The Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2022 will be formally recognized at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber Conference from Sept. 19 to 21 in National Harbor, Md. Air & Space Forces Magazine is highlighting one each weekday from now until the conference begins. Today, we honor Senior Airman Kristina L. Schneider, a fire protection journeyman for the 179th Airlift Wing, Ohio Air National Guard, at Mansfield Lahm Regional Airport.
For the past 10 years, Schneider’s civilian role has been as a full-time paramedic for the city of Cleveland. But since 2018 when she enlisted in the Air National Guard (the day before her 40th birthday when she would become unable to enlist) her resume as a first responder expanded and she was made an Air Force firefighter. That’s been her Air Force job ever since, including last year when she was deployed in Kuwait for Operation Spartan Shield.
During the evacuation of Afghanistan, Schneider’s medical experience from her civilian job was desperately recruited. She was forward-deployed from Kuwait to Qatar to support the emergency medical response needed in Operation Allies Refuge. Schneider was the lead paramedic on the team, which also included three pararescue (PJ) medics and was crucial in supporting the medical treatment of 12,000 patients and evacuation of 54,000 Afghan refugees.
“There was [an influx] of people creating airplanes [with] anywhere from 350 to 450 people arriving … every hour,” Schneider said. “It was crazy. And those planes would sit there on the runway. It was just miles of airplanes with people waiting to get off.”
Because of the long wait times for disembarking and the harsh conditions faced during the evacuation, the Afghan refugees were malnourished, dehydrated, overheated, or—most commonly—some combination of all three. Some were recovering from gunshot or shrapnel wounds. Others were suffering from a gastrointestinal virus going around. But Al Udeid Air Base hadn’t prepared for such large quantities of patients arriving at once.
“The first week was very intense because we didn’t have the supplies we needed,” Schneider said. “We needed fans. We needed cots. … I mean, anything from baby supplies and diapers to bandages and blankets, [that] was all needed.”
Her team adapted, worked days up to 16 hours long, and remained as calm as possible by focusing on one patient at a time. The emergency calls were constant for the two-week evacuation, but Schneider said the level of morale on her team remained as high as she could have hoped.
“I was very lucky to work with who I worked with. The Air Force PJs were awesome,” she said. “We had good camaraderie.”
Schneider credited her ability to perform so efficiently during the operation to her decade of experience as a civilian paramedic in inner-city Cleveland. She also emphasized the value that Air National Guard members bring to the Air Force.
“One thing I love pointing out is that because I have been able to do both—my civilian career and Air National Guard—while in the Air Force, [I have been able] to bring more to the table,” she said. “If I was just trained on one thing, I wouldn’t have been able to do this. I was able to bring what I learned outside the Air Force, and I helped out the Air Force.”
Meet the other Outstanding Airmen of the Year in 2022 below: