KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (Jan. 17, 2013) -- The Kandahar Air Wing added two trainers to its team of flight medics after a culminating exercise and graduation ceremony Jan. 16 at Kandahar Airfield, marking the completion of a four-week course administered by their partners in Task Force Knighthawk, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment.
Afghan National Army, or ANA, Sgt. 1st Class Abdul Majid Watandoost, a senior medical instructor at the Kandahar Air Wing, or KAW, and ANA Soldier Raza Hosainy, a KAW flight medic, both earned certifications in Basic Life Support Training and Tactical Combat Casualty Care Training, allowing them to train their fellow flight medics in the KAW.
During the culminating exercise, Watandoost and Hosainy performed in-flight patient evaluation and basic life support procedures, and demonstrated aircraft familiarization in a simulated medevac scenario.
Capt. Clint Lowe, the area support medical team platoon leader of Company C, 2/3 Aviation, said he was impressed with the professionalism the trainees displayed during the exercise.
"They performed flawlessly when it came to following the basic life support steps to sustain a patient in flight," said Lowe.
After a UH-60 Black Hawk transported the simulated patient from the point of injury to a site for further medical evaluation, the Knighthawk trainers presented the graduates with their training certifications in a flight line ceremony.
Watandoost, who has trained with International Security Assistance Force counterparts for more than four years, said he was grateful for the valuable training he received during the course.
"We've learned a lot from this training: how to operate and use the medevac methods and machinery, patient treatment, the whole combat medic philosophy -- these life saving techniques are very important to us," said Watandoost.
Capt. Rich Davis, an enroute critical care nurse with Task Force MED-Afghanistan, said he enjoyed seeing four weeks of training come together during the exercise, and was excited about the graduates' future prospects.
"They have a solid knowledge base, so we wanted to do everything we could to expand their knowledge boundaries," said Davis. "They're all about transitioning, and they've been good about asking for reference books and training guides so they can train their guys in the future."
For now, Lowe said they'll stand at the KAW medics' side, both as mentors and fellows-in-arms.
"We'll continue to train flight medics, make our medical trainers available to them, and dedicate any resources we can so that they can stand on their own two feet and sustain the fight on their own," said Lowe.
Watandoost said his ultimate goal of helping his fellow ANA soldiers was his motivation during the past four weeks.
"Much of what I've learned from our mentors here I plan to share with the KAW medics under me, so that they can share it with other Afghan medics, so that in the future, we can take care of ourselves."
Social Sharing