Huge Temporary Hangar: Airmen deployed from Holloman AFB, N.M., finished building the Air Force's largest deployable hangar at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, last week, reports Capt. Michael Meredith. A nine-person team from Holloman's 49th Material Maintenance Group worked on the 225-foot by 70-foot hangar from Oct. 22 through Nov. 5. It will house three HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopters instead of the normal one aircraft per hangar. MSgt. Samuel Tran, team leader, said, "This is basically two and half shelters grafted together, and this is the largest one like it in the Air Force." (Posted 11/16/07)

The New, Old Mission Structure: The Air Force is moving ahead with its plan to realign aircraft maintainers with the operations units they support, at least for the fighter and combat search and rescue forces. The moves will begin next summer and conclude by November 2008, according to the directive just issued by Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff. Moseley had broached the idea publicly last summer, citing the long heritage of partnership between crew chiefs and aircrews. Moseley's predecessor combined maintenance and logistics as a means to broaden career possibilities for young officers. Now, fighter and CSAR squadrons will include aircraft maintenance units that support them, while other maintenance units will combine with logistics readiness squadrons and aerial port squadrons to comprise new materiel groups. Moseley said that the new arrangement would "consolidate traditional logistics functions under a single logistics leader in the wing," while it would provide the "most effective formula" for sortie generation and be "best for our Air Force." (USAF report by SSgt. Monique Randolph) (Posted 12/12/07) Dedicating a Pave Low: Air Force Special Operations Command airmen at Hurlburt Field, Fla., have put MH-53 Pave Low IV #68-10928 on display in the field airpark. The helicopter saw service in Europe, Laos, Thailand, and the deserts of Iraq. Joining current special ops airmen were three generations of Pave Low operators. The new AFSOC boss, Lt. Gen. Don Wurster, said the MH-53 is a "remarkable piece of equipment," helping its airmen earn 13 Air Force Crosses and 140 Silver Stars. (Report by 2nd Lt. Lauren Johnson)  Note: This aircraft began life as an HH-53 "Super Jolly" during the Vietnam War.  (Posted 12/12/07)   Alaska ANG Aids Search: The Alaska Air National Guard has been leading search and rescue efforts to locate a civilian medical helicopter that disappeared Dec. 3. The search team focused on an area about 75 miles southeast of Anchorage and, according to the Anchorage Daily News, on Saturday, found the body of a flight nurse and wreckage of the aircraft in Prince William Sound. The Alaska Air Guard's 176th Wing led the search, employing HH-60 Pave Hawk and HC-130 aircraft, along with Coast Guard aircraft. (Posted 12/12/07)   Money for Pave Hawk: Now that consecutive protests forced the Air Force to delay-probably until summer-the final decision on the combat search and rescue replacement helicopter program, the 2008 defense spending bill, which President Bush signed into law last month, took nearly $186 million from the CSAR-X program. Lawmakers gave $99 million of that to support "much-needed modifications" on the 25-year-old HH-60 Pave Hawk fleet, which now has to last "many years longer than planned," according to the bill's conference report. Congress expects the Air Force to report on its progress with the Pave Hawks by mid-May and make follow-ups every six months until mods are done. (Posted 12/14/07) Keeping Rescue in Washington?: The answer is, maybe. The 2008 defense policy bill calls for a report by April 1 on the search and rescue capabilities available in the northwestern United States. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray-Democrats from Washington-have been trying to prevent the deactivation of the 36th Rescue Flight at Fairchild AFB, Wash. The unit's primary mission is to support the USAF Survival School at Fairchild in training thousands of aircrew members each year, but it often gets tapped to perform area rescues. Earlier this month, for instance, airmen of the 36th rescued a hiker stranded by an avalanche that killed two fellow hikers in the Snoqualmie Pass. (Posted 12/17/07)   The Flying "In Lieu Of" Force: The Air Force has been augmenting the Army in Afghanistan in the air as well as on the ground. Buried in an article about an Air Force medic is the fact that USAF medics and HH-60 Pave Hawk combat search and rescue aircraft have been flying medical evacuation missions normally handled by Army medevac forces. On one of his first missions in country, TSgt. Stephen Thackery flew to the scene aboard a Pave Hawk, which two other USAF medics, TSgt. David Denton and TSgt. Nicholas Falcon flew on Army helicopters. These medics are veteran aeromedical evac technicians, but as ILO medics, they often work alone to aid transport of critically injured troops from the point of injury, rather than with a team of medical professionals transporting stabilized patients. (Kandahar report by Capt. Michael Meridith) (Posted 1/8/08) Reaching Out: The Air Force is advancing plans to field a new Combat Rescue Tanker next decade to refuel special mission aircraft such as the CV-22 Osprey. The Aeronautical Systems Center has announced that it