Wicker Visits Air Mobility Command

WICKER VISITS AIR MOBILITY COMMAND
January 16, 2006

During the Christmas break, I had an opportunity to tour the Air Mobility Command (AMC) headquarters at Scott Air Force Base in Belleville, Illinois. The visit provided an eye-opening look at AMC's 24-hour-a-day operations in support of military activities and challenges around the world.

While most Americans were celebrating the holidays with their families, members of this key national defense component were on the job coordinating and flying military missions at home and abroad. The AMC is tasked with providing worldwide airlift, air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation of U.S. forces. It teams with the Army's Military Surface and Deployment Command and the Navy's Sealift Command to comprise an effective capability for meeting national security objectives.

GUARD, RESERVE UNITS AT WORK

The National Guard and Reserve are responsible for much of the manpower and assets involved in this formidable global reach. Not surprisingly, Mississippi units are a significant part of the mission. The 172nd Airlift Wing in Brandon operates eight C-17 aircraft, and the 186th Air Refueling Wing in Meridian provides KC-135R tankers in support of the AMC activities. The WC-130 "hurricane hunters" from the 403rd Air Force Reserve Wing at Keesler AFB are also part of the team. The movements of every aircraft are monitored continuously from a command center at Scott AFB. During the visit, I had a chance to follow one of the C-17s from Mississippi as it made a final approach into Baghdad.

From bases in the U.S. and 49 locations worldwide, AMC aircraft are running non-stop to bolster U.S. military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other flashpoints in the war against terrorism and support varied American security interests around the globe.

Another key AMC mission is delivering relief supplies to disaster areas within the U.S. and abroad. Our transport aircraft are always among the first on the scene to provide humanitarian assistance after a natural disaster, whether it is in Pakistan or along the Mississippi Gulf Coast. In the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, AMC transported more than 4,000 hospital patients to safety.

IMPRESSIVE MED-EVAC OPERATIONS

I was particularly impressed by AMC's medical evacuation operations. They are able to transform cargo aircraft into state-of-the-art intensive care units, and transport soldiers with amazing speed. Lives are being saved due to this tremendous capability to get soldiers from the battlefield to hospitals in Germany and the U.S. rapidly. On average, they have transported injured soldiers from the war zone to Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington, DC, in less than three days. Some soldiers have been transported in as short as 30 hours. During the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the transfer time from battlefield to the U.S. took as long as 10 days.

SURVIVAL RATES IMPROVED

The capability to provide medical help quickly has produced a profound improvement in survival rates for soldiers wounded in battle. Today, 90 percent of soldiers wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan survive their injuries. That is a marked improvement from just 15 years ago in the Persian Gulf War where only 76 percent of soldiers survived their battlefield wounds. By comparison, survival rates from past conflicts include 58 percent from the Revolutionary War; 67 percent from the Civil War, and 70 percent from World War II.

http://www.house.gov/wicker/Mobility.htm