A History of Pararescue
written by
John F. Cassidy, USAF Pararescue, MSGT Retired
The USAF pararescue specialty (AFSC 1T2X1) dates back to
World War II.[i]
In 1943 aircrew casualties began to climb and the Army Air Forces became
increasingly concerned with the need for rescue.[ii]
Rescue squadrons activated and dispatched to all parts of the globe.
Placed under the operational control of theater commanders, units adapted
themselves to particular local conditions.
Distances, geographic conditions, and the frequency and type of incidents
dictated the equipment and methods used.[iii]
One rule applied, "Rescue forces must presume survivors in each
crash until proved otherwise." Thus,
a unique element of aerial rescue, pararescue, perfects techniques and equipment
to provide on-site medical and survival expertise.[iv]
Progress
Of Operations
1922: Air evacuation system
proposed; Col. Albert E. Truby (MC); predicted that "airplane
ambulances" would be used in the future for purposes that included taking
medical officers to the site of crashes and bringing casualties from the crash
back to hospitals.[v]
Emergency surface
vehicles and ground teams could not cover the remote and uninhabited terrain
over which the plane could fly.[vi]
It was not until W.W.II when
aviation reached full combat stature that aerial rescue techniques began to be
developed in earnest.[vii]
In addition to reflecting the concern for humanitarian values, this reflects
also a hard-headed concern for a highly skilled combat team which cost much in
time and effort to produce.[viii]
1940: First para-doctor trained, Dr.
Leo P. Martin, by U.S. Forest Service Parachute Training Center, Seeley Lake,
Montana. Captain Leo P. Martin,
USAAF, MC, was Chief Flight Surgeon at Walla Walla Army Air Base during W.W.II.,
and killed 25 October 1942 in a military plane crash.[ix]
Forest Service conducted for the following twenty-four year period rescue
jumper training to physicians, medics, and other specialist of the U.S. Coast
Guard and military services.[x]
These rescue jumpers provided on-site medical care to injured smoke
jumpers, survivors of crashed aircraft, and other distressed and isolated
people.[xi]
The highly successful operations accomplished by these pioneer rescue
jumpers contributed to the development of USAF pararescue teams in 1947.
July 12, 1940, U.S. Forest Service:
"Smoke jumpers" Earl Cooley and Rufus Robinson jumped then state of
the art steerable parachutes and protective equipment to the site of a forest
fire. Demonstrated precision
parachuting techniques and methods can put fire fighters safely into roadless
wilderness areas to suppress forest fires.[xii]
Smoke jumper
techniques, methods, and equipment totally different from techniques, methods,
and equipment used by Army airborne jumpers.
Emphasized ability: to select drop zones from the air; to drop spotter
chutes to help compute and correct for existing wind conditions; and to use
steerable parachutes and protective equipment to hit a selected spot on the
ground under any conditions.
The B-29 "Clobbered
Turkey" crashes December 23, 1947 with eight crewmembers on-board. The ensuing rescue operation demonstrated the importance of
proper equipment, methods, and techniques.
On 27 December 1947 a senior officer directs Lt Albert C. Kinney, Jr.,
USAAF (MC), First Sergeant Santhell O. London, and T/5 Leon J. Casey to jump to
the crash site located 95 miles north of Nome Alaska. They were ill-prepared for what they encountered.
The hostile environment (poor visibility, high winds 25 MPH to 40 MPH,
and temperatures -40°F to -50°F) soon claim the lives of the three jumpers.
Surface rescue teams rescue six survivors of the crashed B-29 on December
29th. Sgt London's body
is found 500 yards from the wreckage on January 5th.
On January 12th search teams find the body of paratrooper T/5
Casey seven miles from the crash site. They
also find the bodies of Lt. Vern H. Arnett (pilot), Lt. Frederick E. Sheetz
(Navigator), crewmembers of the “Clobbered Turkey” who decided two days
after the crash to walk out of the wilderness to get help, about four miles
north of the crashed B-29. The saga
of the “Clobbered Turkey” ends when the flight surgeon’s body is found on
2 July 1948. Contributing causes for the tragic death of three parachutists
include: lack of adequate training on how to survive in the hostile environment;
survival equipment was not carried or available; flight surgeon had no jump or
field experience; they jumped unaware the surface winds exceeded 30 mph; dragged
by their parachutes, for miles, over the tundra.
Rescue jumper equipment, procedures, and techniques would have prevented
this useless loss of life.[xiii]
1941-45, World War II: Rescue
capabilities provided by a hodgepodge of specialties assigned to various
military operations.[xiv] i.e., surgical
technicians, flight surgeons, operating surgeons, anesthetists, surgical nurses,
intelligence officers, personal equipment officers, etc.
The battlefield was not the primary concern.
Open water and remote and isolated land areas dominated search and rescue
activities. Aircrews downed behind
enemy lines were virtually certain of capture or death.
Some Army Air Corps and Navy aircrews used to conduct long-range
rescue-escort missions incorporated
with long-range bombing raids.[xv]
Amphibious and conventional aircraft were landed in both land and water
areas to recover downed aircrews. Rescue
teams parachuted into incident sites where landings could not be made.[xvi]
European Theater
of Operations. The primary mission
was combat and an important aspect of medical care was the care of flying
personnel and combat casualties. Senior
medical officers recognized need for more tactical training for medical
personnel. Medical Department put
enlisted men on a rigid training schedule in the care and evacuation of combat
casualties. Particular attention
given to the administration of plasma and oxygen, splinting of fractures,
treatment of shock, control of hemorrhage, the use of numerous medical
appliances, and avoiding/countering new health hazards.[xvii]
The extremely high rate of losses among crews forced down over water
created another concern. An emergency rescue unit was activated which raised the
number of 8th Air Force crews saved from 1.5 percent in early 1943 to 43 percent
in 1944. This concept subsequently
adopted throughout the Army Air Forces.[xviii]
China Burma India
(CBI) Theater of Operations. A
secondary theater having vast isolated areas and a long treacherous subsidiary
range of the Himalayas known by flyers as the "Hump".
