Michael's Dispatches
MEDEVAC/CASEVAC Links
- Details
- Published: Tuesday, 10 January 2012 12:35
Letter from home
10 January 2011
Increasing progress is being made on the Army helicopter MEDEVAC problems. Media attention has been building and appears that it will soon break big. Communications are coming in spontaneously from key places. Support for improvement is snowballing.
Pilots and crews continue to help behind the scenes but the active duty folks cannot speak publicly due to career concerns. Without their help and encouragement, we would not have made it this far. There is more going on than I can now track.
Most of the more significant areas of progress are still behind the scenes. It is a fact that many Senators and Representatives are now aware of the issue. (And more than just in passing.) The Secretary of the Army has passed the buck with his letter to Senator Grassley. The Army is openly playing hot potato. CBS and other media outlets are taking keen interest.
Much has already been written. The list of links below is far from exhaustive, but provides a basis of knowledge.
(Note: inclusion of links to outside writers does not imply that I agree with everything they’ve written. For instance, this has nothing to do with Presidential politics. Separately, certain milblogs not listed have written about the topic with apparently zero research under their belts. No links to the prattle.)
Red Air: America's Medevac Failure (Major Description of Attack and MEDEVAC failure)
Fool's Gold, Troop's Blood (Important video of MEDEVAC failure)
Crusader Copters (Red Cross: Mark of Crusades in Afghanistan)
Passing the Medevac Buck (Secretary of Army Passes the Buck to CENTCOM)
Take Me to Your Leader - If You Have One (CENTCOM Passes the Buck back to Army)
Pedros (Doing it Right: US Air Force Pedro Combat Search and Rescue in Afghanistan)
Delta Force Commander (Former) on Dustoff Medevac (Former Commander in Delta Force Weighs in)
BigPeace: A Pilot's Perspective on Michael Yon's Medevac Debate (A Former Pilot Weighs in)
The American Thinker Weighs in
Comments
I'm glad to see this subject starting to pick up a broad support base. As a RVN aviator I have never liked the DA policy of using the red cross on our medevac choppers. One need only read "We Were Soldiers Once...and Young" where med evacs could not go into the Id Drang LZ due to heavy enemy fire, but several "Slicks" came through many times to get the severely wounded out. That alone should have gotten the Army Brass to reevaluaate the red cross issues! I have done the same on missions flown in the highlands with no complaints from my leaders. So a huge thank you for your effort on behalf of the ground pounders.
Thank you for providing me a copy of Michael Yon's recent article regarding medical evacuation practices in Afghanistan and taking the time to share your thoughts with me. It is important that I remain abreast of issues affecting Texans, and you may be certain that I will keep your views in mind as I fulfill my duties in committee and on the floor of the Senate.
I appreciate having the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator
517 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Tel: (202) 224-2934
Fax: (202) 228-2856
http://www.cornyn.senate.gov
"2. That Red Cross on an aircraft means it no longer belongs to the parent service of the crew. Anybody, including the enemy, can flag down a dedicated medical transportation vehicle (including a helicopter) and demand his wounded be transported to a medical treatment facility – even if it’s the enemy’s facility."
http://avi-player.org/
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