who risk their lives that others may live
In honor of the Pilots, Aircrew,
and Para-rescuemen
who risk their lives that others may live
Whenever our country's peacekeeper's or warfighter's fly missions over hostile territory, there are pilots and aircrew of brave men who volunteer to recover a downed pilot or trapped fire-team from behind enemy lines. Unlike the supersonic and heavily armed fighters whose only enemy was the surface-to-air missile, the air recovery team flies a low, slow, and lightly-armed helicopter. Worst of all...the enemy knows they are coming. Combat search & rescue missions have on occasion cost many more lives than the downed or trapped crews they were rescuing - this is the level of commitment to "bring them all home" that our military asks and receives of these volunteers.
Equally courageous in their work at sea, the Pararescue Jumpers and Divers of the Air National Guard and United States Coast Guard are rarely called upon in fair weather. Their responses are in the darkness of howling gales, hurricanes, high seas, or ice, and they risk their lives every time they answer a call. At Oceana Radio I provide shore based communications assistance to these high-seas rescue efforts on single side band and marine radiotelephones. Having experienced the weather and seas where they perform these heroic actions, I offer my deepest appreciation to all those who serve in the Guard and Coast Guard, for many owe our lives, or the lives of someone we know, to you.
Below
are some pictures from the teams and units that fly
"CSAR", or Combat Search And Rescue, and
some action shots from the United States Coast Guard aviators.
PARARESCUE MISSION.
Regardless of their command, the primary mission of
Pararescue is personnel recovery specialist with emergency
medical capabilities in peacetime and combat environments. They
deploy by air-land-sea tactics into forward, non-permissive
environments and provide the trauma medical care for injured
personnel and may act as aircrew gunners and/or scanner on both
fixed and rotary wing aircraft. They participate in search and
rescue (SAR), combat search and rescue (CSAR), recovery support
for NASA and conduct other operations as appropriate.
Experience the "Perfect Storm" (aerial wide-angle)
Short film of the S.V. Sartori (from USCG)
VERY close shot of MH-53 PAVELOW (best photo)
Coast Guard Humor (everyone screws up sometime)
or
Back to Air-Sea Combat
