TOLEDO,Ohio -- Fifteen loadmasters from the 89th Airlift Squadron ascended on the Toledo Express Airport, Toledo, Ohio May 12-15, 2016 to help train various organizations from around the country.
The Toledo trainer in its third year saw a rise in organizations participating -- 37 from 13 different states.
Forty-three members of the wing to include the loadmasters, 15 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron members, eight 87th Aerial Port Squadron Airmen, two pilots from the 89th AS and two crew chiefs from the 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron participated in the training.
“We train different organizations on the aspects of loading heavy equipment as well as proper restraint, vehicle preparation, pallet building and bare tine loading of pallets using forklifts. We cover any area of training that these organizations need or want us to cover,” said Senior Master Sgt. Craig Essert, 89 AS loadmaster and one of two planners of this year’s event.
C-17s from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio; Jackson Air National Guard Base, Mississippi; and Dover AFB, Delaware provided platforms for the training.
Since the first joint training began two years ago, the exercise has continued to grow, adding more and more organizations each year. This year’s event was the biggest to date with approximately 300 participants.
All the branches of the military were in attendance. The only service not present was the Marine Corps, said Essert.
The training provided the agencies with opportunities to practice realistic scenarios with other military units and civil authorities as a way to help build and maintain strong working relationships and improve operational capabilities.
The Airmen trained on loading techniques of a C-17 Globemaster III aircraft including familiarization, winching, pallet building, heavy-equipment uploads and chain restraint procedures.
The last two days of the event involved emergency services agencies participating in training related to medical evacuations. Events included aeromedical evacuation procedures, such as an in-flight emergency medical response that included resuscitating a simulated patient experiencing cardiac arrest while flying, and loading and unloading patients.
In this environment Airmen can take the time to practice small details and techniques they wouldn’t normally have time to figure out in a hostile atmosphere. The idea is to create a muscle memory so they already know what to do when required.
The training not only provides required training for all, it also gives the different units a chance to network with other units both Department of Defense and state civilian agencies, Essert, concluded.