CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq – When the U.S. led Coalition Forces in the invasion of Iraq in 2003, Staff Sgt. Quincy Northern began his first of three deployments as a flight medic. During the first months of the war, Northern flew medical evacuation missions along the invasion route led by U.S. Marines. "It was non-stop action from the time we crossed the wire," said Northern.
One MEDEVAC call he remembers vividly was an all-terrain, eight-wheel-drive Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck that hit a mine and rolled over. The call itself was not out of the ordinary. He and his crew responded to many MEDEVAC calls for trucks that hit mines or had rolled over, trapping a badly injured crew. What made this rescue different was the landing zone.
"They marked out the LZ right in the minefield," said Northern. "We didn't know until we got to the vehicle that we and the bird were right in the minefield."
They continued the mission, and all of the Marines survived. Landing in a minefield made Northern very conscious of security on MEDEVAC flights.
"When the (MEDEVAC call) comes in I review it to be as prepared as I can to treat the injury,” he said. “Then I think about security issues. When we land, I have to be ready to go and treat the injury, not be thinking about anything else."
Northern, whose wife, son and daughter are staying with her family in Ellicott City, Md. during his current deployment, enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1996 and trained as a flight medic in 2002. He went to Kuwait in January of 2003 in preparation for the invasion and followed the Marines until June. He was back in Iraq from March 2004 to March 2005 and returned in 2008 with Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 52nd Aviation Regiment. The Alaska-based unit is currently attached to 2nd Bn., 104th Aviation Brigade. Northern said his current deployment is by far the easiest.
"On the first deployment we slept on the bird," he said. "We slept in the same litters that carried the patients."
Northern, a native of Baton Rouge, La., admits to being an adrenaline junkie, but said when he retires from active duty in seven years his life is going to be different.
"When I retire, I am going to a get a job where the toughest thing is just showing up every morning," he said with a wide smile.
