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By John Nolan, Staff Writer Updated 10:33 AM Wednesday, September 1, 2010

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — Base officials expect Wright-Patterson’s contribution of Air Force specialists, medical evacuation teams and military cargo flights to continue without letup, even as the U.S. missions in Iraq and Afghanistan evolve.

President Obama addressed the nation Tuesday night, Aug. 31, to mark the end of combat operations in Iraq and a renewed focus in Afghanistan. Officials at Wright-Patterson were unaware of any immediate change in the support that the base is called upon to provide.

The base has deployed thousands of airmen since the war in Iraq began in April 2003. Those deployments, to Iraq, Afghanistan and other locations to support larger Army and Marine Corps deployments, have continued at between 900 and 1,000 annually.

Wright-Patterson sends specialists including doctors, nurses, intelligence, security, communications, engineers, transportation, contracting and explosives disposal personnel for deployments that typically last six months, but can be as long as a year.

Pilots of the 445th Airlift Wing, an Air Force Reserve unit based at Wright-Patterson, have made about 8,000 flights weekly to bases in Europe and elsewhere to deliver weapons, munitions and military specialists — and more mundane loads such as airmen’s household goods — since the war began.

“Our mission has not changed,” Lt. Col. Cynthia Harris, spokeswoman for the 445th Airlift Wing, said Tuesday.

Doctors, nurses and medical technicians who form the wing’s 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron are flown from Wright-Patterson to evacuate and maintain care for injured troops being airlifted from war zones to U.S. military medical centers in Germany and the United States.

The 445th’s workload has varied to meet the mission demands. In 2009 alone, the unit evacuated at least 12,000 patients from war zones. Since Oct. 1, 2009, the unit’s massive C-5 Galaxy transport planes have airlifted 14,284 tons of military cargo.

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