Airlifting wounded warriors

Capt. Karen Knoblock, a nurse with the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight, oversees taking patients from an HMMWV ambulance at Camp Speicher, Iraq, Feb. 27, 2009. Captain Knoblock is an Air Force reservist deployed from Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Elizabeth Rissmiller)

Airlifting wounded warriors

At Camp Speicher, Iraq, Tech. Sgt. Daniel Wood, an aeromedical technician with the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight, checks paperwork before loading patients on a 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron C-130 Hercules. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Elizabeth Rissmiller)

Airlifting wounded warriors

Airmen from the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron's Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Flight and the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility along with volunteers wait with stretchers and buses to off-load patients at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, after an aeromedical evacuation mission Feb. 27, 2009. The 332nd EAEF transports servicemembers wounded, injured or sick from remote locations to a higher level of medical care. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Elizabeth Rissmiller)

Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron members provide in flight patient care

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany - Capt. Leesa Lowder, 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron, assists a patient in flight from Ramstein Air Base, Germany to Andrews Air Force Base on a C-17. The AES members are deployed to Ramstein Air Base to provide patient care on all flights from Southwest Asia back to the United States. (Air Force photo/Capt. Jonathan Kollmann)

Reserve Airmen contributing to medical mission in Iraq

Major Laurie Turner takes Pfc. David Kendrick's blood pressure reading at Balad Air Base, Iraq. Major Turner is deployed from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. Private Kendrick is deployed to Iraq from Fort Carson, Colo. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Nathan Doza)

Reserve Airmen contributing to medical mission in Iraq

Master Sgt. James Brown helps carry a patient aboard a waiting Air Force Reserve C-17 Globemaster III for a medical evacuation flight from Balad Air Base, Iraq to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Germany, for further treatment. Sergeant Brown is assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group and is from the Air Force Reserve's 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. The Globemaster is from March Air Reserve Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Nathan Doza)

Reserve Airmen contributing to medical mission in Iraq

Captain Laura Reitz cares for Army National Guard Private 1st Class Tommy Fowler a wounded Soldier at the 332nd Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility in Balad Air Base, Iraq. Captain Reitz is from the Air Force Reserve's 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. She is also an open heart recovery nurse at the Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne, Fla. Private Fowler is with the Delta Company, 2nd Battalion/124th Infantry. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Nathan Doza)

Ready

Airmen stand at the ready to move patients from arriving helicopters June 17 at the mobile aeromedical staging facility. Patients and equipment are eventually moved to Air Force C-130 and C-17 aircraft which transport them to the contingency aeromedical staging facility at Augusta Regional Airport at Busch Field, Ga., one of the locations of Golden Medic 2006, an annual training medical exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Stephen Schester)

Golden Medic 2006

Airmen carry a litter of equipment June 17 from the mobile aeromedical staging facility to an Air Force C-130 Hercules waiting for upload of medical equipment and patients for transport to the contingency aeromedical staging facility at Augusta Regional Airport at Busch Field, Ga., one of the locations of Golden Medic 2006, an annual training medical exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Stephen Schester)

Golden Medic 2006

U.S. Air Force members unload mannequins on litters that are posing as patients off a bus then into the CASF or Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility at Augusta Regional Airport at Busch Field, GA, one of the locations of Golden Medic 2006, June 16, 2006. Golden Medic is an annual training medical exercise that involves a collaborating participation between the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Army. The two services will work together for 12 days at Fort Gordon, and Augusta Regional Airport at Busch Field, GA, to become fully trained in the medical fields of patient transporting, ground and air, treating, holding and the ability to survive and operate in a forward area. (U.S. Air Force photo by SSgt Stephen Schester) (RELEASED)

Critical care

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Army Sgt. Jamie Hughes of the 101st Airborne Division relaxes during a flight out of Iraq on a C-130 Hercules. Critical care air transport teams set up air evacuation litter racks and patient care kits so patients can have safe and comfortable flights. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung)

Critical care

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) -- Capt. Randy Snoots installs a back support for a soldier from the 101st Airborne Division during a flight out of Iraq. Captain Snoots is with the 379th Expeditionary Air Evacuation Squadron and part of a five-person, critical care air transport team, or CCAT. The teams sets up litter racks and patient care kits along with specialized medical support equipment to ensure patients have safe and comfortable flights. The two were flying aboard a C-130 Hercules from the 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron.(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Lance Cheung)