166th Airlift Wing conducts patient transfer during Exercise Castaway 26-6

About this video

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. (Aug. 4, 2026) — B-roll footage shows Airmen assigned to the 166th Operations Group receiving two simulated patients from a U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City MH-65 Dolphin helicopter during Exercise Castaway 26-6. Footage includes Airmen observing the helicopter's arrival, coordinating with the aircrew, transferring the simulated patients to litters, moving them aboard a Delaware Air National Guard C-130H3 Hercules aircraft, and providing aeromedical evacuation care during the exercise.

Exercise Castaway brought together the 166th Airlift Wing, Delaware Air National Guard; the 436th Airlift Wing, Dover Air Force Base; and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City. U.S. Air Force survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists, C-5M Super Galaxy and C-130 Hercules aircrews, U.S. Coast Guard personnel and rescue forces practiced personnel recovery operations.

The exercise focused on survival, signaling, communication and coordinated search and rescue procedures that enable recovery forces to locate and recover isolated personnel.

The 142d Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron led the patient transfer and in-flight medical care aboard the C-130H3 Hercules, while members of the 166th Operations Support Squadron and 142d Airlift Squadron supported mission execution throughout the recovery and transport. Together, the 166th Operations Group demonstrated its ability to integrate tactical airlift, operational support and aeromedical evacuation capabilities during personnel recovery training.

This video is part of a multi-package B-roll series documenting the 166th Airlift Wing's participation in Exercise Castaway 26-6.

(U.S. Air National Guard video by Staff Sgt. Yonette Martin)