Based at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, the 920th Rescue Wing is the only Air Force Reserve Command wing that trains and equips combat search and rescue Airmen. As a combined arms team enabled by agile combat support capable of multi-lateral assault on a defended point of incident in a highly contested environment, the wing plans, leads and conducts military rescue operations and missions in order to deny competitors and adversaries exploitation of isolated personnel. Air Force rescue is the only DoD entity specifically organized, trained and equipped to conduct personnel recovery operations into hostile or denied areas as a primary mission.
The 920th RQW is comprised of 28 subordinate groups and squadrons, including three geographically separated units; the 943d Rescue Group located on Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, the 304th Rescue Squadron in Portland, Oregon, and the 920th Aerospace Medicine Squadron at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia..
The wing is responsible for a demanding and compelling array of missions, and the men and women who serve here must maintain a high level of proficiency and be ready to deploy at moment’s notice. The unit’s peacetime missions include search-and-rescue support for civilians in distress at sea, in the desert or upon mountains. The wing also provides worldwide humanitarian relief, supporting rescue efforts in the aftermath of disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earthquakes.
With over 35 deployments and mobilizations since 1990, the men and women that comprise the wing have more than 4,000 saves. The wing has been mobilized for the Gulf War and operations including Southern Watch, Provide Comfort, Northern Watch, Allied Force, Noble Eagle, Iraqi Freedom, Enduring Freedom and Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa.
The 920th has also been a mainstay in humanitarian relief, rescuing 137 South Florida residents in the days following Hurricane Andrew (1992); saving 93 elderly residents from rising flood waters at a Tampa-area retirement community (1993); rescuing more than 200 people after Hurricane Floyd (1999); pulling 1,043 people from New Orleans and the Gulf Coast after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (2005); saving 17 lives from the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in Texas; Rescuing 235 victims of catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in Southeast Texas (2017); saving more than 200 people after multiple avalanches hit the Salang Pass, the main route between northern Afghanistan and Kabul province; and as part of the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa, where Rescue Airmen have been part of several successful search and rescues, as well as anti-pirate activity, through their ongoing deployments supporting Inherent Resolve, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and JTF-HOA through today.