A Salute to the A/TA Industry Partners - Airlift/Tanker Association

The Airlift/Tanker Association Specialized Mission Award is presented annuallyto an outstanding individual whose performance of duties in support of anaerial air mobility mission is exceptionally noteworthy during crises,contingencies, or humanitarian airlift. This award is presentedto career fields not covered by the Huyser Award categories.2011 A/TASpecialized Mission AwardMajor John F. Baer is the Assistant Director Operations/AeromedicalEvacuation Planner, 21st Air Mobility Operations Squadron,Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst. He holds a Bachelor of Sciencein Nursing Science, University of Texas, San Antonio, TX (1999),and a Master of Emergency/Disaster Management, Touro UniversityInternational, Vallejo, CA (2008).Major Baer volunteered for a 365-day deploymentto Kandahar Air Base as an Air Advisor tothe Afghan Air Force from January to December2010. He worked for the NATO Air TrainingCommand-Afghanistan and was responsible foradvising the Afghan Air Force on establishinga sustainable Aeromedical Evacuation system.Through a year of mentoring, classroom instructionand hands-on experience, Baer and his teamworked to improve the level of aeromedical andcasualty evacuation care provided by the AfghanAir Force. Modern battlefield medicine relies on anetwork of battlefield aid stations, regional medicalcenters and rehabilitative hospitals linked byan air evacuation system that quickly and safelymoves patients up the chain.For a wounded soldier in the Afghan National Security Forces,MEDEVAC was often provided by a Coalition Force aircraft and crew,not by his fellow Afghans. Baer’s small team of American medicalmentors and their coalition partners worked “shoulder to shoulder”with their Afghan medical counterparts to teach these necessaryskills and build the capacity for them to care for their own in combat.In September 2010, wounded Afghans began to be evacuated tohigher levels of care on regularly scheduled AAF transports and helicoptersunder the care of Afghan aeromedical technicians trained byBaer and his team.“When we first arrived at Kandahar, the air evacuation systemwas very basic,” said Baer. “The regional hospital would just deliverpatients to the next available flight to Kabul without preparation orprior coordination and simply put them on the floor. Once the planetook off, there weren’t any flight medics on board to provide care.”Baer helped set up a training program to teach a small core of AAFaerial medics how to stabilize patients for flight and secure themsafely on the aircraft to prevent further injury. They also taughtthem the special skills needed to care for wounded soldiers in the air.“We would spend two days a week in the classroom teaching aeromedicalcare through repetition and hands-on practice,” he said. “Inaddition to patient prep and in-flight care, we provided instructionMajor John F. Baer“…any citizen should be willing to give all that he has to give hiscountry in work or sacrifice in times of crises.”–Eleanor Rooseveltwith advanced equipment to care for more seriously injured soldiers.They picked up the technology with enthusiasm, despite a few languageand literacy barriers.”He spent a great deal of time in the air alongside the Afghan medicson AAF flights.“I flew alongside Afghan medics on 55 missionsin their MI-17s as we put our classroom work intothe lives of wounded Afghans,” said the major.“These were challenging missions and they madea real difference, I saw them save lives.”The mentor team also worked with the ANSFhospital system, AAF and the Afghan medical coordinationcenter to address the random and unscheduledapproach to aeromedical evacuation.The key was having the hospitals know when theyneeded to move patients to aircraft dedicated toMEDEVAC missions, and also in having trainedmedics ready to fly on them.The AAF’s Kabul and Kandahar Air Wings createdweekly flights from the Kandahar RegionalMedical Center to the National Military Hospital inKabul. The regular missions schedule time for theKRMC to prepare wounded Afghans for transport and to prioritizecare for the most critical cases.Considering the conditions at the beginning of his tour, Baer wasvery impressed with the changes.“In less than ten months, ANSF aeromedical care evolved frombasically ‘a plane is here, place him on the floor’ to Afghanscoordinating and scheduling their own medical evacuation missions.They are also preparing, securing and caring for theirwounded countrymen in flight,” said Baer. “I’m very proud tohave been working alongside the Afghans during the start of thiscritical capability.”While deployed, Major Baer networked with his local communitysoliciting over 500 pounds of children’s clothing given toChristian Ministries Center on Kandahar Airfield for distributionto Kandahar City school children. He also supported a CanadianArmy Fun Run completing a 4 mile run. The proceeds from the runexceeded $11,000 and were donated to local Kandahar schools.Major Baer’s achievements include receiving the Verne Orr Award,621st Contingency Response Wing (2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010); theEmergency Nurse Excellence Award (1999); AMC Flight Nurse of Year(2003); and theLillian Kiel Award, AMC (2008). 438th Air ExpeditionaryWing Field Grade Officer of the Quarter (2010).A/TQ • Airlift/Tanker Quarterly • Fall 201147