Rescue Squadron spins up for high-altitude war

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jonathan Simmons
  • 920th Rescue Wing
PATRICK AFB, Fla. --  There are many ways to die in war and not all of them involve bullets.
Reserve Airmen from the 301st Rescue Squadron trained Nov. 9 though 17 at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., for the high-altitude rigors and hazards of the South West Asian deployed environment they anticipate for their '07 Air Expeditionary Force participation.
The majority of the Wing's day-to-day rescue operations are at low altitude and involve coastal flying conditions. This is in stark contrast to the, dry, thin air and mountainous locations in which 920th crews will be flying and fighting this AEF cycle. Crews will have to keep their eyes peeled for both windy gusts and rocket propelled grenades.
"Where we're going is very different than Florida," said Lt. Col. Chris Hannon, 301st RQS commander. "At home the aircraft are like sports cars, but over there they're more like Mack trucks."
Crewmembers learned just how much this difference means as the spin-up training kicked off with a full day of pain-staking power requirement calculations, weight and balance negotiations and mission planning.
"Out there during the actual mission we'll be on a razor's edge of the aircraft's abilities," said Colonel Hannon. "There'll be a guy out there who will die if we don't do the mission, so we plan hard to make sure we (are able to) do the mission," said Colonel Hannon.
This aircrew-centered training is the first of two off-site trainings leading up to the AEF. Aircrew, maintenance and support Air Force Specialty Codes from the 920th Rescue Wing were involved, and the wing's geographically separated 943rd Rescue Group provided facilities and logistics support at DM.
The second training will be mission-centered, wargame-like and will be staged early next year after the aircraft operators are acclimated to the hostility of the new flying environment.
"Small mistakes can be catastrophic," said Col. Philip Manning, 920th RQW vice commander. "This is where we work out those small mistakes."
Day two the crews were off the ground. They set out to pursue mistake-free flying as they began a rigorous schedule of day flights.
Between the flights' landing zones and precision hovering -- instructions, calculations and site evaluations buzzed back and forth over the communication system. In a wartime setting, this communication would play a vital part in keeping the crew alive.
Four days into the training, crews crossed over to the dark side of day with night flying. Night flying can be tricky, and in the windy mountains of a cold desert it can be a matter of life and death for the downed Soldier and for the Airmen who set out to save him when the Blackhawk goes down.
"You can't just turn the lights on like in a car," said Capt. John Tatton 301st RQS pilot. "Because then people shoot at you."
Crews use night vision equipment to navigate through mountains that, in the dark, seem to blend into each other and into the sky.
"One hour of flying with NVGs (night vision goggles) is like three and ¾ hours of day flying," said Captain Tatton. "You get fatigued after a while so we have to log night hours to make sure we are always ready to handle that stress."
From now until deployment day the Reserve Airmen of the 920th Rescue Wing train hard to fly and fight safely that others may live...or as Master Sgt. Glenn Roberts, 301st flight engineer, says: "We sweat hard in training to bleed less in war."