Rescue Group Airmen pull hiker from Southern Arizona mountain range

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Luke Johnson
  • 943rd Rescue Group public affairs
DAVIS MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Late Wednesday night, Airmen from the 943rd Rescue Group set out in a HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter for a training mission when they were notified that a hiker was unconscious from a fall, and needed help.

The Aircrew immediately halted training to go to the hiker's aid. But first they had to return to Davis Monthan Air Force Base to download their weapons, fuel up, and pick up a Guardian Angel team--special operators trained in trauma medicine and high-angle rescue.

With their night vision goggles, the 943rd Airmen hoisted a 17-year-old male out of the Dragoon Mountains around 11 p.m. Wednesday.

"We do so much training together as a rescue team that even with some of the limited communications we were experiencing with the PJ's (pararescuemen) on the ground; we knew exactly what their objectives were and what they were doing; it made this rescue mission seamless," said Capt. Brough McDonald, Pave Hawk pilot with the 305th Rescue Squadron.

Earlier in the evening, the Arizona Department of Safety attempted to do a long-line rescue with their helicopter, however they could not make it up the canyon due to darkness setting in. 

The hiker that needed help was in the Dragon Mountains, part of the Chiricahua National Monument, about 50 miles east of Tucson, Ariz.

"The initial report on the patient was a very severe head injury," said Senior Master Sgt. Maurice Bedard, pararescueman with the 306th Rescue Squadron. "When we got on scene, he was already on a back board so we hoisted him up to the helicopter, along wiht the civilian seaarch and rescue personnel who initiated his treatment. "He was not as bad as the initial report had indicated."

Once the patient was hoisted out of the mountain, he was transported to a life flight helicopter in a landing zone about two miles away from where he had initially fallen.

"Because of where the hiker fell, it was a difficult hoist and the aircrew from the 305th Rescue Squadron did an excellent job with the hoist operations," said Bedard.

According to the rescue summary report, Airmen from the 943rd Maintenance Squadron turned the Pave Hawk helicopter around for the mission in record time. The report also lauded everyone involved in the rescue for their excellent  team work.

"We train as we fight, and the great part about rescue is that it does not have always have to be combat rescue. As Citizen Airmen we are always ready to help out our local community," said Col. Harold Maxwell, 943rd RQG commander. "The rescue mission is one of the noblest missions in the Air Force, and I'm extremely proud of the team work and effort by all involved with this mission."

943rd RQG Crew involved with rescue

305th Rescue Squadron
Maj. Nathan Horner, HH-60G pilot
Capt. Brough McDonald, HH-60G pilot
Master Sgt. Daniel Juen, HH-60G flight engineer
Tech. Sgt. Jonathan Homan, HH-60G flight engineer

306th Rescue Squadron
Capt. Koaalii Bailey, combat recue officer
Senior Master Sgt. Maurice Bedard, pararescueman
Tech. Sgt. Ryan Gilbert, pararescueman

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