Last month, I had the honor of flying from Germany to Iraq aboard a U.S. Air Force cargo jet. I was headed to Iraq to visit military nurses stationed at a U.S. air base in Balad, about 80 miles north of Baghdad smack dab in the middle of the violent Sunni Triangle.

I had flown on military aircraft before, so I was used to the red-webbed jump seats lining the sides of the plane and the whine of the engines muffled by the pliable yellow earplugs molded in my ears. It wasn’t until I was asked to put on my rented Kevlar helmet and flack jacket that I was abruptly reminded I was traveling into a war zone.

I was told to don body armor as we approached Iraq because U.S. aircraft flying into Balad are sometimes fired upon by Iraqi insurgents with rocket-propelled grenades. That’s why U.S. aircraft usually fly in and out of Balad during darkness. Fortunately, Iraqi insurgents lack an accurate aim, Air Force pilots told me.

We landed in Iraq at 1:30 AM right as a dust storm kicked up. I was taken to my quarters, where I would sleep for the next three nights. The dust was so thick that during the short walk to the bathroom and back — just a few hundred yards away — I became disoriented in the darkness. I thought I was lost, but I managed to find section “P” — my row of trailers surrounded by sandbags and six-foot concrete barriers.

Balad has a lower media profile than Baghdad’s “Green Zone,” but it plays a crucial role in Operation Enduring Freedom. The former Iraqi base now serves as a logistical hub for the rest of the U.S. military in Iraq. As important, however, is the fact Balad acts as the medical hub through which most wounded service members are sent as they are transferred to the Army’s Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, the U.S. military hospital in Germany.

The combat wounded, as well as service members with noncombat-related medical problems, are brought to the contingency aeromedical staging facility in Balad, where they are readied for transfer by military nurses, physicians, and medics. The Air Force theater hospital is located a short ride from the staging facility and is one of the U.S. military’s two largest hospitals in Iraq. The other is the Army’s combat support hospital in Baghdad.

Nearly everyone I met during my trip to Germany and Iraq had a story to tell about seriously or fatally wounded service members. Pilots like Scott Croghan talked about flying out of Baghdad with fallen service members in coffins. Maj. Diane Walcutt, RN, chief nurse of the ED, cried when she talked about one of her more seriously injured patients.

I was deeply touched by the devotion, caring, and teamwork I saw at the staging facility and hospital, not only among the nurses, physicians, and medics, but among the administrative and support personnel as well. It was clear everyone took personal, as well as professional, responsibility for the well-being of these service members and worked hard to ensure their transfer out of Iraq was as smooth as possible.

As fate would have it, my visit to Iraq was unusually peaceful — no daily mortar attacks and few combat wounded. It wasn’t until the night I was leaving Balad that I saw serious casualties. Four Marines had been injured when the vehicle in which they were riding was hit by an improvised explosive device. Three of the Marines suffered severe head injuries and were intubated. The fourth was less seriously injured.

The Marines were brought to the hospital by helicopter earlier that day. Since there was a scheduled 2:00 AM aeromedical evacuation mission — the same one I was planning to take early that morning — they would be immediately transferred to Germany.

I talked to the least-injured Marine, who had suffered shrapnel wounds to the right side of his face, as well as shrapnel and burn injuries to his hands and arms. Lying on a litter with a small, inflatable pillow under his head, he kept lifting his head to see what was happening to his fellow Marines.

Lt. Col. Ruth Espinoza, RN, chief nurse of operations for the staging facility, spoke quietly to him and explained his fellow Marines were being well cared for and would be flown to Germany for further care.

With the flight surgeon’s approval, the three Marines with head wounds were eventually loaded onto the aircraft, accompanied by a critical care air transport team. We left Iraq at 4:00 AM, headed for Germany.

In the next several issues, I will describe in more detail how military nurses, physicians, and medics whom I met in Balad and Germany help save the physical and emotional lives of more service members than in any previous war.