Contingency Response Element one-stop shop for ‘Golden Medic’ aircrew

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey S. Williams
  • Golden Medic Public Affairs
AUGUSTA, GA --  It was a quiet morning. The sky was clear, but the air was pregnant with rising heat and bumbling humidity. Everything seemed to be going as planned. The aircraft was ready for departure, the patients were loaded, and the crew was in place. Inside the mobile air reporting communication unit located by the runway of the Augusta Regional Airport - Bush Field, Ga., Maj. Zebedee Lau, 706th Provisional contingency response element commander, raised the air crew on his radio.

"What's the status of the manifest for the C-17?" he asked.

"The crew is hand-manifesting," came the response.

"Roger. You're clear to start engines."

No sooner did Major Lau give the clearance to start the engines, the C-17 Globemaster came to life with a roar. A few minutes later, the aircraft dubbed "Panda 99" taxied past the CRE unit and into position on the north side of the airfield.

As the C-17 rumbled down the runway, it gradually lifted off the ground and began its ascent, carrying patients to a hospital and out of the simulated combat zone during the Golden Medic Exercise 2007.

For this year's exercise, the 94th Airlift Control Flight, Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga., served as the lead unit in the 706th Provisional CRE. Other members came from the 512th ALCF, Dover Air Force Base, Del.; 514th ALCF, McGuire AFB, N.J.; 137th ALCF, Oklahoma Air National Guard; and the 439th ALCF, Westover AFB, Mass.

"Panda 99 is in the air," said Senior Master Sgt. Steven Crook, 94th ALCF superintendent, as Tech. Sgt. Michael Adams, 94th ALCF controller, looked up from his computer screen.

"It's time to alert the aircrew," Sergeant Crook said moments later as he called the C-130 aircrew to prepare for the next mission.

Formerly known as the Tanker Airlift Control Element, the role of the CRE is that of a mobile command post, explained Major Lau.

"Our mission is to ensure that aircraft arrive and depart safely, have the appropriate cargo and patients aboard. We alert the aircrew and handle aircrew arrangements for lodging, if they haven't done so already," he said. "We take care of the planes and crews, schedule the cargo on-load and off-load, arrange for the fueling of the aircraft and ensure they depart on time."

With real-world missions taking precedence, Golden Medic is one of the rare training opportunities for Reserve and Guard controllers to further their training, said Sergeant Crook.

"This is one of the few venues we have for this kind of training. Most assets are used for real-world priority missions," Sergeant Crook said. "We're really happy and thankful to be here at this Reserve-centric exercise. We've gotten excellent training and look forward to more of them."

According to Maj. Cynthia Ritchey, 22nd Air Force chief of expeditionary mobility operations, "The CRE doesn't own any specialty codes. We pull in qualified people including command-post specialists, airfield management specialists, aircraft loadmasters, operations officers, communications specialists, aerospace ground equipment and personnel. Every bit of training helps."

"Once an aircraft comes down, the CRE is responsible for ramp operations for all Air Mobility Command aircraft. Our CRE is capable for 24 hour operations," she continued.

Not only is the CRE responsible for aircraft operations, it also operates land-mobile radio networks for the aeromedical operations center, contingency aeromedical staging facility, and air transportation operations center. CRE also has the capability of broadcasting on all networks at one time.

"We're a one-stop shop for aircrew," said Sergeant Crook. "We make sure the aircrew members have what they need to accomplish their mission."

(This article is part two of a three-part series.)