Air Force Reservists clear a path to space for largest rocket

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. --  While many people enjoyed a day of rest on an overcast Sunday on Florida's Space Coast, 920th Rescue Wing Airmen from Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., cut a path through the thick-cloud layer that hung along the coast, and went to work securing the Eastern Range prior to the launch of the largest rocket in the Air Force's inventory.

Air Force Reserve helicopter, maintenance and life support personnel, along with their mission partners and host wing, the 45th Space Wing, supported the successful launch of a Delta IV-Heavy Launch Vehicle at approximately 6 p.m. (EDT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's pad 37, Nov. 21, 2010.

Rescue Wing Airmen launched an HH-60G-Pave-Hawk duo responsible for clearing approximately 1,000 square feet of Atlantic Ocean - the area which extends out from the launch pad in the anticipated direction of flight.

Securing the area means not only contacting mariners who didn't get the launch-hazard advisory, to stay clear for their safety, but to put their rescue expertise into action if needed.

In a worst-case scenario the rocket would incinerate causing a debris shower, or veer off course, so the Reservists scan the vast blue waters for boats and ships to advise them of the hazard and just in case, will employ their search and rescue skills.

The rocket carried a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload to space.

"We are proud to be a part of these missions, "saidCol. Robert Dunn, 920th Rescue Wing Commander. "Working side-by-side with the 45th SW, we are able to maintain and provide the safest possible launch for the public."

The 920th RQW and 45th SW work hand-in-hand to make possible every launch that takes place from CCAFS and its nearby mission partner, Kennedy Space Center. While the 920th RQW provides search, rescue and aerial support, the 45th SW provides weather forecasts, a network of radar, telemetry, optical and communications instrumentation to facilitate safe launches on the Eastern Range.

According to the 45th SW, its meteorologists predicted a 90-percent chance of acceptable weather for the launch, with only a tiny chance that winds could exceed the 20-knot limit. Winds were not an issue however, and by all accounts the vehicle performed flawlessly.

"The mission of the 45th Space Wing is to assure access to the high frontier and to support global operations," said Eric Brian, 45th SW Chief of Media Relations. And the mission of the 920th RQW is combat search and rescue. In addition to their healthy wartime duty of saving lives, they support the space mission, both manned and unmanned.

The 920th is an Air Force Reserve unit which performs more than 20 percent of the Air Force's CSAR mission. The Wing is comprised of 1,500 Airmen and flies both fixed and rotor wing aircraft: the HC-130P/N extended-range Hercules and the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter.

To date, Rescue Reservists have supported approximately more than 400 launches alongside their active-duty counterparts.

For more information, follow us on Facebook or visit our web site, www.920rqw.afrc.af.mil.