The U.S. Air Force selected the Texas Air National Guard’s 136th Airlift Wing as the home of its newest Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron. The 136th AW, located at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, is one of three flying units in the Texas Air National Guard and flies and maintains eight C-130 aircraft, an all-purpose vehicle, cargo, and personnel transport. The AES will bring 106 new positions to the 136th AW, including 41 officers and 65 enlisted professionals, providing lifesaving, in-flight patient care.
“We are honored to add yet another capability to our already robust force,” said Maj. Gen. Tracy R. Norris, the Adjutant General of Texas. “Any time we add medical assets, we know we will be better equipped to help Texans in their most critical times of need. We also know that the medical community in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is second to none and will provide an outstanding source of medical professionals as we staff these new positions in the Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron.”
The 136th AW’s location in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex offers the Air Force access to a pool of skilled medical professionals. Texas has 51 baccalaureate degree and four master’s degree programs in nursing. Thirty-nine hospitals are located within 30 miles of NAS JRB Fort Worth, and the 10 counties surrounding the base are home to more than 60,000 registered nurses. NAS JRB Fort Worth is centrally located in the United States and within a large transportation hub. NAS JRB Fort Worth is within four hours’ flying time of both the east and west coast and can easily serve the Department of Defense’s U.S. Southern Command theater and interests in the Caribbean.
In November, the Air Force named NAS JRB Fort Worth as one of four Air National Guard units to receive the C-130J Super Hercules aircraft, which will replace the 136th AW’s aging C-130H model starting in 2021. The C-130J has superior technological capabilities, reduced manpower requirements, and lower operating and support costs. Paired with the C-130J, the new aeromedical evacuation mission will enable the 136th AW to provide critical and timely disaster relief operations and emergency rescue and evacuation support during both natural and manmade disasters to Texas and other Gulf Coast states. Since Hurricane Katrina, the 136 AW has safely evacuated more than 4,400 patients and passengers during such disasters.
“The 136’s selection highlights the importance of NAS JRB Fort Worth to both our national and homeland security,” Granger said. “As their motto, Nulli Secondus states the 136th Airlift Wing is truly second to none, and these new aircraft will ensure decades of continued dominance.”