The Philippine Army's Aviation Regiment demonstrated its capability to save lives as an Army air ambulance airlifted for the first time a seriously wounded soldier from Legazpi City, Albay to Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City on February 23, 2023.
Corporal Roger R. Villares was among the 49th Infantry Battalion (49IB), 9th Infantry Division soldiers who were seriously wounded by an improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Oas, Albay on February 15, 2023. The said IED blast also claimed the life of an Army officer who was then leading 49IB troops in responding to villagefolks' report about the presence of CPP-NPA Terrorists (CNTs) in their area.
Corporal Villares was confined at the Bicol Regional Hospital and Medical Center prior to the aeromedical evacuation. He was promptly transferred to the AFP Medical Center in Quezon City after the Bolkow air ambulance landed in Camp Aguinaldo. A second Bolkow chopper also transported four family members of the wounded soldier from Legazpi City to Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City.
“We are developing the Army’s casualty evacuation because the life of each soldier counts. Even if we save only one life through this capability, it is already worth it,” Army Commanding General Lt. Gen. Romeo S. Brawner, Jr., said in his remarks during the air ambulance's maiden flight last year. The Aviation Regiment’s air ambulance is a reconfigured Bolkow helicopter manned by a team of Army Aviators, military doctors, nurses and crew working together to support ground missions.
Photos by Pfc Rodgen V. Quirante PA/ and Aviation Regiment