A new waiver on Fort Drum will give soldiers a two for one deal. MEDEVAC choppers will now be allowed to take soldiers injured during on-post training events, to off-post hospitals. Previously, a civilian helicopter had to be called in from Syracuse. As our Brian Dwyer reports, this move will allow both the medical flight soldiers and ground units to get some very real training for their next deployment.

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FORT DRUM, N.Y. -- On a cold Monday morning, the 1st Brigade Combat Team's 3-6 Field Artillery is the first unit to train under new MEDEVAC allowances on Fort Drum.

"During training here at Fort Drum, year round, winter, spring, summer it doesn't matter," Capt. Scott Elwell, commander of the HHB 3-6 Field Artillery said. "If a soldier is injured during training, we need the capability to internally, within the Army system, evac a soldier to get treatment."

Fort Drum was granted a waiver from Army regulations that require a civilian chopper to bring injured solider to off-post medical facilities. There are several benefits, most importantly critical time that is wasted waiting on a helicopter coming all the way from Syracuse.

"The time has always been difficult because it's coming from such a distance," Capt. Elwell said.

"My crews are ready to respond in 15 minutes," Major Michael McFadden, the Commander of Charlie Company, 3-10 Aviation said. "From the time the notification until the time they launch is 15 minutes."

But there are also training benefits. Not only do the medical soldiers and ground troops get to practice for this very situation that happens all too often overseas, but now it can truly be real.

"This is what these folks do in combat," Brigadier General Ken Dahl, the 10th Mountain Division Deputy Commander for Support said. "This is what they do when they're deployed."

And having this capability allows soldiers training on their missions to get more of that taste of reality. Commanders can make that tough decision to turn up the high risk realism soldiers will face overseas, during training, knowing that help is close by.

"If we schedule that training while we're also doing other combat training that's very high-risk, where you have a higher probability or possibility that a soldier might be injured and need that kind of evacuation, then we get a two-for," Dahl said.

Now this waiver only allows for Drum's MEDEVAC to transport soldiers injured during training. Soldiers injured during non-training events or off-post, or any civilians injured on post will have to be taken by a civilian helicopter.

And with this training, brings choppers that will be flying overhead off-post, Drum says those helicopters, en route to Syracuse and back, are just part of the training.