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Staff Sgt. Don Flores applies moulage make-up to Airman 1st Class Benjamin Bell before a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Nov. 6, 2012. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training.

Staff Sgt. Don Flores applies moulage make-up to Airman 1st Class Benjamin Bell before a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Nov. 6, 2012. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

Staff Sgt. Don Flores applies moulage make-up to Airman 1st Class Benjamin Bell before a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Nov. 6, 2012. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training.

Staff Sgt. Don Flores applies moulage make-up to Airman 1st Class Benjamin Bell before a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Nov. 6, 2012. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

Airman 1st Class Benjamin Bell displays a "wounded leg" during a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base.

Airman 1st Class Benjamin Bell displays a "wounded leg" during a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

Fake blood drips down the shin of Senior Airman Amanda Kelly, who was afflicted with a "broken tibia" during a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base.

Fake blood drips down the shin of Senior Airman Amanda Kelly, who was afflicted with a "broken tibia" during a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

Airman 1st Class Kiley Adams, an emergency medical technician, applies fake blood to simulate an injury on a "victim" before a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training.

Airman 1st Class Kiley Adams, an emergency medical technician, applies fake blood to simulate an injury on a "victim" before a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

The moulage kit seen here was used to simulate injuries on about 20 "victims" during a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Nov. 6, 2012. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training.

The moulage kit seen here was used to simulate injuries on about 20 "victims" during a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan, on Nov. 6, 2012. The U.S. military trains troops in the art of moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

Senior Airman Amanda Kelly waits in the rain with a simulated broken tibia on Nov. 6, 2012, during a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

Senior Airman Amanda Kelly waits in the rain with a simulated broken tibia on Nov. 6, 2012, during a mock disaster exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

An airman first class from the 374th Security Forces Squadron comes to the aid of Senior Airman Amanda Kelly who grips her simulated injury -- a broken tibia -- during a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base, Japan.

An airman first class from the 374th Security Forces Squadron comes to the aid of Senior Airman Amanda Kelly who grips her simulated injury -- a broken tibia -- during a mock disaster exercise on Nov. 6, 2012, at Yokota Air Base, Japan. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

An ambulance bus waits on the flight line on Nov. 6, 2012, during a during a disaster response training exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The "am bus" is a passenger bus fitted with emergency medical equipment used to transport multiple patients.

An ambulance bus waits on the flight line on Nov. 6, 2012, during a during a disaster response training exercise at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The "am bus" is a passenger bus fitted with emergency medical equipment used to transport multiple patients. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

A Japanese firefighter from Yokota Air Base, Japan, stabilizes Senior Airman Anthony Washington during a mock disaster exercise at the base on Nov. 6, 2012. The scenario revolved around a tornado hitting the base.

A Japanese firefighter from Yokota Air Base, Japan, stabilizes Senior Airman Anthony Washington during a mock disaster exercise at the base on Nov. 6, 2012. The scenario revolved around a tornado hitting the base. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

Master Sgt. Edward Johnson, from the 374th Security Forces Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, talks on his radio on Nov. 6, 2012, during a disaster response training exercise. The scenario revolved around a tornado hitting the base.

Master Sgt. Edward Johnson, from the 374th Security Forces Squadron at Yokota Air Base, Japan, talks on his radio on Nov. 6, 2012, during a disaster response training exercise. The scenario revolved around a tornado hitting the base. (Charlie Reed/Stars and Stripes)

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Images of the mangled troops he treated in Iraq are forever seared into Staff Sgt. Don Flores’ mind.

That total recall served him well Tuesday as he re-created the injuries he saw downrange on healthy airmen at Yokota with make-up and other props, creating mock victims for a disaster drill as part of Yokota’s weeklong operational readiness exercise.

“The type of injuries we have today are pretty minor,” said Flores, an emergency medical technician at Yokota’s hospital.

Had the scenario called for more extensive mock injuries it would have required an airman trained in moulage, a French term for applying mock injuries for emergency response training. It’s a course the military offers troops in the medical field, Flores said.

But any injury “you can think of, I’ve seen so just by knowing how it actually looks in real life makes it fairly easy to recreate on somebody,” he said.

Flores and another Yokota medic painted and glued faux wounds on about 20 airmen who were assigned various injuries that they then acted out on the flight line in the aftermath of a simulated tornado.

“Ham it up, OK?” Lt. Col. Sean O’Brien, a surgeon at Yokota, instructed Senior Airman Amanda Kelly, whose “broken tibia” required her to wail for help when emergency responders arrived.

“My goal is to make this as realistic as possible,” said O’Brien, who also told the victims not to reveal their injuries to their rescuers.

A steady rain enhanced the drama of the tableau, complete with overturned cars, broken glass, scattered debris and a cacophony of screams for help.

“The hardest part is always coming to the scene and trying to make calm out of chaos,” said incident commander Master Sgt. Jon Ammon, from Yokota’s 347th Civil Engineer Squadron.

reedc@stripes.com

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