Rescue forces conducted long range missions using parachute qualified
teams to access remote incident sites.[xix]
The team shepherded or carried casualties to hospitals or to areas where
landing could be made for evacuation. Rescue
teams consisted of medical officers, surgical technicians, and air evacuation
technicians. Also, rescue jumpers onboard cargo and bombardment aircraft
used to support very long range bomber raids.
Search and rescue missions were undertaken in remote regions and areas
unoccupied by the Japanese.[xx]
At Chabua, in eastern India, there gradually developed an
aggressive search and rescue program intended to save the men who crashed or
bailed out over mountains or jungle.[xxi]
Under the leadership of Captain John L. ("Blackie") Porter and
Lt Col Don Flickenger specialized search and rescue proved to be both ingenious
and effective.[xxii]
Teams——composed of medical and survival specialists——would be
transported to the landing strip nearest the crash site, or parachute to a
suitable clearing, would proceed overland into the jungle and recover downed
airmen.[xxiii]
Likewise, aircraft were used to remove the teams and survivors after
completion of the mission. After a very successful series of rescues, Porter was killed
on 10 December 1943 when his B-25 and another rescue plane were lost to enemy
action.
Lt Col Don Flickinger, Wing Flight
Surgeon, Sergeant Harold Passey, Combat Surgical Technician, and Corporal
William MacKenzie, Combat Surgical Technician, parachute to the assistance of
the crew and passengers (twenty men in all, including Eric Sevareid, CBS
commentator) who had abandoned a disabled C-46 on 2 August 1943 over the
much-feared Naga country in northern Burma.[xxiv]
Although pararescue teams were not officially authorized and trained
until July 1947, U.S. Air Force pararescuemen consider this mission to be the
birth of pararescue.[xxv]
Pacific Theater of
Operations. Primitive conditions
and island warfare such that the Air Force assault mission was to establish
airfields from which missions could be launched.
For flying personnel, weather conditions (clouds, fog, ice) were more
destructive than Japanese fighter aircraft.
If forced to land or bail out, death from exposure was a very real
danger. The Army Air Forces'
recognized the need for self-sufficient rescue units early in the war and by
August 1943 programmed for the creation of seven emergency (ER) squadrons.[xxvi]
One ER squadron saved 300 men from death or capture during the first six
months of its operations.[xxvii]
Besides saving lives on the sea, the
emergency rescue air squadrons and boat crews were often called upon for land
search rescue. Friendly natives
often hid Allied pilots and managed to convey word of their presence to the
nearest AAF forces. Evacuation by
air or boat was then arranged.[xxviii]
North Africa and
Mediterranean Theater of Operations. Rescue
operations and missions impromptu and improvised as required by the situation.
Although
activities in the combat theaters dominated global rescue operations, rescue
needs in other isolated land areas received increasing attention as the war
dragged on. Airlift and deploying combat aircraft flew north through
Canada and Alaska, others flew through South America, across the Atlantic into
Africa and then into CBI, Mediterranean, or European theaters of operation.
By 1945 air rescue had improved to the point where chances of rescue were
good, given adequate planning and advantageous positioning of the forces.[xxix]
29 May 1946: The Air Rescue Service
(ARS) officially organized to achieve world-wide unification of the U.S. Army
Air Force's aerial rescue operations and to develop and perfect rescue
techniques and equipment.[xxx]
Global search and
rescue concept oriented to saving the lives of Air Force crews who may be
involved in: aircraft disasters, accidents, crash landings, ditching, or
abandonment which occur away from an air base.
In addition to these everyday missions of rescue and evacuation, units
will be ready to deploy to any area of the world in support of air operations.[xxxi]
Air base commanders maintained
jurisdiction for local area crash-rescue and controlled all functions equipped
for these purposes. Local Base
Rescue (LBR) helicopter operations established at some locations. Limited by technology of the era to 135-mile travel radius
with limited lift capabilities (about four people including pilot and copilot).[xxxii]
Rescue jumper
concept oriented to maintaining capabilities compatible with the mission of
long-range transports and bombers; to rendering medical and survival expertise
to aircrews and other personnel on front lines and in territory behind the
battle line; and to providing service for other agencies and activities when
aerial rescue assistance is requested.[xxxiii]
These parachutists formed the nucleus of instructor personnel in the Pararescue
and Survival School conducted by the 5th Rescue Squadron, MacDill AFB, Florida,
shortly after pararescue teams authorized in July 1947.[xxxiv]
September 18, 1947: The U.S. Air
Force became an independent service with a status coequal with the Army and
Navy.[xxxv]
1 July 1947: Pararescue[xxxvi]
teams authorized and established and first teams ready for field assignment in
November 1947. Teams composed of a
para-doctor and four pararescue technicians; cross-trained in medical, rescue
and survival, and tactical procedures.[xxxvii]
Medical Service Corps (MSC) officers replaced para-doctors, Medical Corps
(MC) officers in short supply, as members of pararescue teams in 1949. [xxxviii]
General Dubose issued a directive, 2 October 1952, removing Medical Corps
officers from jump duties and prohibited MCs from participating in actual
pararescue activities of any nature. Medical
Service Corps officers deleted from pararescue teams in November 1952.
