We are The 908th: The 908th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron

  • Published
  • By Bradley J. Clark
  • 908th Airlift Wing

Editor’s note: “We are The 908th” is a 16 part series, running biweekly, detailing the workings of the various units in the 908th Airlift Wing. This is part four, giving insight on the 908th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.

The 908th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron is the medical treatment and transportation unit for the wing. The squadron is under the command umbrella of the 908th Operations Group.

The squadron mostly uses the wing’s fleet of nine C-130H2 Hercules cargo aircraft. Known as the "workhorse of the Air Force," this plane can carry 42,000 pounds of cargo and can fly up to 386 mph with a range of 5,200 miles. While the 908th AES operates mostly on this aircraft, they can fly on just about any other cargo or airlift type aircraft in the DoD inventory.

Commanded by Lt. Col. Amy Sanderson, the squadron’s mission and vision is to, “deliver dynamic aeromedical evacuation capabilities worldwide by empowering combat ready warriors who are committed to mission excellence.”

As mentioned in the previous “We are The 908th,” the 908th AES works closely with its sister squadrons in the 908th OG to include the 357th Airlift Squadron as they provide the aircrew for the AES members to be able to accomplish their mission, which is to transport injured patients from one location to a higher echelon of care.

According to Sanderson, the 908th AES goals and priorities are to, “fulfill the mission, and provide care to those entrusted to our care and to continue to train for readiness and mission excellence.”

In order to accomplish its goals and priorities the squadron takes its 83 total members, five of which are full-timers and 78 being traditional reservists, and divides them into six different sections or flights including the operations flight, operations support flight, training flight, clinical management flight, standards and evaluation section and like all other units, a Commander’s Support Staff section.

The operations flight “schedules, organizes, and reviews Aeromedical Evacuation Missions,” explained Sanderson. “They also ensure that all AE missions, operational or training, are launched, recovered, tracked, and archived successfully.”

The operations support flight “monitors the deployment readiness of the squadron. We want to make sure all members are deployable within 72 hours, to fulfil the AE requirements out in the system.”

The training flight “monitors the flight and ground training requirements of the unit. Making sure all members have proper opportunities to complete required training in a timely manner and those members that do not complete flight/ground training in time are trained back to mission ready status as quickly as possible.”

The clinical management flight “monitors the clinical training requirements of the unit; ensures each nurse and medical technician maintain their clinical competencies/certifications required for AE.”

The standards and evaluation section “monitors the standards and evaluations of the unit, verifying that the unit does not deviate from required regulations and that all members complete required testing on time.”

The Squadron’s recent major accomplishments include three hand-selected missions for COVID-19 support to Pacific Air Forces, and deploying 22 members in support of four different combatant commands worldwide.

That’s the 908th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. Next up for “We are The 908th” will be the 908th Operations Support Squadron.