COL David Zimmerman, Aviation Consultant to the Army Surgeon General
DUSTOFF Family,
Greetings from the Land of the Morning Calm! C/3-2 GSAB (377th MED CO (AA) lineage) is setting the standard and continues to provide coverage for the entire peninsula in conjunction with the Armistice mission here.
I’m so impressed with our President John McMahan’s drive and initiative to improve the function of our association, including new member recruitment, mentorship, and retention. We recognize that we must have a concerted effort to maintain more frequent touchpoints with DUSTOFF crew members across the Total Force (Active, Reserve, and National Guard).I will be leading our mentorship committee in the coming months and working on new ways to get after this. More to come!
I was able to make a trip down to Fort Rucker, AL in November to conduct a LDP for flight school students and permanent party 67Js. It was great to see the fire in these young officers’ hearts burning solidly for our mission and history. I signed up ten new Dustoff Association members that night. I also visited COL Fricks and team at the Medical Evacuation Concepts and Development Directorate (MEDEVAC Proponency). Sam’s team is grinding away to keep MEDEVAC equities in the forefront of AMEDD GO leadership priorities. The HH60 static display project that the Association generously agreed to fund is moving forward. This rally point will serve our future generations well as a promotion and ceremony venue for many years to come!
The Surgeon General, LTG R. Scott Dingle is scheduled to speak at the 2022 Army Aviation Mission Solutions Summit from 3-5 April 2022 in Nashville, TN to amplify the Army Medical Department’s support of Army Aviation’s FLRAA MEDEVAC strategy Additionally, TSG is expected to speak on the benefits of the FVL program in conjunction with the Army Health System’s support to Soldiers during Multi-Domain Operations. I’m looking forward to seeing many of you there.
I’d like to highlight Bavarian DUSTOFF (C/1-214 GSAB) who is always on call to support the needs of the ground force within the EUCOM AOR. Notably, Bavarian DUSTOFF crews recently conducted overwater rescue training, ensuring that they are prepared for every possible contingency mission. Crews first completed Helicopter Underwater Egress Training (HUET) at a facility in Bremerhaven Germany, then conducted deliberate training flights over the German coast at various altitudes and environmental conditions. The training culminated with multiple hoist iterations with the rescue hoist system and a simulated dummy load.
I’d also like to shout out to the Witchdoctors of C/1-228th AVN REGT, who self-deployed two aircraft from Honduras to Haiti in mid-August, only days after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake struck the country, killing or wounding over 15,000 people. Providing desperately needed capability, their two crews flew over 100 hours in two weeks. Many kudos to the Witchdoctor team for their agility and professionalism in support of this mission!
It is my greatest honor to serve as our MEDEVAC Consultant and lead our 67J community into the future. Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers for our fight crews serving abroad. Finally, the last two years have certainly not been without challenges – Stay safe and take care of each other.