MSC officers participated in pararescue activities with some teams until
1960.
[xxxix]
Master Sergeants, experienced pararescuemen in all cases, attend Medical Service
Supervisors Course at Gunter AFB (19 weeks) and assigned duties of pararescue
team commanders as MSC officers are phased out of the teams in 1953.[xl]
Pararescue
military occupation specialty, MOS 3383, Rescue Survival Specialty, approved
(1948). Changed to: AFSC 921X0, Rescue Survival Specialty (ca. 1957);
AFSC 923X0, Para-Rescue/Recovery Specialty (1967); AFSC 115X0,
Pararescue/Recovery Specialty (1975); and AFSC 1T2X1 Pararescue/Recovery
Specialty (1993). Occupation
established as part of the Aircrew Protection Specialty Codes on 31 October 1953
by AFR 35-492.[xli]
Pararescue AFSC and positions are not aligned under or utilized within
the Air Force medical service.[xlii]
Pararescue teams
assigned to each Air Rescue Service squadron to give global coverage. Teams equipped and trained to jump to the aid of crashed
airman in areas inaccessible by other means.[xliii]
The Air Rescue Service (ARS) assumed
responsibility of continuing pararescue training in order to meet world wide Air
Force requirements. Alignment of
all Air Rescue Squadrons under ARS begins in June 1948 and ends on July 1, 1950.
Does not include Local Base Rescue (LBR) units which remain under the
jurisdiction of the air base commanders.[xliv]
Formal rescue
concept established: Wartime rescue operations will be dictated by the
capabilities of equipment used for peacetime SAR, and will be conducted in
accordance with JANAF [Joint Army, Navy, Air Force] and Standard Wartime SAR
procedures.[xlv]
1950-52, Korean War: Battlefield was
the primary concern and offered the first test for search and rescue
organizational tactics developed after World War II.
Rescue concept, for the first time as a standard procedure, included the
rescue of stranded personnel from behind enemy lines. Air Rescue assigned mission of rescuing pilots and other UN
personnel from behind the enemy lines and evacuating critically wounded men from
front line first aid stations to mobile army surgical hospitals in the rear.
Rescue aircraft made history landing in remote areas inside enemy
territory to retrieve downed pilots. Air-rescue
crews saved 170, or ten percent, of the USAF airmen who were lost in action over
enemy territory. Air-rescue crews,
in fulfillment of all missions: rescued 996 men from enemy territory; rescued 86
men from within friendly lines; and evacuated a total of 8,598 men, most of whom
were front-line ground casualties.[xlvi]
On the front and in enemy territory
pararescuemen flew on air rescue aircraft to render emergency medical treatment
to the injured. They were the
preferred medical aircrew members for fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft
undertaking rescue and front line air-evacuation of front-line casualties to
mobile army surgical hospitals.[xlvii]
Pararescuemen
often required to make extended excursions from the helicopters in enemy
territory to recover downed pilots. Excursions
frequently required a surface stay of 24 to 48 hours with 2 to 3 miles of
overland travel.[xlviii]
Longest known, Lone Wolf, excursion
lasted 72 hours in enemy territory.[xlix]
Medical service personnel forbidden
to get off the helicopters when survivor's location or condition precluded
effective utilization of such aircraft. Only
pararescue employed from the helicopter, as long as chance of reaching the
survivor existed, to continue the mission and physically control the fate of the
survivor.[l]
Pararescue
provided combat medical coverage for at least one airborne operation needed for
combat operations at Suwon and Seoul. A
three man pararescue element inserted as part of a reception party, 24 September
1950, on the Munsan-ni drop zone prior to the airdrop of 3,500 paratroopers, 187
Airborne Regimental Combat Team (RCT).[li]
Dateline, Korea,
12 October 1950: While Communist slugs snapped past his head; a pararescueman,
Captain John C. Shumate, USAF, MSC, exited a rescue helicopter; ran to a downed
aircraft; lifted a critically injured pilot out of his plane; and carried him to
the helicopter. As the helicopter
took off, Shumate, went to work on the badly hurt pilot administering blood
plasma and rendering life saving medical treatment.
Thus, this was first known transfusion given during a helicopter
evacuation.[lii]
16 April 1954: Two pararescuemen,
TSgt Elliott Holder and SSgt Robert Christiansen, jumped to the crash site of a
Navy patrol bomber high on the Polar Ice Cap, far above the Arctic Circle.
They landed in high winds and traveled more than a mile over treacherous
ice ridges to the crash. A storm with temperatures below zero and winds, oftentimes
exceeding 100 knots, howled around them for eleven days.
On the 12th day, the storm abated and they and the bodies (all aboard the
bomber died upon impact) were lifted from the crash site by helicopter.[liii]
Previously, no
expert considered military operations in the Arctic practical or even possible
on any significant scale because of the extreme cold, high winds, and difficult
terrain. This and other ice-cap
rescue jumps proved conclusively that with proper expertise, minimal equipment,
and a few "guts," troops can survive and operate for significant
periods of time under the worst of arctic conditions.[liv]
1956: Although ARS was unable to
maintain an accurate count of lives saved by its units, their estimate concludes
that over 4,078 people had been found and rescued from certain death.[lv]
The mission of ARS is to provide a professional rescue force, specially
trained and equipped to support global air operations.
