The American MEDEVAC

NEW RELEASE: MC-1519, 9" x 11" watercolor on paper, Military Collection Portfolio

This is a watercolor painting of an UH-60 Sikorsky Black Hawk MEDEVAC helicopter loading a solider for a medical evacuation lift.

Why do you see more of these aircraft than others in my military collection portfolio? Well, this is the helicopter that risked greatly to evacuate one of my fellow paratroopers during the my enlistment with 82nd airborne infantry in the Persian Gulf War. I then made sure it became the helicopter I piloted once I became commissioned officer in the US Army. So you can say, I do have a personal bias for this generation of aero medical evacuation assets our military uses.

This helicopter entered the US Army service in 1979. It replaced the Bell UH-1 Iroquois ( Huey). Our Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force also use modified versions of it as well as several allied countries. The Huey has a unique blade rotor sound that is music to the ears of ground infantry. The Black Hawk has a distinctive sexy visual profile and I loved to pilot them because of the power & speed that these birds can churn.

I still work in a civilian capacity advising our military and creating procedures for the advancement of battlefield medical evacuation. The faster we can get our soldiers out and the better trauma care we can give to them is a personal priority of mine. I have been on the ground, in the air, and now behind the scenes of these operations and it's my honor to also share their experiences through art.