KADENA AIR BASE, Japan. -- The 18th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron conducted an aeromedical readiness mission training onboard an MC-130J Commando II assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing during a routine readiness exercise at Kadena Air Base, Japan, May 8, 2025.
Members of the 18th AES undergo extensive training to respond to various emergency medical scenarios, ensuring they are prepared to evacuate, treat and transport wounded military and civilian personnel at a moment’s notice.
"This exercise helps hone in our readiness for our global medical reach and things like: Agile Combat Employment, Profession of Arms Center of Excellence and Air Force Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures. All these fall under the AES," said U.S. Air Force Maj. Jeannie Kibert 18th AES exercise planner, tactics chief and acting wing inspector team lead. “It aligns with Pacific Air Forces and all of our entities to provide safe patient care in the event of a real-world scenario.”
Aeromedical evacuation technicians are often faced with short timelines in contested environments; in response, the 18th AES constructed “mobile medic kits” to streamline care outside of the aircraft. The kits are equipped with “Tactical Combat Casualty Care” equipment, capable of treating 10-12 patients before packaging and reloading onto the aircraft.
Technicians utilize these kits along with their clinical skills to conduct mass triage and TCCC on the ground before loading back onto the aircraft within 30-45 min.
“We are focusing on ground operations as much as possible,” said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Spencer Voght, 18th AES flight examiner and mission critical coordinator. “The medics will use TCCC based medicine to get the simulated patients stabilized and get them onto the aircraft, allowing the medics to perform their secondary assessment during transportation to the next location,”
Readiness training prepares medics for real-world scenarios and allows them to prioritize meeting new challenges in dynamic environments. Exercises and operations incorporating agile combat employment concepts ensure forward-deployed forces in the Indo-Pacific are ready to protect and defend the United States and their allied partners’ interests at a moment’s notice.
Learning from planned and executed operations, the 18th Wing continues to flex its enhanced operational abilities to respond to real-world scenarios as the Keystone of the Pacific.