The ARS also will: maintain all squadrons in a state of readiness to
deploy in support of USAF air operations; participate in joint SAR operations in
accordance with AFM 1-1 and National SAR plan; and assist in retrieving and
safeguarding hazardous cargoes (special weapons) in accordance with AFR 55-14.[lvi]
"Constituting
an elite corps within the Air Rescue Service are the Paramedics.[lvii]
They are a breed apart and certainly among the best trained men in the
armed forces today. Precision parachutists, highly trained medics, expert on
survival under any earthly conditions, these men will jump anywhere anytime a
possibility exists that there is a life to be saved."[lviii]
"Tough and
courageous, these men form an elite corps within Rescue and if a man is alive
when they get him, he couldn't be in better hands.
Doctors who have seen paramedics in action claim that, to do more than
these men can do, you'd have to parachute in a whole hospital."[lix]
Rescue activities
in the Korean war and other missions proved pararescuemen to be the best
qualified to establish that final link to the survivor, whether it be by hoist,
landing, raft, overland, or by parachute. Pararescue
personnel validated as aircrew members and jumpers on all ARS aircraft.
Consequently the ARS commander removed Aero-medical personnel from
aircrew status on rescue aircraft in 1956.[lx]
1961-75, Southeast Asia: The
fighting actually involved several wars, each interrelated conflict posed
different problems in rescuing and recovering aircrews shot down in enemy
territory. The leadership at Air
Rescue Service was not convinced that it had a legitimate wartime rescue mission
consequently planners had not planned for war.
By late 1962 and early 1963 it was evident that combat rescues required
more than a crew, a helicopter, and good intentions.[lxi]
The air-rescue crews gave each mission all they had and successfully, in
Southeast Asia, saved 3,883 human beings from death, suffering, or captivity.[lxii]
1960: ARS had very
few helicopters. Acquisition of local base rescue functions provided Air Rescue
Service some additional helicopters, but these HH-43 "Huskies" were
primarily used in fire-fighting and picking up pilots who had bailed out in
close proximity to an air base.[lxiii]
1961: The rescue
vehicles in the Air Rescue Service inventory were ill-suited for extended search
and rescue in jungles and mountains.[lxiv]
By late 1961: A local base rescue
unit was stationed at every major AF installation in the world.
The HH-43B was limited to a relatively small radius of action that varied
between 125 to 140 nautical miles. Five
man pararescue teams provided both firefighter and medical support at the Bien
Hoa and Da Nang units. Other local
Base Rescue activities utilized firefighter and medical technician personnel[lxv]
to perform local area recoveries from non hostile areas.[lxvi]
Air rescue helicopter capabilities did not significantly increase until
1967.[lxvii]
·
By 1964 the pararescueman was the most admired man on the rescue
team for several reasons: The pararescueman was always the first friendly face
seen by the flier downed in enemy territory; It was the pararescueman who was
lowered by forest-penetrator to retrieve the survivor; It was the pararescueman
who would parachute into the water if survivors were unable to reach or use the
rescue kit airdropped to them; It was the pararescueman who rendered life saving
medical treatment, if the survivor was injured; and on the occasions when not
all could be transported, it was the pararescueman who stayed behind.[lxviii]
·
May 26, 1966: The Chief of Staff approves the pararescue uniform[lxix].
He noted: “Pararescue personnel are highly trained specialists who
perform extremely hazardous duties demanding the very highest of mental and
physical discipline and thus deserve to wear the distinctive attire consisting
of maroon beret, bloused trousers with combat boots, and special badge, both on
and off base.”[lxx]
September 30,
1967: The HU-16 Albatross completed its last amphibious recovery and is replaced
by the HH-3E helicopter, which was capable of landing on the water.
In the five years of service, in SEA, Albatrosses picked up twenty-six
(26) USAF and twenty-one (21) Navy aircrew members. These recoveries were some of the most dangerous rescue
missions of the war.[lxxi]
A1C James E. Pleiman was the first
pararescue KIA which occurred during a rescue mission in the Gulf of Tonkin, 14
March 1966. The HU-16 Pleiman was
on had landed in the water to pick up two downed pilots and was hit by shore
batteries. Pleiman was one of two
crewmembers lost. His remains were
repatriated, positively identified, and buried with full military honors in
March 1989.[lxxii]
Improving combat
skills: To increase effectiveness and chances for survival, pararescuemen:
attend the U.S. Army Special Forces School at Nha Trang RVN for instruction on
how to operate deep within the enemy's sphere of influence without detection;
and enhanced their medical skills by performing duties in emergency and surgery
departments at major in theater medical facilities.[lxxiii]
Pararescue
recognized as Air Force's primary asset rendering life saving emergency medical
services for the Air Force in hostile, denied, or sensitive environments.[lxxiv]
In addition, to the rescue and recovery of downed crewmembers, they were
frequently tasked to assist the air evacuation of the critically wounded from
outlying areas. An extremely
hazardous aspect of this air evacuation responsibility was the hoist extraction
of dead or wounded combat ground forces from a remote battle area.[lxxv]
A1C William H. Pitsenbarger, a
pararescueman, was awarded the Air Force Cross posthumously for his actions
during an air evacuation mission. He
was killed 11 April 1966 while aiding an encircled Army platoon. He was the first enlisted man to receive the Air Force's
highest decoration since it was established in 1960.[lxxvi]
Pararescuemen earned ten (10) of the
twenty (20) Air Force Crosses awarded to enlisted men during the SEA conflicts.[lxxvii]
1976: Tactical Enhancements; HQ Air
Rescue and Recovery Service convenes a pararescue combat readiness conference to
plot a future course action for pararescue.
