PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – A group of roughly 30 Reserve pilots, aircrew members and support personnel from the 920th Rescue Wing’s HC-130P/N Hercules squadron here are scheduled to depart from here today on a two-month deployment to Camp Lemonier, a combined, joint base at Djibouti, Africa.
The men and women will provide combat search and rescue support to the Horn of Africa region, which is comprised of Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia. The mission falls under the command of Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.
A variant of the Hercules, the HC-130 P/N has the ability to refuel other aircraft in flight, which greatly increases the range of Air Force combat rescue helicopters.
The reservists are due to return in early spring.
The Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing performs combat search and rescue as its primary mission, but is also responsible for civil search and rescue, humanitarian relief and support of all NASA shuttle and rocket launches. To date, the unit has saved more than 2,000 lives. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Paul Flipse)