intends to issue a request for proposal on Jan. 15 for one component of this aircraft: a variable speed/variable drag drogue. The drogue system would allow next-generation Air Force Special Operations Command tankers "to support simultaneous helicopter and single CV-22 refueling capability on the same mission without landing to re-configure." ASC wants the drogue capable of operating at speeds of 105 knots to 215 knots. Overall USAF wants up to 115 new tankers to replace its current HC-130 combat rescue and MC-130 special operations refueling aircraft. (Posted 1/8/08)   The Bids Are In (Again): Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Sikorsky have handed in their updated CSAR-X helicopter proposals to the Air Force, meeting the Jan. 7 deadline. USAF plans to announce the winner of the hotly contested competition around July. The winner will build 141 new rescue helicopters by around the end of next decade to replace the aging HH-60G fleet. The CSAR-X program is estimated to be worth between $10 billion and $15 billion to the winning contractor. Boeing's HH-47, a Chinook derivative, won out in November 2006 over Lockheed Martin's US101 and Sikorsky's HH-92. However, two successful rounds of protests by the losing teams with the Government Accountability Office caused the Air Force most recently to reopen the competition and accept fully revised bids. USAF officials fear that the constriction of the defense industry, prompting protests on every award, could have far reaching-and costly-implications for the CSAR-X and its other top modernization program to replace its tanker fleet. (Read "2008 and the Path to the Required Force.") (Posted 1/12/08)   Turbulence: Lockheed Martin's VH-71 presidential helicopter program for the Navy could derail. The Wall Street Journalreports (requires subscription) that Pentagon acquisition czar John Young is considering alternatives to the current two-phased VH-71 acquisition plan that is reportedly running into engineering challenges and facing large cost spikes. Already the Navy has stopped work on the second phase of the program for 23 of the 28 helicopters, which are slated to be more sophisticated than the first five, citing budget issues, the newspaper said. The timing could not be worse for the Bethesda-Md.-based company since it is in the midst of trying to convince the Air Force that its US101 design, the platform upon which the VH-71 is also based, is the best choice to be USAF's next-generation combat search and rescue helicopter. Past performance is one of the top three selection criteria in the Air Force's evaluation, with more emphasis placed on it than cost/price. Lockheed Martin had complained after the initial CSAR-X round that USAF used old data to consider its VH-71 performance. All three CSAR-X competitors-Lockheed, Boeing, and Sikorsky-on Jan. 7 handed revised proposals. The Air Force expects to pick the winning design around midyear. USAF accepted the new bids from the three competitors in order to resolve a standing legal impasse going back to November 2006 when Boeing won the original CSAR-X competition. Ironically, it now remains to be seen if the current situation with VH-71 will end up hurting the US101's chances in the CSAR-X contest. (Posted 1/16/08)   Rotary-winged Breakthrough: The Air Force wants to do in Fiscal 2009 what it hasn't been able to do in past budgets: include funding for the future helicopter that will replace its Vietnam War-era Huey UH-1Ns. USAF has sought for years to retire these Hueys, which help protect the nation's ICBM fields, shuttle VIPs, and perform civil rescue missions, with a new more capable helicopter provisionally called the Common Vertical Lift Support Platform. But it hasn't had the money to do so, given the long list of more pressing recapitalization and modernization needs-can anyone say, "new tanker," or "new CSAR helicopter?" Now, however, CVLSP appears to be emerging out of the shadows, as USAF seeks $3.87 million to start the CVLSP program in Fiscal 2009 and lay the groundwork for fielding the platform in Fiscal 2015. Granted the amount is truly miniscule by Pentagon standards, and the Air Force has yet to earmark the kind of money that would make the mid-decade fielding goal doable, but, hey, at least it's a start. (For more read USAF's 'Other' Helicopter Program) (Posted 2/12/08)   Tough Times Equals Opportunity: The struggle to fund the Air Force of the future while maintaining a heavy combat tempo represents "an opportunity to redefine American air power," Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley said at AFA's Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando. Tight times are compelling the service to "streamline for warfighting" by reorganizing units to mirror the way they will go to war, by expanding and diversifying training, and by shifting to the next generation of  weapons and operational concepts, Moseley said. A major element in this streamlining effort is the integration of active, Guard, and Reserve forces in all mission areas. His recent white paper on transforming the service is the first step in recognizing changes that already have taken place and spurring those that are needed, Moseley said. As for hardware, he predicted the Fiscal 2010 future years plan, already in development, will answer long-term questions of force structure and be the "legacy" of the Bush Administration. The Air Force's