FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afgahnistan - Soldiers of the Wyoming National Guard officially took over medical evacuation missions in Khost province, Afghanistan, March 24.
“Cowboy Dustoff,” Company C, 5th Battalion, 159th Aviation Regiment, replaced Company C, 2nd Bn, 104th Avn. Regt., a West Virginia National Guard MEDEVAC company, who completed a year-long deployment.
The Wyoming guardsmen are providing helicopter medical evacuation support to Task Force Tigershark, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, 10th Mountain Division, which provides aviation support throughout the Khost province and surrounding areas in eastern Afghanistan.
This is not the first time the unit has deployed to Afghanistan, according to U.S. Army Maj. Dane E. Rodgers, commander of the Cheyenne-based MEDEVAC company, which is making it’s third deployment to Afghanistan.
The company, made up of pilots, flight surgeons, flight medics, crew chiefs, communication specialists, and helicopter mechanics, has already performed several medical evacuations, and expects to do many more as the weather warms up, said Rodgers.
“We’re here to save lives,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Adam Roberts, a communications non-commissioned officer and native of Cheyenne. “When our helicopters go out, they come back with patients.”