Training pays off for stranded Fort Polk Soldier

Training pays off for stranded Fort Polk Soldier
Mar 23, 2012
Posted By Kristian Claus

The following is a news release from the Fort Polk Public Affairs Office:

FORT POLK, La. — Fort Polk Directorate of Emergency Services, military police and the United States Army Air Ambulance Detachment (Cajun Dust Off), 5th Aviation Battalion put their medical evacuation training to the test, conducting a live hoist medevac mission early in the morning March 21.

More than 10 inches of heavy rain struck Fort Polk March 20-21 causing severe flooding in some areas. A Soldier was attempting to cross a flooded road in an HMWVV on his way to the Joint Readiness Training Center training area when his vehicle was caught in the water. The Fort Polk firefighters were dispatched to the site to find the vehicle more than two-thirds covered, with water over the hood and bed of the vehicle, said Chief Michael Kuk, Fort Polk DES.

"We were out there on scene right after we got the call and immediately identified how he needed to be rescued. We lit up both sides of the crossing and coordinated with Dust Off to get a hoist," Kuk said. "Water was pushing the vehicle with a current of about five miles per hour and was chest-high."

Fort Polk DES had their water rescue teams on standby in case the medevac couldn't launch due to the weather.
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