The wheels on the plane go round and round
Staff Sgt. Joshua Banner replaces retaining rings on an F-16 Fighting Falcon's main landing gear wheel at Balad Air Base, Iraq. The 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron provides combat-ready aircraft and munitions to the air component commander in support of coalition forces throughout Iraq. Sergeant Banner is a 332nd EMXS crew chief deployed from Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C.

Labels: 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron, aircraft, Balad Air Base, F-16, Fighting Falcons, Iraq, photos, USAF

Balad trauma doctors gather to hone skills
Lt. Col. (Dr.) John Mansfield and Maj. (Dr.) Greg Hughes work together on a procedure to remove kidney stones from an Iraqi man March 26 at Balad Air Base, Iraq. The doctors met during the Joint Theater Trauma System conference where they learned how each other's medical facilities function. Colonel Mansfield is a 332nd Expeditionary Medical Operations Squadron urologist deployed from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England and Major Hughes is a 332nd EMDOS surgeon and an Iraqi surgeon from Balad General Hospital deployed from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes)

Labels: Balad Air Base, Iraq, medical assistance, photos, USAF

Volunteers and airmen assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group load a soldier into an ambulance bus at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2007. When wounded servicemembers and Iraqi military members and civilians are brought to the Air Force Theater Hospital, they are treated and then taken to the contingency aeromedical staging facility to await transportation to either a military or Iraqi hospital. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins

Medics assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group emergency room and contingency aeromedical staging facility bring Army Cpl. Erick Rodriguez into the Air Force theater hospital's emergency room, Aug. 3, 2007. Rodriguez sustained abdominal injuries from an improvised explosive device. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins

2nd Lt. Christine Duro and Staff Sgt. Derick Tibbetts, both assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group, draw blood as Master Sgt. Nancy Quemuel, assigned to the contingency aeromedical staging facility, discusses air evacuation and treatment for Army Cpl. Erick Rodriguez, a cavalry scout assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division, Aug. 3, 2007. Rodriguez assigned to the Forward Operating Base Warhorse, sustained abdominal injuries from an improvised explosive device. He was the last patient to be treated in the Air Force theater hospital's tent facility at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins

Maj. Julie Zwies and Capt. Kathy Betts inventory equipment at the new Air Force theater hospital at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2007. Starting at 4 a.m., about 150 base volunteers and 380 332nd EMDG airmen moved patients and equipment to the newly upgraded, pre-engineered facility. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins

Senior Airman James Ray and Tech. Sgt. Christopher Harwell move operating room equipment from the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group's Air Force theater hospital's tent facility to its newly upgraded, pre-engineered facility at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins

Volunteers and airmen assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group remove sandbags from part of the Air Force theater hospital's tent facility Aug. 3, 2007. The tent hospital was around 63,100 square feet which was made up of more than 30 tents. The upgraded former Iraqi Air Force Academy hospital is about 97,000 square feet. It has 20 intensive care units, 40 beds and up to eight operating tables. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins

Volunteers, airmen and soldiers assigned to the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group move equipment and patients from the Air Force theater hospital's tent facility to the newly upgraded, pre-engineered facility at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins

Staff Sgt. Tanja Green, Senior Airman Jacklynn Levasseur and Army Spc. Ivan Nazario finish moving the last pieces of equipment from the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group's Air Force theater hospital's tent facility to its newly upgraded, pre-engineered facility at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Aug. 3, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by 1st Lt. Shannon Collins




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Labels: 332nd Medical Group, Air Force Theater Hospital, Balad Air Base, Iraq, military hospitals, photo essays, photos, USAF, Wounded Heroes

Over Iraq
An Air Force MQ-1B Predator unmanned aerial vehicle goes out on patrol from Balad Air Base, Iraq. Predators fly intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance missions for operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Eight MQ-1s flew missions in the area of responsibility Aug. 10. U.S. Air Force photo

Labels: Balad Air Base, Iraq, MQ-1B, photos, Predator, USAF

Pararescue Airmen mission ready for search, rescue
BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNEWS) -- "That others may live" is the motto for the Air Force's pararescueman.Pararescue jumpers, or PJs, make up an elite corps of pararescuemen responsible for combat search and rescue missions. This team of highly trained pararescuemen performed a combat search and rescue training mission Feb. 24 in support of the air assets for the Combined Forces Air Component commander.

Labels: Balad Air Base, Iraq, pararescue, photos, PJs, USAF

Labels: 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineers Squadron, Balad Air Base, Iraq, photos, USAF

FLIGHT OF HERCULES - A C-130 Hercules aircraft assigned to the 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron takes off from Balad Air Base, Iraq, Feb. 11, 2007. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael R. Holzworth

Labels: 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, aircraft, Balad Air Base, C-130, Hercules, Iraq, photos, USAF