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  • Capt. Greg Lowdermilk, a 920th Rescue Wing Combat Rescue Officer, spent his 27-year Air Force career in the elite pararescue field saving lives and breaking new ground. He retired Feb. 15 from a legendary career as a pararescueman and combat rescue officer. His brother, Maj. Eldon Scott Lowdermilk, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Tikrit, Iraq, was the presiding officer who presented him with the Meritorious Service Medal. Although retired, Captain Lowdermilk will begin a new adventure in New York City as a project manager for a New York City company. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Mr. James Laviska)

    First generation CRO begins new adventure

    If one's career were to best be summed up using a car metaphor, then Capt. Greg Lowdermilk's would surely be a Porsche. Quality. Enduring. Professional. Legendary. Captain Lowdermilk spent his 27-year Air Force career in the elite pararescue field saving lives and breaking new ground, but he recently retired from this legendary life to begin a new
  • PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Mendenhall administers a vaccination to Army Capt. Scott Newman at the immunization clinic here. The immunization staff keeps servicemembers ready for deployment by maintaining shot currency for more than 1,200 wing personnel. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Heather Kelly)

    Airmen get point of immunizations

  • Air Force Reserve aircrews and pararescuemen from the 920th Rescue Wing conduct astronaut recovery training during the World Space Expo on the Banana River next to Kennedy Space Center Nov. 2. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Staff Sgt. Paul Flipse)

    Count down means gear up for Air Force Reservists

    As NASA begins its countdown for the launch of space shuttle Atlantis Feb. 7, Air Force Reservists from the 920th Rescue Wing here gear up to save the astronaut's lives. At 3-2-1 liftoff, these Airmen get ready, set, and wait in the wings to commence a rescue operation if the astronauts encounter danger during the critical seconds of a launch.
  • PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- A former rescue-helicopter pilot took command of the 920th Rescue Wing's pararescue squadron during a change-of-command ceremony held at the professional development center here today. Lt. Col. Joel Kinnunen, seen here accepting the pararescue squadron guidon, succeeded Lt. Col. Coy Speer, who is retiring after 20 years of service to teach science at a high school in Arizona. Colonel Kinunnen comes to Patrick from one of the wing's geographically-separated units at Portland, Ore. Air Force pararescue men provide combat search and rescue support for special operations units and pilots shot down behind enemy lines, search and rescue service for civilian mariners, humanitarian relief during natural disasters and provide emergency medical support for every NASA shuttle and rocket launch. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Paul Flipse)

    Reserve pararescuemen welcome new commander

    A former rescue-helicopter pilot took command of the 920th Rescue Wing's pararescue squadron during a change-of-command ceremony held at the professional development center here today.Lt. Col. Joel Kinnunen succeeded Lt. Col. Coy Speer, who is retiring after 20 years of military service to teach science at a high school in Arizona.Colonel Kinnunen
  • Reserve Airman Diane Lopes, a security forces specialist with the 920th Rescue Wing, was deployed to Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq only four weeks before being wounded in a rocket attack. Now recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Md., the Tampa resident joined the 920th two years ago and has no plans to leave. The attack, she said, won't chase her away. "It's not going to keep me from doing this," she said of her job as a reservist. (Courtesy photo)

    Reservist wounded in Iraq gets big honor

    Purple heart awardee and Air Force Reservist Senior Airman Diane Lopes, 920th Rescue Wing security specialist here, was selected to sit with Laura Bush during President Bush's last State of the Union address Jan. 28. Airman Lopes is currently undergoing extensive physical therapy at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in the D.C. area and was singled
  • Air Force Reservist Master Sgt. Tom Trommater, 920th Maintenance Squadron, maintains the APR 39 Radar Warning Receiver and the AAR 47 missile approach warning system on an HH-60G Pave Hawk Helicopter during a Unit Training Assembly weekend at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Master Sgt. Ray Padgett)

    Combat Rescue Maintenance Warriors

  • PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Staff Sgt. John Alimenti, a Reservist with the 920th Rescue Wing propulsion shop here, secures the igniter assembly on T-701C engine, used on the H-60 Pave Hawk helicopter. The propulsion shop is responsible for inspecting and removing engines, replacing bad components, then reinstalling and performing efficientcy tests. The Pave Hawks, along with pararescuemen and HC-130P/N refuelers, are part of the triad of assets used by the 920th for combat search and rescue, NASA launch support, civilian search and rescue, and humanitarian relief. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Chance C. Babin)

    Reserve mechanics keep rescue helicopters flying

  • PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Mayors and civic leaders from six local towns gathered here Jan. 4 for a tour of the 920th Rescue Wing, which included a flight aboard an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter and a tour of an HC-130P/N Hercules aircraft. The 920th provides combat rescue support during wartime, but also has a full-time mission back home, providing launch support for all shuttle and rocket launches from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, as well as civilian search-and-rescue support and humanitarian relief. Pictured from left to right are: Capt. Cathleen Snow, 920th public affairs chief; Capt. John Withelder, an HC-130 pilot; Cocoa mayor Michael Blake, Ronald Krueger, chief of police for Melbourne Beach; Ric Holt, city manager for Cocoa who was also a pararescueman in Vietnam; Cocoa Beach mayor Skip Beeler; Cape Canaveral mayor Rocky Randels; Melbourne Beach mayor William Stacey; Kathy Meehan, vice mayor of Melbourne; James Nolan, mayor of Indian Harbour Beach; and Capt. Rafael Benet, who also pilots Hercules aircraft for the wing. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Paul Flipse)

    Local leaders tour rescue wing

  • Air Force Reservists from the 920th Rescue Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., exercised their combat rescue skills over the the summer in Key West, Fla. to hone their readiness skills. Their primary mission is to search for, locate and recover U.S. Armed Forces personnel during military operations. The unit also gets called to provide search and rescue support for civilians who are lost or in distress, and provide humanitarian and disaster relief operations. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech Sgt. Robert Grande)

    Key West Ex

  • Lt. Col. Joel Kinnunen, commander of the 304th Rescue Squadron, Portland International Airport seen representing the United States in this year's World Triathlon Championships in Hamburg, Germany.(Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Chance C. Babin)

    Leading by Example

    As Thomas Paine once said, "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph," for Lt. Col. Joel Kinnunen, his conflict came in the form of a torn ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and lateral ligaments while at the Combat Rescue Officer's Course at Kirkland Air Force Base, N.M., last December. His triumph was a long road of rehabilitation
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