Iraq Air Force Enhances Evacuation Skills

BAGHDAD [MENL] -- The Iraq Air Force, preparing to assume greater
responsibility in 2009, has sought to enhance its evacuation capabilities.
The air force has been exercising in the use of helicopters and
fixed-wing aircraft for the evacuation of injured soldiers. Officials said
aeromedical evacuation was set as a key requirement amid the expected
reduction in U.S. military air support in 2009.
"We've been working toward getting the Iraqi air force and the Iraqi
medical care system to perform this duty," U.S. Army Col. Tim Hursh said.
"We're trying to bring them forward in accepting this role of patient
movement for their own people."