acquisition priorities haven't changed, Moseley added, saying the 2018 bomber is "doable" and expressing a wish for the KC-X tanker and CSAR-X helicopter programs to proceed without further delay. (Posted 2/22/08)   It's a Big Deal: The Air Force did its best to run its KC-X tanker competition as openly and transparently as possible in the hopes of avoiding a long, drawn-out protest by the losing offeror, Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, said Thursday. "We have just said, we will do this the best we possibly can," Moseley told the Defense Writers Group Feb. 28 just a day if not only hours away from the long-anticipated announcement of the winner in the multi-billion-dollar recapitalization contest between Boeing and Northrop Grumman/EADS. "We will do this in the most defensible way we possibly can. And if there [are] any issues that get protested to the GAO, let them look at it. If we have missed something, we will fix it." That said, Moseley said he hopes there's no protest on KC-X because of the potential for it to have the same major cost and schedule impact that its CSAR-X combat rescue helicopter recapitalization program has suffered since November 2006 due to industry protests. "We have lost $800 million in [the CSAR-X protests] and we have lost over a year to year-and-a-half of operational time on not being able to field an airplane," he said. Equally concerning is the fact that the delays force the Air Force to keep flying its aged HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters, placing pilots potentially at greater risk. Pilots of USAF's Eisenhower-era KC-135 tankers set for replacement would be asked to fly those aircraft for even longer if there are major delays from a KC-X protest, Moseley said. "To me, that is a big deal," he said. "It's a big deal for the people I ask to take the airplane to combat." (Posted 2/29/08)   About 75 Air Force reservists with their HH-60G Pave Hawks flew out of Davis-Monthan AFB on a C-5 cargo plane, 28 February, 2008.  In Afghanistan, they'll perform SAR missions in Operation Enduring Freedom.     The troops are members of the 943rd Rescue Gp, and include helicopter pilots and maintenance crews, plus intelligence and other support personnel.  All are armed for ground combat     Twenty-five percent are full-time at the group; the remaining three-quarters are regularly employed outside the 943rd, working for organization from Southwest Airlines to UPS.     The 943rd, under the command of Col. Robert Dunn, has averaged one deployment per year since 2004.  LtCol John Phalen, Deputy Commander, who has served through three deployments in the Middle East, was part of the departing group.  They are headed for a six- to 12-month tour of duty in the war zone, and prior to departure from the warm climate of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert, were briefed on the snow expected at a transition point in Kyrgyzstan. (Posted 3/3/08)   Air Force Cross Awarded for Vietnam War Heroism: Retired Air National Guard CMSgt. Dennis Richardson has been awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions aboard a HH-53 rescue helicopter during a perilous mission over Vietnam in March 1968. Richardson received the award, USAF's second highest honor for valor, during a ceremony April 5 at the Francis S. Gabreski Airport in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., home of his former unit, the New York ANG's 106th Rescue Wing. Nearly 300 members of the wing attended the event. "In an extraordinary display of courage and valor, Richardson, despite his wounds, leaned far outside the door of his helicopter and neutralized charging enemy combatants who appeared intent on boarding," reads his citation. "It was a long, scary day, and I don't think I did anything different than the rest of the crew," Richardson said. He was in one of two HH-53s dispatched on March 14, 1968 to rescue the aircrew of a downed F-4 Phantom. Although the helicopters repeatedly moved in to make a pick-up, they were driven away by gunfire and both sustained heavy damage. Richardson displayed exceptional courage when he stood unprotected in the door of his helicopter to drive off the enemy, said retired Brig. Gen. Frank Cardile, a pilot on the mission who presented the medal to the chief. Richardson was one of four crew members that day to be recommended for awards; the three other men received Silver Stars, but Richardson's award for the Cross, though granted, "was lost in paperwork," according to an NYANG release. Last December, following the resurrection of the paper trail by an unnamed "military history buff," an Air Force review panel confirmed the award. (N.Y. ANG report by Lt. Col. Eric Durr) (Posted 4/22/08)   Pave Low From Son Tay Raid Retires: An Air Force Special Operations Command MH-53 helicopter flew its last combat mission in Iraq March 28 and is being retired after 38 years of service. This particular airframe, tail number 68-10357, has a distinguished past, having been the lead command-and-control platform for the daring raid into North Vietnam in November 1970 to rescue US prisoners of war from the Son Tay prison camp west of Hanoi. Although the raid was a tactical failure because no POWs were found, it was also considered a success because its symbolic significance boosted POW morale and led the North Vietnamese to change the way that they held prisoners. The