Gallery: ‘Swamp Foxes’ for maritime search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) training exercises at Naval Air Station Pensacola often include rescue swimming and hoist operations. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Zachary Melvin and Austen McClain captured a day of training
Naval Education and Training Command’s mission is to recruit, train and deliver US Navy serving personnel, taking them from ‘street to fleet’ by transforming civilians into skilled, operational and combat-ready naval staff.
As such, there are many training exercises and demonstrations for all types of operations, including maritime SAR, involving rescue swimmers and hoisting. This demonstration out of Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, USA, was to help educate Aviation Rescue Swimmer School and aviation enlisted aircrew students on capabilities upon entering the fleet.
Used for this exercise was an MH-60R Seahawk from the ‘Swamp Foxes’, attached to Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron (HSM) 74, to conduct SAR jump and hoisting.
Performing these exercises with real helicopters over the water prepares students for real-world rescue scenarios, where conditions such as spray, rotor wash, noise and other environmental factors are as near as possible to the experience students would have when deployed to a genuine emergency.
The appearance of US Department of Defense (DoD) visual information does not imply or constitute DoD endorsement.
January 2025
Issue
In our combined January/February edition, explore how islanders get emergency medical aid; find out about the way technology is being used to improve safety through increased situational awareness; discover all about hoist systems used in special missions; and see what is coming to the world of aviation in new platforms, technology and equipment; plus more of our regular content.