New Jolly Green II for the New York Air National Guard
The New York Air National Guard has acquired an HH-60W Jolly Green II helicopter to replace one of its older HH-60G Pave Hawks
The HH-60W – nicknamed ‘Whiskey’ – was delivered to the New York Air National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing on 25 October.
The unit, stationed at New York’s Francis S Gabreski Air National Guard Base, specializes in personnel recovery, combat search and rescue (CSAR), expeditionary combat support, and civil search and rescue (SAR).
The new rotorcraft will replace one of the 106th Rescue Wing’s HH-60G Pave Hawks – also referred to as ‘Golf’ helicopters – and is expected to offer improvements to the unit’s operational capabilities.
“The ‘Whiskey’ model … may look almost identical to the Golf, but I can assure you, it is much different,” said Colonel Shawn P Fitzgerald, Commander of the 106th Rescue Wing. “So much so that the training of our aircrew and maintainers requires months and additional intensive training and practical hands-on experience. It’s not an easy transition.”
The 106th Rescue Wing received another HH-60W earlier this year.
Oliver Cuenca
Oliver Cuenca was a Junior Editor at the Voyageur Group. He was previously a News and Features Journalist for the rail magazine IRJ until 2021, and studied MA Magazine Journalism at Cardiff University. His favourite helicopter is the AW169 – the workhorse of the UK air ambulance sector! He also led the creation of Waypoint: The AirMed&Rescue podcast, serving as its Production Editor and co-host.