Strategic tasks and missions committed to combat rescue associated with
contingency operations and war.[lxxviii]
ARRS Commander approved
recommendation to regenerate combat skills de-emphasized by pararescue role as
an aircrew gunner-scanner acquired during operations in Southeast Asia.[lxxix]
ARRS Commander, approved
recommendation for tactical enhancement of pararescue's ability to perform
extended surface operations. "Proposed
enhancement: the pararescue team will be employed by any clandestine means
available, surface movement will be made to the designated area, the downed
crewmember(s) located, and surface movement to a safe area for pickup."[lxxx]
10 May 1983: HQ 23rd Air Force (MAC)
activated. Consolidates Air Force's
special operations and combat rescue forces to facilitate their efficient
employment. Merger results in
significant increase in fitness of capabilities provided to combatant
commanders. Pararescue role defined
to provide a capability to augment aerial SAR operations, to conduct surface SAR
operations, to manage multiple-casualty situations, and to support
time-sensitive crisis response operations.[lxxxi]
Pararescue
received new vitality. Focus of
capabilities realigned to emphasize combat medical skills and operations in
adverse areas and conditions.[lxxxii]
Allowed pararescue to operate either on the aircraft or get off the
aircraft in an extended role to conduct ground search and recovery of isolated
personnel, during war and operations other than war.
Pararescue forces demonstrated during exercises and real world situations
the ability to employ limited and extended surface tactics for the rescue and
recovery of pilots downed in enemy territory.[lxxxiii]
Pararescue
described as the cutting edge of the rescue tool: Major Force Plan 11 provided
badly needed facilities and increased O&M funding; acquisition of new
technology and equipment supported; and development
and improvement of training programs encouraged.[lxxxiv]
January 1984: Pararescue force
integrated with Special Tactics Teams. Unique
combination of Combat Control and Pararescue Forces (Det 4, 23AFCOS, Pope AFB
NC) established a force with the attributes and operational capabilities
relating directly to an assigned task and mission that cannot be otherwise
performed.
Pararescue role
expanded to support joint operations and military priorities in low-intensity
conflict. Provides aerial SAR
operations, conduct surface SAR operations, manage multiple casualty and mass
triage situations, and coordinate aeromedical evacuation in support of special
tactics activities. Emphasis toward
operating for extended periods to provide "far forward" emergency
medical services.[lxxxv]
Begins
evolutionary requirement for pararescue in all special tactics teams.
24 July 1987 to 31 October 1990:
1730 Pararescue Squadron (PRS), Activated.[lxxxvi]
The sole active-duty rescue function to provide full-time air and surface
rescue capabilities to support U.S. Air Force operations during Just Cause and
Desert Shield. HQ ARS deactivated unit while most of its forces were
deployed in support of Southwest Asia combat operations.
However, the former 1730 PRS pararescue teams remained in place and
continued to render rescue and recovery services for the duration of the war.[lxxxvii]
Availability and
capability of dedicated Air Force CSAR aircraft limited.
Situation required tasking pararescue capability separate from dedicated
rescue-coded aircraft in order to accomplish air rescue objectives. Pararescue
teams accomplish combat and humanitarian missions from any available DOD
aircraft, i.e., Air Force C-141s, C-130s; Coast Guard and U.S. Marine C-130s and
helicopters; and Army and Navy helicopters.[lxxxviii]
Pararescue Unit
Type Codes (UTCs) developed and approved. Facilitated
tasking pararescue forces to perform rescue and recovery operations from any
combat-coded aircraft capable of employing pararescue.[lxxxix]
The 1730th PRS merited the Air Force
Outstanding Unit Award[xc]
on 15 November 1989. The
accompanying citation[xci]
to the award identifies that this pararescue squadron and its nine separately
located units distinguished itself by exceptionally meritorious service from 1
August 1987 to 31 July 1989.
1 August 1989: Air Rescue Service
re-established. Air Rescue aircraft
ill-suited for deep penetration into enemy airspace.[xcii]
Rescue planning focused on helicopter recovery of the uninjured pilot.
Planning ignored demands: to provide medical transportation of the sick
and injured; to treat casualties in-flight and for prolonged periods; and the
need for "someone" to extend beyond the confines of machinery to adapt
themselves to the physical conditions of the incident area to provide on-site
assistance.[xciii]
USAF Pararescue Force structure and
mission split. One group of
pararescuemen remain assigned to AFSOC to support special operations, the
remaining pararescuemen assigned to air rescue squadrons.
AFSOC advocates
pararescue role as combatant that renders emergency medical services on the
battlefield. AFSOC primary provider
for rescue and recovery of isolated personnel in far forward hostile, or denied
territory. Pararescue continues to
be the singular occupational specialty committed to rescuing human lives.[xciv]
Combat rescue
advocates pararescue role of helicopter gunner-scanner providing: minimal
medical services; limited individual combat skills; limited flexibility to
support joint operations; and limited ability to gain access and remove the
injured from the battlefield. Concept
lacks redress for changes in the post Cold War mission of the military services.[xcv]
January 1993: Air Rescue Service
deactivated; Air Combat Command lead agency and proponent for Air Rescue
doctrine, policy, tactics, procedures, and acquisitions.
Service authority and air rescue squadrons assigned to several MAJCOMs.
Pararescue
specialty now influenced by management and administrative decisions in several
commands.
Combat air forces
severely limit pararescue role and capabilities.
Administrative and management infrastructure disruptive because senior
officers lack knowledge of how pararescue capabilities support the combat
mission.[xcvi]
9 May 1993, Southwest Asia (SWA)
area of operations: Draft Concept of Operations, Pararescue Fixed Wing Tactical
Operations demonstrated and validated by a rescue mission accomplished by
pararescuemen assigned to the 4404CW (P), 4411RQS (P).
