USAF School of Aerospace Medicine Graduates Final Class from Brooks

Published Feb. 24, 2011
By E'Lisa Wilcox
711 HPW/XP

Brooks City-Base, TX -- The USAF School of Aerospace Medicine graduated its final class of aeromedical evacuation crews at Brooks City-Base in San Antonio, TX, Jan. 29. The historic event drew a crowd of more than 300 people, many of whom had deep ties to the school.

The graduating class of 28 Flight Nurses and 28 Aeromedical Evacuation Technicians helped to write the last chapter of the 59 year history of the flight nurse training program at USAFSAM since the course was first held at Bowman Field in Kentucky. The training was relocated to Randolph AFB shortly after WWII and ultimately to Brooks in the early 1960's. Flight nurses from around the world, past instructors, USAFSAM alumni, and local community guests gathered to be part of the historic day.

The school is in the process of relocating to a new state-of-the-art facility at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, under the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure initiative.

"We know that the sun is setting on Brooks Air Force Base; however, the dawn is breaking at Wright-Patterson, "said Col. Nima Reavis, chairman for the International and Expeditionary Education and Training Department of USAFSAM, in her opening remarks.

Master Sgt. Todd Nelson (US Army Retired) spoke to the crowd about the difference that the Aeromedical Evacuation team made in his life and the lives of his wife and children by keeping him alive during his flight back to Brook Army Medical Center after an improvised explosive device exploded near his convoy on Aug. 26, 2007, in Afghanistan.

MSgt Nelson suffered burns over 18 percent of his body and had shrapnel through his eye, jaw bone, and leg. When the attending doctors had all but given up hope for him during their initial assessment, the AE team didn't.

"They could have just let me go, but they didn't. And no one but themselves will know what they did up there ten thousand, twenty thousand, thirty thousand feet above the earth, " MSgt Nelson said of his experience.

"On behalf of all of those that have survived because of your tenacity, because of you, people like me have been able to fulfill our destinies," MSgt Nelson said, directly addressing aeromedical teams of the past, present, and future who were sitting in the room. Reflecting on his own family's gratitude, he described himself as "just one of so many people that you see and, because of you, they (my children) will have a father and my wife will have a husband... and I thank you for that."

Following MSgt Nelson's address the graduates were each called up to receive their "wings", the uniform emblem that identifies them as a member of the elite Flight Nurse and Aeromedical Evacuation team. As the wings were pinned on, many times by a family member or a superior officer, each recipient's pride was obvious.

"Your Air Force brethren, Army, Navy, Marines, and our coalition services can trust that, because you wear these wings, you will bring them home," said USAFSAM Commander Colonel Charles Fisher, as he concluded the graduation by addressing the Air Force's newest flight nurses and aeromedical evacuation technicians.

Following the ceremony, attendees and graduates moved across the street to the AE traing center, dominated by the hulking C-130 used for their training. The large crowd shared decades of fond memories of USAFSAM and Brooks.

Col. Fisher and Brig. Gen. (USAF Retired) Diane Hale O'Connor, a flight nurse who graduated from Brooks in 1962, reminisced about the history of the flight nurse course and learned about the future at Wright-Patterson.

"If you are a flight nurse, this (graduation) is very significant because this is where we originated," Brig. Gen. O'Connor said.

Over the next three months the staff, medical manikins, and aircraft simulators will make the 1200-mile expedition to Wright-Patterson. Flight Nurse and Aeromedical Technician training will resume in the new state-of-the-art facility in May.

When asked about the move, instructor Capt. Shane House said, "As we go up north we look forward to this new start as an opportunity to improve on what we already do well. We are always striving for excellence, and that is what we will do at Wright-Patt."

USAF. (U.S. Air Force Graphic by Rosario "Charo" Gutierrez)