Change of Command

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - The U.S. Air Force Reserve Airmen of the 301st Rescue Squadron here, stand in formation during the change of command ceremony, May 19, where Lt. Col. Joseph Alcorn assumes command. The 301st RQW is a helicopter squadron which falls under the 920th Rescue Wing - a combat search and rescue unit dedicated to rescuing service members off the battlefield during combat using the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter. The Rescue Airmen are also responsible for saving civilians in distress and providing rescue support for the NASA shuttle launches. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Forshaw)

Change of Command

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Lt. Col. Joseph Alcorn, Air Force Reserve helicopter pilot, assumes command of the helicopter squadron, the 301st Rescue Squadron here May 19. The 301st RQW is a helicopter squadron which falls under the 920th Rescue Wing - a combat search and rescue unit dedicated to rescuing service members off the battlefield during combat using the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter. The Rescue Airmen are also responsible for saving civilians in distress and providing rescue support for the NASA shuttle launches. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Forshaw)

Change of Command

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. - Lt. Col. Joseph Alcorn, Air Force Reserve helicopter pilot and the new commander of the 301st Rescue Squadron here, stands in front of an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter. Colonel Alcorn assumed command of the 301st RQS May 19, at a change of command ceremony. The 301st RQW is a helicopter squadron which falls under the 920th Rescue Wing - a combat search and rescue unit dedicated to rescuing service members off the battlefield during combat using the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter. The Rescue Airmen are also responsible for saving civilians in distress and providing rescue support for the NASA shuttle launches. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Forshaw)

Helicopter Squadron Commander takes reins days before deployment

Published May 20, 2011
By Staff Sgt. Leslie Forshaw
920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Inside and open-air aircraft hangar, an Air Force combat search-and-rescue helicopter, about the length of an 18-wheeler, sat parked as a prop for a change of command ceremony held here March 19 during which Lt. Col. Joseph Alcorn assumed command of the 301st Rescue Squadron days prior to the squadron's upcoming yearlong deployment.

The 301st RQS is an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter squadron which falls under theAir Force Reserve's 920th Rescue Wing - a combat search and rescue unit dedicated to rescuing servicemembers off the battlefield during combat.

Colonel Alcorn replaced Lt. Col. Brent Baysinger who served as the 301st RQS Commander from August 2008 to May 2011. Colonel Baysinger has moved up as the 920th RQW Deputy Operations Group Commander.

Normally, changes of commands are held in hangars which keep the elements, and love bugs, at bay. This time, however, it's being occupied by pallets of maintenance gear and helicopters whose rotors are folded in wait for their Afghanistan destination - the 301st RQS's fifth deployment in the last 8 years.

"It makes me proud as I look out on this whole operation to see months of planning coming together," said Colonel Baysinger.

Colonel Alcorn assumes his new position from within the squadron - he was the combat execution flight commander for the 301st RQS. This squadron specializes in nighttime missions to save lives in some of the toughest terrain and situations. They are credited with rescuing Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell who penned a New York Times best seller on the operaton that left him as the only survivor of the largest loss of life in the special forces community since the Viet Nam War.

"We know we are going to be the tip of the spear in Afghanistan joined by our pararescue brothers in the 308th Rescue Squadron. We also know we will face unknown challenges, dark nights, a hostile enemy and we will rise and overcome each challenge," said Colonel Alcorn during his acceptance speech.

He was commissioned through the Navy Reserve Officer Training Corps program at Villanova University in May 1990 where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics. He then entered Naval Undergraduate Pilot Training at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla. He has since logged more than 3,200 hours as a command pilot in the F-14A/B/D and HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters including combat deployments supporting operations Southern Watch, Deliberate Force and Enduring Freedom. He has over 400 carrier landings as has deployed on the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and the USS John F. Kennedy (CV-67).

The 920th RQW is an Air Force Reserve unit which performs more than 20 percent of the Air Force's combat search and rescue missions. The Wing is comprised of 1,500 Airmen and flies both fixed and rotor wing aircraft: the HC-130P/N King extended-range tanker and the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter. The aircraft employ the Guardian Angel Weapon System Airmen to save lives using specialized medical and deployment training.

For more information on the 920th RQW, please check out the 920th Rescue Wing website and please become a fan of the 920th RQW on Facebook and Twitter.