Six pararescuemen did a night
tactical jump at 800 feet AGL from a HC-130 aircraft.
An ELT emission as the only ground reference, the team jumped using
computed air release point procedures to an unmarked drop zone. Their objective is a Saudi single seat fighter (Tornado) and
its pilot that crashed hours earlier. The
team moved in tactical formation using a global positioning system (GPS)
navigational aid to establish a search pattern. After searching for thirty minutes, they arrived at the crash
site, located 200 meters from the drop zone.
Unfortunately, the pilot died upon impact. Extraction executed by surface vehicles, vectored to the
crash site by electronic means and visual signal.
3 October 1993 to 4 October 1993:
United Nations Operations——Somalia, Joint Service CSAR specialty team.
In connection with military operations against an opposing armed force in
Mogadishu, Somalia, 24th Special Tactics Squadron pararescuemen were directed,
to a situation where an assault helicopter had been downed in a congested urban
area. After fast roping from a helicopter and assaulting through
heavy enemy small arms fire from three directions, the pararescuemen established
a casualty collection point and made their way to the wreckage to conduct an
assessment, provide emergency medical treatment to the survivors, and to extract
all on board. While freeing these
survivors, a pararescueman was wounded and sent to the ground.
Ignoring the traumatic effects of the gunshot wound, he treated his own
wound, and moved back to the casualty collection point and continued to triage
and treat the survivors of the crash. At
this time a Ranger element 45 meters from their location was engaged and were
suffering casualties in an intense fire fight.
A pararescueman, on his own initiative, broke cover and ran through a
thick barrage of small arms fire, shrapnel, and RPGs to reach the Ranger
position. Once there, he pulled the
wounded one by one into the safety of a covered position and began immediate
medical treatment of the seriously wounded Rangers.
For eighteen hours these pararescuemen rendered emergency medical
services to the wounded and repeatedly took up security positions and returned
fire to suppress enemy forces.[xcvii]
Air Force Cross awarded to TSgt
Timothy A. Wilkinson, Pararescue Technician, the first to be awarded to an
enlisted man since the SEA conflict twenty years ago.
Silver Star and
Purple Heart awarded to MSgt Scott C. Fales, Pararescue Technician.
Progress
Of Training
1941-45, World War II: Pararescue
training obtained on-the-job. No
formal training provided by any military service.
Previous attempts to justify service school disapproved by the commanding
officer, U.S. Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics, Orlando, Florida.[xcviii]
U.S. Forest Service Parachute
Training Center, Seeley Lake Montana, provided advanced parachute training to
meet the military services' requirement for rescue jumpers.
Principal participants: U.S. Army Air Forces; U.S. Coast Guard; and
Canadian Air Observer Schools.[xcix]
In unit training based upon trial
and error and on-the-job experiences born of necessity.
Late 1943: On-going air combat
experiences result in new training programs.
Principal techniques taught: modes of entry into isolated locations;
overland travel and navigation; administration of medical aid; and providing
facilities for survival and eventual rescue of distressed personnel.
Enlisted personnel required to have served in their military occupational
specialty for six (6) months or more, and to meet the physical requirements of
class three, WD, AGO Form 64.[c]
Air evacuation medical technicians
(enlisted) recruited from medical installations to undergo a basic three-week
course in the elements of field work, first aid, camouflage, and other subjects
necessary to the medical soldier.[ci]
Surgical
technicians (enlisted) given their practical medical work for latter application
in air evacuation. Instruction included: the elements of nursing care,
intravenous techniques, catherization, oxygen administration, and other
emergency procedures. Surgical
technician also given a didactic course in emergency medical treatment,
conversion of a cargo plane into an ambulance plane, loading of patients, and
use of equipment.[cii]
Medical
technicians (enlisted) placed in training programs including medical subjects,
field subjects and air evacuation subjects.[ciii]
Rescue jumpers
attended advanced parachute training provided by U.S. Forest Service Parachute
Training Center, Seeley Lake, Montana.[civ]
Tactical combat
and survival training proved unsatisfactory as no system was established whereby
students could be moved to and from the different schools.[cv]
Preparation for rescue duties remained the responsibility of the line
unit.
29 May 1946: The Air Rescue Service
officially organized to achieve world-wide unification of aerial rescue
operations. HQ ARS authorized and
constituted pararescue teams during the opening months of 1947.[cvi]
Every enlisted
pararescueman received formal training as technicians medical (409) and
technicians surgical (861).[cvii]
Each learned the form of communicating assessments by radio to a physician and
for receiving a physician's recommended measures.[cviii]
All Pararescue team members trained
in both survival and para-rescue techniques.[cix]
Advanced parachute training obtained from U.S. Forest Service.
Smoke Jumpers provided training and facilities.[cx]
The 2156th Air Rescue Unit,
Technical Training Unit (TTU), MacDill AFB FL, organized and developed the
Pararescue and Survival School. Recruited
and trained "experienced" enlisted medics (combat surgical
technicians, preferred) and Medical Service Corps officers from any and all
military services. Lt Perry C.
Emmons, an Office of Strategic Service (OSS) pilot during World War II who had,
along with his six flying sergeants, flown prisoners of war out of Thailand and
earned the nickname "Perry and the Pirates," assigned as the
school’s first Commandant. Upon
his graduation from Ft. Benning Airborne School, 1948, Lt. Emmons became one of
only two USAF pilots who held a parachutist rating.[cxi]
Para-doctors
signify their intentions to separate from service.[cxii]
Medical Service Corps Officers assume role of para-doctor on teams.
