Waiting for deployment

BANGOR/ Fort Kent - Sergeant Joe Plourde, son of Bob and Candy Plourde of Fort Kent, is waiting for his marching orders, while his Maine Army National Guard unit, C/1-126 Air MEDEVAC Company, is expected to deploy in March in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, in Kuwait.

CHARLIE COMPANY 1-126TH - This Maine National Guard Medevac Company completed a nine-month deployment to Iraq in 2008, flying more than 3,000 hours and evacuating over 670 patients in their black hawk helicopters. The air crew is ready any time day or night to respond to emergencies. - Image courtesy of the Maine Army National Guard

This will be Sergeant Plourde's second deployment to the Middle East.  In 2008, his Bangor-based unit served for nine months in Operation Iraqi Freedom providing medical air evacuation support in Iraq and Kuwait.

Plourde described what he and his unit do as "LifeFlight in a warzone." Their job is to provide a comprehensive level of care while getting the sick and injured from the frontlines to a hospital, to transport the sick and injured between hospitals, and to transport life-saving medical supplies to wherever they are needed.

"We provide a level of care that is very definitive compared to what a ground medic can provide. The look on the ground medics' faces when we show up is relief." He said the unit uses top-of-the-line life-saving technology.

"As far as I'm concerned, we have the most important job in the military."

PLOURDE MISSION READY

Plourde has been in the National Guard for over seven years. He said his decision to join the National Guard was motivated by his desire to "do something that most people don't get to do and to see things that most people don't get to see."

He described differences in terrain in flat and desert-like Iraq, compared to northern Maine, and said the culture is completely different, using an example about social taboos in a Muslim household. According to their custom, it is grave insult to cross your legs and point the elevated foot toward the person with whom you are speaking.

"It's a myriad of little things," he said.

THE WAY HOME

He joined the National Guard instead of one of the other military branches for several reasons, including the fact that there is a long history of Guard service in the St. John Valley, as the farmers often historically chose Guard service over serving with a branch that would take them away from their farming responsibilities for long periods of time. As a result, faces in the Guard tend to be familiar. Most importantly, he said the Guard also tends to retain service personnel. Guard units will often have personnel who have been in the service for 20 or 30 years and who bring that experience to their units. As an example, he said his unit has two pilots who flew in Vietnam.

"You don't see that in active duty," he said.

UH-60 BLACKHAWK LANDING

Plourde expressed anticipation for his upcoming orders, saying the conflict and turmoil overseas is what gives him the opportunity to perform his chosen profession. He said the intensity of deployment, including moments where he and his fellow crew members are woken up in the middle of night and have to be ready in less than 15 minutes, is part of what he enjoys.

"I work with some of the most proficient and competent soldiers in the army. Between my military job and the people I work with, I love what I get to do when we're overseas."

WATCHTOWER AT SUNSET