Florida Airmen leave sandy beaches for dusty duty in Horn of Africa

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  As the Florida sun peaked through the wispy clouds of an August morning here, it found the men and women of the 920th Rescue Wing here busy packing up two HC-130P/N Hercules aircraft for a deployment overseas.

The roar of the propeller-driven aircraft cut through the Florida humidity with 60 reservists and their equipment onboard August 25 as it lifted off from the beachside base for the dusty, dry African nation.

"It doesn't matter if we deploy for one day or one-hundred days, it's the same preparation," said Lt. Col. Antonio Cunha, 920th Rescue Wing Operations Flight Squadron Commander and commander of the deploying Airmen.

Our Citizen Airmen work hard to get these 46-year-old planes off the ground and operational for deployments, said Colonel Cunha who gave his wife a kiss on the cheek before climbing into the driver's seat. He'll be piloting the Hercules throughout the Horn of Africa region to meet adversity with a smile and a helping hand.

"And operational these combat rescue Reservists are - no matter the situation," the colonel said before leaving behind Florida's sandy beaches for harsher terrain.

A large part of their mission in Africa will be assisting the country in its humanitarian needs and to be on hand to provide combat search and rescue for service members and coalition partners operating in the region.

The Rescue Wing Reservists have played a role in significant disasters by saving lives and keeping communities safe throughout their history. For example, more than 1,043 lives were saved by the 920th RQW Reservists during the Hurricane Katrina aftermath, the 2005 hurricane that devastated the Gulf Coast.

"We will be a part of a combined task force based out of the Horn of Africa," said Colonel Cunha. "We'll be in place for humanitarian missions and support for the pararescuemen (Air Force special operators trained as rescue specialist). There's a lot of land to cover over there so we'll be very busy."

The extended-range search and rescue version of the Hercules aircraft, which is unique to the 920th Rescue Wing and its rescue personnel, has multiple uses which will be put into effect during the deployment.

It can conduct air-to-air refueling of military helicopters performing search and rescue, serve as a search-and-rescue platform and provide a mode of transportation to get pararescuemen to survivors in need of help, at sea, or on land.

"There is no mission like the rescue mission," said Master Sgt. Shane Smith, HC-130P/N loadmaster, 920th RQW, "We're all just ordinary people who have a calling to be a part of saving lives."

Citizen Airmen in various career capacities will be deployed from the 920th RQW including aircraft crews, maintenance, support and security forces personnel.

The 920th RQW has a unique mission that encompasses not only deployments to the Horn of Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan, but also keeps its Airmen busy on Florida's space coast serving as the guardians of the astronauts during all shuttle launches and returns, as well as public safety representatives who clear and secure the Eastern range prior to rocket launches.

Air Force Reserve Rescue Reservists hold civilian jobs in addition to serving their nation. When it comes to their military duty, they live by the motto, "These things we do, that others may live," and deployments are just one of the many ways these combat rescue Airmen fulfill that motto.