Medical Service Corps officers given same training and qualifications as
enlisted pararescue team members. The
rescue medical hero of heroes in the Korean zone, Lt Col (Ret.) John C. Shumate,
USAF, MSC, (a pharmacist) was among the first.
In 1949 he [Shumate] became Commandant, Pararescue and Survival School.[cxiii]
Air Rescue Specialist Course
developed and organized at the School of Aviation Medicine, Gunter AFB, Alabama.
Provided pararescuemen the medical skills to determine the nature and
extent of most serious and complex injuries and to administer the proper
treatment. Instructors selected
from Medical Corps officers having pararescue team experience, i.e., Dr. Pope B.
Holliday, Dr. Rufus Hessberg, Dr. Hamilton Blackshear, Dr. Randal W. Briggs, and
Dr. Burt Rowen.
1950/51: The pararescue and survival
specialty training programs provided by the 2156th Air Rescue Squadron (TTU),
MacDill AFB, Florida established as an approved Air Force school.[cxiv]
Opened USAF
pararescue specialty to recruits straight from basic military training. Prerequisites: Rescue and Survival Technician-Medical course,
School of Aviation Medicine, Gunter AFB Alabama,[cxv]
and Army Airborne qualification.[cxvi]
Overall curriculum
contained courses relevant to: land rescue; precision spot-parachuting
techniques; evacuation of injured or distressed personnel; emergency medical
procedures and administration of emergency medicine; survival (Arctic, desert,
and jungle); special vehicle operation; land navigation; native psychology;
mountain climbing; advanced swimming techniques; communications; aerial delivery
of equipment and supplies.[cxvii]
Medical procedures
taught above and beyond those practiced by medical professions other than the
licensed physician. Studies
provided in emergency medicine, preventive medicine, dentistry, chemical and
biological warfare, radiological decontamination, and surgery.
Each subjects of pre-hospital care provided by pararescuemen in the
field.[cxviii]
Advanced parachute
training provided by pararescue instructors on-site (TDY) at U.S. Forest Service
smoke jumper training site.
Design operation
capability (DOC) statement included: producing operational pararescue and land
rescue team members and personnel well trained in survival techniques, emergency
medical procedures, and briefing procedures; performing research in survival and
rescue equipment and procedures; and making recommendations pertaining to new
survival and rescue techniques.[cxix]
Strengthened USAF
pararescue specialty link in aircrew protection career ladder versus medical
services.
1961-75, Southeast Asia period: HQ
ARRS discovered major deficiencies in pararescue medical knowledge and skills.
Insufficient entry level medical training proved to be significant contributing
factor. Increased tempo of mission
activities in SEA hindered ability to upgrade apprentice pararescuemen to
mission ready medical proficiency in unit.[cxx]
January 1965: HQ
ARRS re-established a medical officer authorization on its staff to restore some
of the degree of professional medical supervision for the medical training and
mission of pararescue. HQ ARRS
surgeon determined pararescue's medical parameters and implemented new programs
to improve deficient war-fighting medical capabilities.[cxxi]
Pararescue's preparedness to deal
with life-threatening emergencies had deteriorated through neglect and lack of
physician oversight during the past five years. Since 1960, rescue commanders consulted medical corps
physicians at the local medical facilities and depended upon their interest to
keep pararescue proficient in field and emergency medicine.
Most USAF health care providers understood poorly the independent field
and emergency medicine practiced by pararescue.
Thus, as the volume of life-threatening emergencies increased
dramatically in the SEA areas of operation, it revealed enormous deficiencies in
pararescue training.[cxxii]
The extent and purpose of the
independent field and emergency medicine provided by pararescue is unfamiliar to
most health care professionals. The
nature of pararescue operations in SEA dictated pararescuemen master a variety
of complex medical skills that can be very hazardous if performed by persons
poorly trained in their use. Therefore,
administrative physician oversight established to ensure pararescuemen are the
highest-trained pre hospital medical providers in the USAF.[cxxiii]
March 1968: Air
Force validated and approved The Office of the Staff Surgeon, ARRS. Provided the necessary supervisory direction for medical
technician and pararescue personnel supporting both combat and non combat
missions.[cxxiv]
Validated authorizations include: position of Staff Surgeon, Lt Col, AFSC
P93560; Pararescue Medical Training Branch, SMSgt; AFSC A92390; Chief,
Aeromedical Branch, MSgt, AFSC A90170.[cxxv]
Senior pararescue NCO position
established and provided primary interface between line units and ARRS staff
surgeon. Managed pararescue
training programs ensuring directive compliance and proper mission
accomplishment. Evaluated and
advised staff surgeon of issues concerning field and emergency medicine and
hazardous materials.[cxxvi]
Enhanced emergency
medical course established at the ARRS pararescue school.
Curriculum emphasizing life sustaining emergency procedures and initial
care of the severely injured. An
anesthetist flight nurse, AFSC 9756, position is established at the school to
provide on-site oversight for all medical training. An administrative assistant, AFSC 90650; and two pararescue
(instructor) positions established to support medical training activities.[cxxvii]
January 1968: The
emergency medical treatment training animal laboratory became an operational
reality. This laboratory serves to
provide several levels of instruction and proficiency development. It provides the confidence and skill necessary to meet the
medical treatment responsibilities inherent in any combat rescue and recovery
mission.[cxxviii]
School of Aviation
Medicine, Rescue and Survival Technician-Medical, ALR 92170-1, enhanced,
provided instruction in all areas of field medicine.
