Twitter
Facebook
With deployments being passed down regularly, it is hard to find people who would volunteer three to four times, but that is just what the members from the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., have been doing this past year.
The 920th ASTS has 26 members deployed, with 20 members deployed to Ramstein at the Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility.
Out of the 26 members deployed here, two are on their fourth deployment, one on a third deployment, 11 on their second deployment and nine are extending for the next deployment.
Since being deployed here since early September, the 920th ASTS members have moved more than 1,800 patients on more than 160 airvac missions, said Maj. Laurie Turner, deployed here as the CASF director of operations.
The CASF is composed of about 96 people. Thirty are active-duty permanent party and the other 66 are deployed here. Out of those 66, half are guard or reserve.
For most of the Airmen from Patrick AFB, while this is not their first time to deploy, it also won’t likely be their last.
“Most of us would like to stay for another rotation, but because of upcoming inspections back home we can’t,” said Major Turner, who is on her second deployment to the CASF.
Although their job can be stressful, many of the 920th ASTS members find it very gratifying.
“It has been extremely rewarding. Just getting up in the morning, even if you don’t want to get up, you get up because you know you want to go and retrieve the patients off the flightline,” Major Turner said. “You know you are giving back to your fellow comrades. We’re not beating in the doors, but we are there if they get injured.”
“It’s been an honor to serve our injured servicemembers,” said Tech. Sgt. Scott Davison, 920th ASTS medical technician. “This deployment, along with my other two, has taught me not to sweat the small stuff. I would come back in a heartbeat.”
In addition to treating wounded warriors, meeting some of the folks that pass through the CASF has been an interesting experience. The CASF hosts a variety of distinguished visitors – individuals ranging from military senior leadership to cartoonists, congressional delegates and even Chuck Norris.
“These people are famous, but you realize that it is not about them, but about the patients,” Major Turner said.
With a job that focuses on ensuring patients receive proper care for sometimes devastating injuries, it can be stressful.
“You can’t look at the patient as ‘oh my gosh they are injured.’ You have to look on it as helping them,” the major said. “You can’t do anything about their injuries – they have already been injured – so all you can do is try and make their stay more comforting and their transition easier.”
It’s an atmosphere that offers a life-changing experience for many who are deployed here.
“All of the things that you take for granted back home, you realize that others do not have that luxury,” Major Turner said.
And while not every Airman will be able to extend, the deployment has offered the unit a team-building, wingman atmosphere that can’t be copied elsewhere.
“It’s been a great experience and truly a blessing,” Sergeant Davison said. He will continue on his fourth deployment at the CASF in January.
“We’re just one big happy family,” Major Turner said. “We really would do anything for each other and the mission.”
