Photo By Master Sgt. Benjamin Stratton | U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Angela Brown, an aerospace medical services technician with...... read more read more
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LAUTOKA, Fiji--A 92nd Air Refueling Wing KC-135 Stratotanker flown by a Washington Air National Guard crew carrying several medical professionals with the 141st Air Refueling Wing at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, integrated their medical and mobility skills into Pacific Angel 17-3 here, July 11-24.
The WAANG team partnered with more than 100 U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps active duty, National Guard and Reserve members, and six regional nations to create a multinational Joint Total Force Enterprise team.
Traveling nearly 10,000 miles over several days and various refueling stops the tanker and its crew set Pacific Angel 17-3 in motion, providing air mobility by flying all 42 main body personnel, and $70,000 worth of cargo and supplies from various locations across the Indo-Asia-Pacific region to Nadi, Fiji.
“We’re all part of the bigger picture,” said U.S. Air Force Capt. Dave Seeman, a pilot with the WAANG’s 116th Air Refueling Squadron at Fairchild AFB, Washington. “Rapid global mobility is just what we do and even though we ran into a few snags with maintenance issues during a supply run in the Philippines, we got creative, worked with our Filipino partners to get back on timeline and continue the mission with the Fijians.”
U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Wayne Kerr, a boom operator also with the 116th ARS at Fairchild, added that every step of the way included considerable coordination with the various air traffic control towers across the region from Hawaii and Guam to the Philippines, Vietnam and Fiji.
“Developing relationships with our friends across the region is key to everything we do,” Kerr said. “Helping us helps them and vice versa; we need all the help we can get as we work together to further stabilize the region.”
As one of the first to board the KC-135 from Fairchild AFB, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Angela Brown, an aerospace medical services technician with the 141st Medical Group, said that although they’ll have flown nearly 80 hours in total by the mission’s end, it’s all worth it.
“This PACANGEL mission has changed my life; it's opened my eyes and I'd be more than blessed to do this again anywhere in the world,” said Brown. “You name the country and I'm all in; it was an honor to witness all of these nations come together to assist the Fijian community.”
PACANGEL, in its 10th year of operations, was built to strengthen participating countries' abilities to plan and execute contingency responses, including humanitarian assistance and disaster relief efforts.
If a disaster strikes, interoperability is vital, and it does not discriminate based on nationality or type of military service.
“I had no idea so many different people, nations and assets went into this mission,” added Brown. “I came because I’ve always wanted to help people, but I quickly realized there was so much more to it that I could learn from.”
The Air National Guard is comprised of Citizen Airmen who train part time, close to home, until called upon for duty. As a Guardsman, Brown is a nurse serving the community of Spokane, Washington, at Providence Holy Family Hospital; but, that didn’t stop her from volunteering or making both the family and financial sacrifice to come along.
“Temporarily leaving my civilian career as a nurse for this mission wasn't a difficult decision,” Brown said, who’s married and has a small family farm of 30 chickens. “Serving the people here is the most rewarding experience I've had in years. It's the main reason I decided to start in healthcare and, honestly, helping them recharges my excitement for medicine back in the U.S.”
At the request of the Fijian government, contributing PACANGEL 17-3 nations worked closely conducting medical, dental, optometry and engineering programs.
“It makes me feel like I'm really making a difference,” Brown said. “There is pain and suffering coming through our triage daily and to know that so many have been treated and many more issues have been avoided by our help is wonderful.”
When asked what it was like working with U.S. active duty, National Guard, Reserve and many partner nations, Royal Australian Air Force Flt. Lt. Corey Wilson explained he didn’t notice by the end of the exercise.
“Honestly, we sweat all day, every day out here in the heat together and I stopped seeing everyone as different,” said Wilson, a dental officer with the 2nd Expeditionary Health Squadron at RAAF Base Darwin, Australia. “By the end of this week it felt like a family business; everyone was just doing whatever it took to accomplish this mission successfully.”
Brown concluded by adding she’s never worked this close to other U.S. services or partner nations.
“I knew I was coming to PACANGEL to use my medical skills; what I didn’t know was I’d be forging lifelong friendships with people from other countries,” she said. “I hope to work with them all again someday.”
PACANGEL 17-3 concluded July 24.
| Date Taken: | 07.27.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.28.2017 15:31 |
| Story ID: | 242894 |
| Location: | LAUTOKA, FJ |
| Hometown: | CHATTANOOGA, TN, US |
| Hometown: | FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, WA, US |
| Hometown: | GULF BREEZE, FL, US |
| Hometown: | SPOKANE, WA, US |
| Hometown: | SPOKANE VALLEY, WA, US |
| Web Views: | 82 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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