Curriculum emphasized knowledge and skills needed for independent field
operations. Provided knowledge and
skill levels needed to attend emergency medical course provided by the
pararescue school.[cxxix]
Several civilian
emergency medical services (EMS) systems adapted ARRS pararescue medical manuals
and training programs for their use, i.e., California, Ohio, Alabama.
Concurrently, they requested and obtained on several occasions the ARRS surgeon
and pararescuemen to facilitate the development of their pre-hospital emergency
care programs. These actions
reflected creditably on the quality and standard of medicine rendered by
pararescuemen.[cxxx]
September 1975: Pararescue Recovery
Specialist Course-Medical, School of Health Care Sciences 3AZR92330 is
discontinued. All medical
instruction, qualification, and certification is provided by the Pararescue
School, operated by the Military Airlift Command.
The Pararescue School officially
sanctioned, December 1981, by the State of New Mexico as a certifying school for
paramedics.[cxxxi]
CY 1988: Pararescue School
curriculum separated into six AFCAT 36-2223 courses: medical operations;
advanced casualty care; aerial operations; field operations; team leader; and
advanced tactics. Courses opened to
DOD occupations needing the training provided at the pararescue school., i.e.,
Marine Recon, Navy Seals, and Army Rangers.
Allowed experts from other military occupational specialties to be
assigned as instructors.
October 1989: HQ MAC established
physician position, Director of Pararescue Medicine-AFSC 9356, at the pararescue
school. Provided professional
medical supervision for all USAF pararescue medical qualifications, procedures,
and equipment. Reported direct to
HQ MAC/SG concerning level of training, medical procedures, certification
issues, and effective use of pararescue to render emergency medical care.[cxxxii]
Position location
and responsibilities dictated by recent USAF forces alignments: Air Force
Special Operations Command, established; HQ Air Rescue Service, without control
of the pararescue school, reestablished; and HQ MAC (later renamed HQ AMC)
controlling and managing headquarters for the USAF pararescue program.
HQ MAC also controlling and managing headquarters for the USAF pararescue
school and training pipeline.[cxxxiii]
CY 1993: Major realignments of Air
Force Structure; HQ Air Education Training Command gains responsibility for
pararescue school, 542 TCHTS/TTJ, Kirtland AFB, New Mexico.
Conducts core
training required for qualification in USAF Pararescue Specialty.
Individuals awarded specialty are assigned to line units having a combat
rescue or Special Operations mission.
Produces trained
personnel well qualified to render emergency medical services in sensitive,
denied, and hostile locations with the ability to conduct operations in any
climate, terrain, or land and water environment, day and night.
Curriculum
development continually revised. Goal
is to train new, novice, and experienced pararescuemen to be globally deployable
from an emergency medical and tactical combat skills standpoint.
Emphasis is on capabilities needed to retrieve downed-airmen from the
battlefield.
June 1989.
Quads, motorcycles, and special vehicle operations added to advanced
tactics course.
June 1989.
Satellite Communications (SATCOM) added to team leader course.
June 1992.
Emergency Medical Technician-Intermediate (EMT-I) certification, National
Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, established as a requirement needed
to receive medical course completion documents.
June 1992.
Advanced weapons course established.
Focus is night optical devices and foreign weapons.
Increased courses conducted at pararescue school to seven.
June 1993.
Global Positioning System (GPS) uses and methods added to field
operations course.
January 1994.
Emergency Medical Technician-Paramedic (EMT-P) certification, National
Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians, established as a requirement needed
to receive medical course completion documents. [cxxxiv]
January 1994.
Rigged Alternate Method Zodiac (RAMZ) added to aerial operations course
(12 days). Students instructed in
procedures and methods for air dropping motorized zodiac boats to perform rescue
and recoveries at sea.
Pararescue
provides unique capabilities essential to battlefield rescue and front line
evacuation. No other military
profession trained to survive under any earthly conditions with the ability to
render life saving pre-hospital medical care, anytime-anywhere.
Capabilities critical to successful air rescue operations in times of
peace or combat.[cxxxv]
Progress
Of Laws Of Armed Conflict[cxxxvi]
International laws of armed conflict
is binding on all nations and their armed forces, it can usually be changed only
by an international agreement.[cxxxvii]
Most law of armed conflict applies
only to conflicts between nations.[cxxxviii]
Hostilities with
terrorist groups are not governed by law of armed conflict, since these groups
are not nations.[cxxxix]
Military
operations other than war are not exempt from the requirement to comply with
domestic and international law. In
this regard the judge advocate should review all aspects of the operation.
For example, the medical annex to an exercise plan may not address the
legal issue of introducing narcotic medications into an allied country.[cxl]
The 1949 Geneva Conventions:
Experience in World War II demonstrated a need relevant to the status of medical
personnel and aircraft attached to the armed forces.
This international agreement establishes the special status of medical
personnel and medical aircraft, if they are exclusively engaged in medical
operations during an armed conflict.
Medical aircraft
are not permitted to fly over territory controlled by the enemy, without the
enemy's prior agreement, medical aircraft must comply with requests to land for
inspection, and must be clearly be marked with the red cross or other
comparable, internationally recognized symbols.[cxli]
Hospitals, medical
personnel, ambulances, hospital ships, and other medical activities lose their
special status under the Geneva Conventions if they commit, or are used to
commit, acts harmful to the enemy outside their humanitarian functions.[cxlii]
Medical personnel
are permitted to carry arms solely to protect themselves and their patients
against unlawful attack.[cxliii]