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The European Airborne Airlift Conference brought together members of five NATO medical teams for training from August 26-29, at Ramstein Air Base. The EAAC initiative involves our NATO partners by exchanging knowledge and strategies to increase interoperability.
Aeromedical evacuation was one of the topics discussed amongst delegates from the United States, Belgium, United Kingdom, Nether-lands and Norway. The different medical teams exchanged experiences and knowledge to better familiarize themselves for possible future scenarios.
One of the topics discussed was cross-training on the four airframes utilized by AE in the event of a NATO Article 5 scenario. In this situation an ally becomes victim to an armed attack, and AE is a crucial aspect of medical evacuations.
Some of the airframes used by NATO countries during a mass casualty or critical care transport include the A400M, C130s, A330 and C-17. Cross-training enables personnel to use more aircraft during operations and expand their mission set.
During the conference, the teams joined together for training flights with NATO partners and shared standards to remain unified as a team.
An issue the partnering nations wanted to tackle during peacetime operations is the challenge of access and availability of aircrafts during an Article 5 event. This is where holding realistic training with multiple nations is key to success.
Currently, each nation holds its own internal courses related to AE and Critical Care Air Transport Team Capability, or CCATT, although there are no NATO courses outside of annual exercises.
The next EAAC will be held in March 2025 at RAB. All NATO partners are encouraged to participate.
