As The 2nd Brigade of The Texas State Guard (State Defense Force) spent their March drill working with Texas A&M University on a large scale disaster response exercise, The 6th Brigade decided to work with The Texas Army National Guard’s 149th Aviation Regiment on its own medical exercise. On March 26 troops from The Texas State Guard met with Foxtrot Company of The 2/149 Aviation Regiment at The Martindale Army Heliport. Foxtrot Company of The 2/149 is classified as a General Support Battalion and provides Medical triage when called upon.
During the exercise, The State Guard troops conducted Aerial Port of Embarkation (APOE) & Aerial Port of Disembarkation (APOD) onto The Black Hawk Helicopters. These are scenarios where troops would transport non-ambulatory causalities to the helicopters, load them onto the vehicles & then properly secure them for transport. The troops would then perform APOD where they would extract the individuals from the helicopters and simulate transporting them to the medical center or field hospital.
The Texas State Guard & Army National Guard often work hand in hand in such scenarios when a major state emergency occurs such as a Hurricane or severe weather event that causes many injuries to the populace.
SAN ANTONIO, TX – Soldiers from 1BN, 6BDE (A, B, HQ) and the TX Army National Guard C Coy, 2/149 Aviation Reg (Alamo Dustoff) participated in a joint effort training exercise during March 26, 2023, drill at Martindale Army Heliport.Soldiers conducted APOE/APOD training along with stationary patient litter loading and unloading with the UH-60 Blackhawk.Photos By: SGT Ian Anderson 1BN 6BDE
Sources: Texas State Guard – Texas Military Department – All Acronyms
