Nine Reservists, most from the 433rd Airlift Wing at Lackland AFB, Tex., stepped up to coordinate the unprecedented aeromedical evacuation efforts following Hurricane Katrina. The Air Force Reserve Command personnel shepherded 125 military and civilian airplanes, making runs from New Orleans to San Antonio. The medevac controllers cycled medical teams of active, Guard, and Reserve personnel from around the country on the flights, which transported an estimated 9,788 medical evacuees. Initially reservists handled 98 percent of the Hurricane Katrina aeromedical evacuations. By Sept. 7, the reserve share was 80 percent, largely because most of the work was done.
A new report from the Government Accountability Office calls for the Pentagon’s Chief Technology Officer to have budget certification authority over the military services’ research and development accounts—a move the services say would add a burdensome and unnecessary layer of bureaucracy.
