Mark Zaleski Photography

Airlift Missions: Airborne Lifeline, Afghanistan

  • Every week, men and women who serve at March Air Reserve Base in, Calif., board a C-17 Globemaster IIIcargo jet to fly halfway around the world and airliftwounded and sick military personnel from battlezone bases in Afghanistan. The journey takes them to Bagram Air Base near Kabul, Afghanistan, and then to Ramstein Air Base in Germany, where patients are transferred to a nearby hospital for care. March's medical teams and flight crews, along with the base'sC-17s, are a mainstay of the medical evacuation mission that has carried more than 116,000 wounded from Afghanistan. March Air Reserve Base Technician Sargent Alfred Montes Jr. is assisted by other crew members while preparing the C-17 aircraft to transport wounded warriors at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • March Air Reserve Base Tech Sgt. Alfred Montes Jr. assists Medical Technician Cpt. Carrie Williamson from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado in building a metal structure to securely hold wounded warriors on litters inside the March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 aircraft. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Medical Technician Staff Sgt. Angel Zaragoza of March Air Reserve Base prepares litters for wounded soldiers arriving on a KC -135 at the Bagram Air Force Base hospital in Afghanistan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Lt. Col. Lynn Rydberg from Minneapolis Air Reserve Station, left, Medical Technician Ibrahim Farah and Medical Technician Cpt. Carrie Williamson from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado calculate by writing on their hands how many litters to set up for inside the March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17. The aircraft's cargo bay is transformed into an air hospital, moving wounded warriors from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany for more medical care.(The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Ground crew members and littler bearers carry wounded warriors into the cargo bay of a March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 aircraft at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Peterson Air Force Base medical technician Carrie Williamson of Colorado shouts instructions about where to place the next wounded warrior inside a March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 aircraft at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.The aircraft'scargo area fills with stretchers, wheel chairs and medical equiptment. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Bagram Air Force Base ground crew members carry a wounded warrior from a medical transport bus into cargo bay of the March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 aircraft at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. On this trip, 30 wounded warriors will be flown to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany for more medical care. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Bagram Air Force Base medical technicians help a wounded warrior get onto a stretcher inside a March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 aircraft at BagramAir Force Base in Afghanistan. The cargo area is transformed into an air hospital for the mission.(The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Medical technicians and flight nurses tend to the wounded warriors inside a March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 aircraft after leaving Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. The 30 wounded warriors will be flown to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany for more medical care.(The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A flight nurse adjusts pillows to help make Sylvain Ross of the Canadian Military more comfortable for the C-17 flight from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. Ross was trying todismantle an IED while on patrol inAfghanistan when it blew up, injuring his arms andburning his face. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Sylvain Ross of the Canadian military rests his injured arm while sleeping inside a March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 aircraft after leaving Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan.(The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Minneapolis Air Reserve Station medical technician Winter Shaler takes time to talk during the flight with military personnel who were injured in Afghanistanand are being flown to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany for more medical care. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Ramstein Air Force Base flight nurse Cpt. Joanna Moore changes a bandage on a wound of United States Army specialist April Grassman from Bloomington, Del., on a C-17 flight from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. Grassman was being flown with other wounded warriors to Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany for more medical care. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Peterson Air Force Base medical technician Cpt. Carrie Williamson keeps a watchful eye on the wounded while they sleep on a March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 air craftafter leaving Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • The wounded are unloaded from a March Air Reserve Base Globemaster C-17 after arriving at Ramstein Air Force Base. They will be transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for furthertreatment. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • A Ramstein Air Force Base air evacuationmedical team unload wounded warriors from a KC-135 using a high deck patient loading platform. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Ramstein Air Force Base air evacuation medical team unloads a wounded warrior from a KC-135 into an ambulance bus after flying from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. Ramstein Air Force Base Staff Sgt. Pablo Sandoval of Menifee, Calif., top left, waitsto assist in loading the wounded warrior into the ambulance bus. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Ramstein Air Force Base air evacuation medical team unload wounded warriors from a KC-135 into a ambulance bus after the aircraft arrive from Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan. The wounded are transported to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany for further treatment.(The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Ramstein Air Force Base Senior Airman Julie Cook, left, gives the go ahead to load another wounded warrior as Staff Sgt. Pablo Sandoval of Menifee, Calif., assists in getting the wounded from the aircraft into the ambulance bus. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
  • Senior Airman medical technician Paul Bravo, left, of March Air Reserve Base, uses a litter to move wounded into the Bagram Air Force Base hospital in Afghanistan. (The Press-Enterprise/ Mark Zaleski)
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