MCCHORD FIELD, Wash -- Reservists from the 446th Airlift Wing here are heading to Wisconsin in June to participate in Patriot Warrior, a large-scale joint forces exercise.
More than 125 reservists from the 446th Civil Engineer Squadron and 446th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron will participate. The flight nurses and flying medical technicians from the 446th AES make a return appearance in the exercise, formally known as Global Medic.
Exercise Patriot Warrior is the Air Force Reserve Command portion of the larger U.S. Army Reserve exercise series involving roughly 5,000 military personnel including 500 from the Air Force Reserve.
"We'll be doing an AE trainer on the way there and back," said Senior Master Sgt. Selina Novasio. "For us it's the same exercise, just the name has changed. We've been there every year in some capacity; whether it's just a few instructors or as participants." The 446th has been involved with the exercise since 2003.
Deployed aeromedical evacuation, or AE teams, work to evacuate patients from combat theaters to hospitals close to their homes of record where further care will be provided, if necessary. These often lengthy airlift transports are when the AE teams must be the most vigilant.
The exercise, according to Novasio, teaches the AE reservists how to perform their duties in an expeditionary, or field environment.
"You take a bare base and you're standing up operations. It's excellent training. When I deployed in 2010, we arrived at a lot filled with trash and we stood up operations and it went exactly like the exercise. It was actually disappointing because I thought it would be better because exercises, you know, are painful," Novasio said with a laugh.
AFRC Headquarters chose to rename the exercise because it has evolved into more than just medical readiness. Civil engineers are participating as well.
Reservists with the 446th CES will experience the exercise in waves, as half the group will depart June 7, and swap out with the other half mid-way through. This is the second year a civil engineer unit has joined Patriot Warrior. The 433rd Civil Engineer Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, participated in 2014.
The CE team, with 12 specialties, will arrive at an austere location and build an operating base. Once the base is established, the team will provide sustainment and maintenance of the forward operating base to make it livable.
"We should get Silver Flag credit for doing this," said Wright, referring to the CE contingency combat support training conducted at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida.
For a look at what the McChord Reservists can expect at Patriot Warrior, take a look at this video about Patriot Warrior 2014 on the Air Force YouTube channel.