The 308th Rescue Squadron trains and maintains the Air Forces only dedicated rescue capability for Department of Defense personnel, in support of Combatant Commander’s wartime objectives as well as peacetime humanitarian and disaster relief activities. They can provide this capability under the harshest of circumstances to include, day/night, inclement weather and all terrain rescue conditions.
The squadron consists of combat rescue officers, Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape specialists and Pararescuemen. While many candidates enter the 920th from the active-duty Air Force, others are accessed directly into the Air Force Reserve. All candidates must pass a physical assessment test which has about 15% success rate.
Air Force Pararescuemen are the only DoD elite combat forces specifically organized, trained, equipped and postured to conduct full spectrum Personnel Recovery to include both conventional and unconventional combat rescue operations. These battlefield Airmen are the most highly trained and versatile personnel recovery specialists in the world. Pararescue is the nation's force of choice to execute the most perilous, demanding and extreme rescue missions anytime, anywhere across the globe.