helicopter, the last of the five MH-53s from the raid still around, will be transported to the National Museum of the US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, where it will sit on display in the Cold War gallery. The Air Force expects to retire all of its remaining MH-53s by October. (Includes Hurlburt report by TSgt. Kristina Newton) (Posted 4/22/08) Third Time Charm?: The Air Force has indeed issued Amendment 6 to its CSAR-X combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program, There is no hint of an award date, but industry responses are due May 27, not May 22 as we reported last week. According to an Air Force statement dated April 22, the service issued Amendment 6 because it needs more time to review the new information the three contractors provided in early January under Amendment 5. However, as we reported, the new amendment also rolls in the legislative requirements regarding specialty metals. The statement notes that the service's "performance based requirements have not changed." Amendment 5, issued last fall after successive successful protests, enabled the three contractors--original CSAR-X winner Boeing and fellow competitors Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky--to update both cost and non-cost data in their proposals, essentially starting the program over. Once again the service maintains that it is "committed to a fair and transparent process" and, although it considers replacement of its aging HH-60 Pave Hawk fleet an urgent requirement, it plans "to take as much time as necessary to evaluate the proposals." (Posted 4/24/08) Angels From Above: Airmen of the 23rd Wing at Moody AFB, Ga., flew two HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and one HC-130P tanker aircraft on a 10-hour mission April 25 to help saves the lives of six Cubans in distress at sea in the Gulf of Mexico after fleeing the communist nation. The Panamanian-flagged tanker ship Eos discovered the Cubans and pulled them from the waters, officials from Moody said in an April 30 release. At the request of the Coast Guard, the Moody element then deployed to retrieve the Cubans from the tanker, which was located about 260 miles south of New Orleans, to bring them to a medical facility in the city. (Posted 5/1/08)  Going All Out: According to a May 6 report by Reuters news service, Boeing expects to win the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program for the second time not only because it had the best proposal the first time around, but because it now has an even stronger one. A company executive told Reuters that Boeing had trimmed the price and the time it takes to reassemble its HH-47. All three competitors--Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Sikorsky--submitted new proposals in January, but the Air Force just this monthissued Amendment 6 to the request for proposals, clarifying certain points, including new legislation about specialty metals. The program award now is delayed until fall. Rick Lemaster, Boeing HH-47 program manager, told Reuters that the new Boeing bid is "stronger." Meanwhile, Lockheed and Sikorsky, no doubt, have spruced up their offerings, as well. (Posted 5/7/08). Leading the Way: Air Force Reserve Command's 920th Rescue Wing and the active duty 45th Space Wing, both headquartered at Patrick AFB, Fla., officially merged their two command posts into a single joint operation on May 20. The union, for which officials from both organizations began preparing in October 2007, will serve as a test case for combined active duty-Reserve command post operations across the service. "Personnel and equipment are expensive to maintain," said Lt. Col. Rex Meyers, 920th RW command post superintendent. "Ultimately, it's more advantageous to the government to create one command post at each installation." (Patrick report by SSgt. Heather Kelly) (Posted 6/5/08) CSAR, SOF Get New Herks: Lockheed Martin will provide the Air Force with six KC-130J aircraft modified to fit the needs of the service's combat search and rescue and special operations forces, according to a USAF release dated July 17. The service had planned to hold a media roundtable this week to discuss the award and its efforts to recapitalize the HC-130 and MC-130 fleets, only to cancel with the early release of the Government Accountability Office tanker protest decision. The Air Force has awarded Lockheed $470 million to procure the six Hercules in Fiscal 2009 and long-lead materiel under a previous C-130J contract, according to a Pentagon contract release. The service included in its Fiscal 2008 budget request about $75 million for advance procurement and development to begin the CSAR/SOF recapitalization effort. Its Fiscal 2009 budget request included justification for KC-130Js as an "immediate requirement" to replace the few in number and heavily used HC/MC-130 aircraft. According to the July 17 release, their increased usage rate has engendered "mounting sustainment challenges." (Posted 6/20/08) PJ Earns Prestigious Pitsenbarger Award: TSgt. David Keaton, a pararescue jumper with Air Force Special Operations Command's 24th Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., is the 2008 recipient of the Pitsenbarger Award, presented by the Air Force Sergeants Association. The award is named for USAF PJ A1C William Pitsenbarger, who received a posthumous Medal of Honor for his heroic actions during the Vietnam War. During a tour in Afghanistan in 2007, Keaton risked his own life to save three Afghan children and two Afghan women being used as human shields during a firefight. He moved through gunfire--four times--to reach them and then shielded the bodies of the victims as he rendered emergency medical care and moved them to safety. In his words: "I've got one mission in life. Wherever I go, I'm there to make sure people are treated and they make it home to their loved ones. If it means that I have to get into the heat of battle, that's what I'm going to do."  (AFSOC report by Capt. Amy Cooper)  (Posted 6/26/08) Pave Hawk Unit Certified For Firefighting: Crews from the California Air National Guard's 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield are now certified to operate 660-gallon water buckets from their HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, making the wing USAF's only rescue unit qualified for fighting fires. The wing has been operating in this role from Mather Air Reserve Base to help fight  the wildfires that have ravaged large parts of California. It has simultaneously maintained its alert posture for search and rescue and medical evacuation. "Our search-and-rescue mission, coupled with the fire bucket certification, adds to the state's broad range of fire fighting capabilities," said Col. Amos Bagdasarian, 129th RQW commander. The wing's certification paves the way for other rescue wings to train and be cleared for the mission. (Mather report by Capt. Alyson M. Teeter) (Posted 7/8/08) Magnum Goes on Display: The MH-53 Pave Low helicopter that was the lead command-and-control platform for the daring Son Tay raid into North Vietnam in November 1970 went on permanent display July 7 at the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, the museum reported yesterday. This airframe, dubbed "Magnum" because its tail number shared the same last three digits as the famous 357 gun, flew for 38 years, including stints in Bosnia and Iraq, in addition to Vietnam. Its final combat mission before retirement was in Iraq on March 28. (Posted 7/9/08).   Airman Honored for Heroism: TSgt. Clinton Beck, a pararescueman with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron at Pope AFB, N.C., has won the Air Force's 2008 Vanguard Award for his heroic actions in saving the lives of two Afghan girls wounded during a firefight between his unit and enemy combatants in April 2007 in Afghanistan. "I got recognized for the award, but I've got 25 guys on my team who are doing the same thing every day," he said. The Noncommissioned Officers Association sponsors the award, which recognizes an NCO who has performed a heroic act, on or off duty, resulting in saving lives or preventing serious injury. Heroism is no stranger to this unit. Indeed, TSgt. Davide Keaton, a PJ like Beck, last month received the Air Force Sergeants Association's 2008 Pitsenbarger Award for his heroism in saving the lives of three Afghan children and two Afghan women being used as human shields during a firefight. (Includes Hurlburt report by Capt. Amy Cooper) (Posted 7/10/08)   Versatile 129th: The airmen of the California Air National Guard's 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Field "seamlessly" transitioned from firefighting duties to at-sea medical assistance and rescue, says Lt. Col. Steve Butow, the unit's operations group commander. He called the 129th the "go to" unit for anything from fires, floods, and earthquakes to combat and civilian search and rescue. It is the only USAF rescue unit qualified to fight fires and has been working since July 3 in that role, dumping about 150,000 gallons of water on fires in northern California. Meanwhile, the Coast Guard tapped the unit to aid a seaman in need of immediate medical attention aboard a Canadian fishing vessel some 500 miles out from Eureka, Calif. A 129th RQW MC-130P found the boat July 17, and four unit pararescue jumpers parachuted down, remaining overnight to provide emergency care. On the morning of July 18, two HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, recalled and refitted from fire duty, and two MC-130P tankers went to pick up the airmen and the seaman, all five of which were hoisted aboard the helicopters, with the seaman transported to a medical facility in San Jose. Said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Craig Bone, the 129th RQW's "response was immediate and, as usual, effective." (129th RQW report by Capt. Alyson Teeter; read also a first-hand account in The Mercury News) (Posted 7/22/08) Rescue Airmen Receive Bronze: The Air Force has awarded Bronze Star medals for meritorious service to Maj. Patrick O'Rourke and SSgt. Jose Cervantes for their actions while deployed from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., to Afghanistan from May 2006 to May 2007. O'Rourke, a combat rescue officer, and Cervantes, a pararescueman, both faced hostile fire during recovery operations for personnel aboard a CH-47 helicopter that crashed. (Posted 8/1/08)         OBJECTIVE OF THE AIR RESCUE ASSOCIATION The Association is organized, operated and dedicated to extending and preserving the spirit and camaraderie among persons who have been assigned or associated with the AAF/USAAF/USAF Air Rescue forces in the past, those presently serving, and those who may serve in the future. 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