Air Force pararescue crews are trained to save lives in the most treacherous locations.
The HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter makes sure they arrive safely, accomplish their mission and get out alive.
“The aircraft ... is our ride to work, basically,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Bedell, a pararescueman at Georgia’s Moody Air Force Base. “Nighttime, bad weather, there’s nothing that this helo can’t do.”
It’s the only helicopter specially designed for the unique airborne rescue missions, both military and civilian, that the pararescue crews perform: The HH-60, a modified version of a Black Hawk helicopter, is equipped with weather radar and anti-icing systems to handle every condition, advanced night-vision technology and automatic flight control, and two powerful machine guns.
Introduced by the Air Force in 1982, the HH-60 — of which the military built 112 at $25 million apiece — has been used extensively during the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with humanitarian missions around the world.
When it comes to saving downed personnel, the HH-60 has it all. The aircraft is fast, flies low to the ground and is easy to maneuver, making it the ideal aerial vehicle to drop pararescuemen in, defend against enemy combatants, and still be there to get them — and their charges — out.
Because the helicopters are a critical part of nearly every mission, the rescuers — also known as parajumpers, or PJs — routinely use them during rescue simulations.
“We train for a quick snatch-and-grab of an injured personnel, where we do a quick air land from the helo, get out on the ground, pull security, find out the patient status, grab him and get him on the helo as fast as possible,” Bedell said. “It usually takes less than a minute.”
In their rescues, PJs aim for speed and accuracy. But because the HH-60 can even refuel in-air and then return to battle, crews can buy extra time if they need it.
That capacity helped the HH-60s fly 24-hour missions during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when PJ crews saved an estimated 2,000 people in five days.
“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” said Lt. Col. Jeremy Turner, who flew an HH-60 during the Katrina rescue. “To be able to say we made our fellow Americans ... safe.”
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The HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter makes sure they arrive safely, accomplish their mission and get out alive.
“The aircraft ... is our ride to work, basically,” said Staff Sgt. Mark Bedell, a pararescueman at Georgia’s Moody Air Force Base. “Nighttime, bad weather, there’s nothing that this helo can’t do.”
It’s the only helicopter specially designed for the unique airborne rescue missions, both military and civilian, that the pararescue crews perform: The HH-60, a modified version of a Black Hawk helicopter, is equipped with weather radar and anti-icing systems to handle every condition, advanced night-vision technology and automatic flight control, and two powerful machine guns.
Introduced by the Air Force in 1982, the HH-60 — of which the military built 112 at $25 million apiece — has been used extensively during the Gulf War and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, along with humanitarian missions around the world.
When it comes to saving downed personnel, the HH-60 has it all. The aircraft is fast, flies low to the ground and is easy to maneuver, making it the ideal aerial vehicle to drop pararescuemen in, defend against enemy combatants, and still be there to get them — and their charges — out.
Because the helicopters are a critical part of nearly every mission, the rescuers — also known as parajumpers, or PJs — routinely use them during rescue simulations.
“We train for a quick snatch-and-grab of an injured personnel, where we do a quick air land from the helo, get out on the ground, pull security, find out the patient status, grab him and get him on the helo as fast as possible,” Bedell said. “It usually takes less than a minute.”
In their rescues, PJs aim for speed and accuracy. But because the HH-60 can even refuel in-air and then return to battle, crews can buy extra time if they need it.
That capacity helped the HH-60s fly 24-hour missions during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, when PJ crews saved an estimated 2,000 people in five days.
“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” said Lt. Col. Jeremy Turner, who flew an HH-60 during the Katrina rescue. “To be able to say we made our fellow Americans ... safe.”
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