They’re in the air and on the ground every single day, performing dangerous rescue missions around the world.
But until now, few civilians had ever witnessed the incredible duties and daredevil feats of the Air Force’s pararescue special operatives, also known as parajumpers or PJs.
The Daily was granted unprecedented access into the PJs’ grueling daily routine at Georgia’s Moody Air Force Base, the heart of the military’s pararescue program.
Every day, the PJs conduct practice missions that keep them fit, agile and confident when it comes time to do the real thing.
On a recent day, with The Daily’s cameras in tow, they simulated a rescue mission that relied on the HH-60 Pave Hawk, a helicopter designed to fly PJs into the depths of dangerous terrain.
An injured soldier, down behind enemy lines, was fending off fire. The PJs deploy in the HH-60, while The Daily’s cameras captured every maneuver: We rigged the aircraft with six high-definition cameras, affixing them to the dashboard, on the pilot’s helmet and even right behind the helicopter’s 50-caliber machine gun.
To capture these amazing warriors in action, The Daily relied on five GoPro HD Hero cameras, a Contour lipstick cam, a Sony XD PDW-F800 with multiple lenses, a Canon XF305, 5D and 7D.
Our cameras rolled as the HH-60 performed an aerial refueling, a delicate process that keeps the helicopter airborne for hours.
“The refueling process allow[s] us to extend our range and penetrate significantly farther,” Lt. Col. Jeremy Turner said. It’s “a bit of a dance.”
With a wide-lens camera mounted at the rear of the HH-60 cabin, our footage shows just how realistic PJ training is: The helicopter tore across treetops and flew over enemy lines, where combatants launched an attack.
Such attacks make the A-10 Warthog another valuable asset: The lumbering aircraft offers close air support for PJs taking fire.
“We like to think of it as supporting the young 18-year-old on the ground,” A-10 pilot Scott Redman said. “We do that through presence and, when we need to, we do that through force.”
For the PJs, the incredible aerial maneuvers and fierce weapons are all in a day’s work — and it’s this work that allows them to save real lives when called into battle.
“Pararescuemen know each other as well as you’d known your own brother,” Staff Sgt. Mark Bedell said. “You don’t really have to talk when you’re in bad situations, you just do. You let the training take over.”
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