086 patients by air in 571 missions and 2,155 patients by ground 

ambulance. The MEDEVAC units then settled in for the long haul of stability and 

support operations that are still ongoing.123

ARNG MEDEVAC Units Activated for Continental United States Backfill

The 641st Medical Battalion (Evacuation), Oregon ARNG, was called to active duty in April 2003 and deployed to Fort Bragg to backfill the recently departed 56th Battalion. The 641st was activated for a year, and it provided military 

command and control to MEDEVAC teams from the 146th Med Co, Tennessee 

ARNG, the 1022d Med Co, Wyoming ARNG, at Fort Benning, and the 812th 

Med Co, Louisiana ARNG, and later, the 249th Med Co, New York ARNG, at 

Fort Bragg. The 641st was released from federal duty in April 2004.124

In actuality, several units from the base generation force were activated under 

Operation NOBLE EAGLE for backfill duties. The 812th Med Co (AA) was mobilized in January 2003 for a year and located at Fort Bragg, with detachments 

at any one time at Forts Stewart, Benning, Campbell, and Knox. At the same 

time, the 832d Med Co (AA), Wisconsin ARNG, was activated and subsequently 

deployed with 60 personnel to Fort Lewis to replace the 54th Med Co (AA). Just 
300 Call Sign – Dustoff

a month prior, the unit deployed a detachment of three aircraft and 20 personnel to Hohenfels, Germany, to support a larger training exercise, and it had to 

scramble to support the second tasking. Arriving at Fort Lewis, the unit assumed 

responsibility for base support and MAST tasking. It also dispatched three aircraft 

and crews to assume alert at the Yakima Firing Center in central Washington. In 

December, the original 60 personnel were replaced. The second crew served until 

May 2005, when the unit was released from active duty after 840 days of continuous service. During that time, the unit conducted 245 MEDEVAC missions, of 

which 48 were hoist missions. About 25% of the sorties were in support of military operations, and the rest were civilian support missions. The unit flew 3,738 

accident-free hours.125

Also in January, the 148th Med Co (AA), Georgia ARNG, with its Detachment 

1 from Washington, DC, was activated for federal service. The unit was ordered to 

Fort Hood to backfill for the 507th Med Co (AA) as it deployed to Iraq. The 148th 

was split into detachments that also eventually covered Forts Bliss, Carson, Sill, 

and Riley, as the MEDEVAC units and detachments at those bases also deployed. 

Like so many of the ARNG units, several of the crewmembers were more senior in rank and were veterans of combat operations as far back as Vietnam. CW4 

Jim Brennan was a classic example. He had flown 1,100 hours in Vietnam as a 

UH-1 pilot with a lift company in 1969, earning 42 Air Medals. After a break in 

service, he joined the Georgia ARNG in 1977, just as it was forming a MEDEVAC unit. He had served with the unit ever since, doing state activations for disaster response and federal active duty tours to support operations. His unit was 

not activated for Operation DESERT SHIELD/STORM. But the unit was tagged 

to fly hospital transfer missions for severely wounded soldiers returning to the 

United States for care. However, the casualties in that conflict were minimal, and 

the unit was not needed. The unit did provide on-call MEDEVAC and general 

support for the Olympics in 1996.126

The troops of the 148th remained at their assigned locations until February 

2004, when they were released and demobilized. The unit then picked up a commitment to keep two aircraft and crews at Camp Shelby, Mississippi, on volunteer 

federal active duty to support Reserve Component troops receiving training there 

for overseas duty.127

In November 2003, the 249th Med Co (AA), New York and Rhode Island 

ARNG, was activated into federal service under the command of Maj. Marc 

Boies. Previously, the New York unit had been an attack battalion equipped with 

AH-1 Cobra aircraft. It worked through an intense transition period to meet its 

MEDEVAC tasking, and then the unit deployed en masse to Fort Bragg, where 

it was assigned to the 641st Medical Battalion (Evacuation), and eventually replaced the 812th. The unit served there and sat alert for soldier support and MAST 

tasking at Forts Benning and Stewart and two remote Ranger training sites until 

May 2005 when the unit was released from active duty. The unit flew 4,100 hours 

directly supporting the soldiers of the base and XVIII Airborne Corps, and it accomplished 138 MEDEVAC missions.128
Again, Into Battle, 2001–2003 301

* * * *

As U.S. military forces entered combat in Afghanistan and Iraq, active and 

ARNG MEDEVAC forces were dispatched with them. Reflecting the current joint 

and Army doctrine, they lined up with their medical evacuation battalions and 

supported the joint and combined force, evacuating whomever they were called 

to medically evacuate. Additionally, several more ARNG MEDEVAC units were 

activated for varying lengths to support various continental United States operations. These operations in both theaters and at home are ongoing.

The 832d Med Co (AA), Wisconsin ARNG, mobilized and deployed to Fort Lewis in 2003. 

Source: Maj. Matt Strub
302 Call Sign – Dustoff