US Air Force and US Army team up in Afghanistan for rescue
Personnel from the US Army teamed up with an 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron Guardian Angel team from the US Air Force to conduct a personnel recovery exercise
Personnel from the US Army, flying a CH-47F Chinook helicopter, have teamed up with an 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron Guardian Angel team from the US Air Force, to conduct a personnel recovery exercise in Afghanistan recently – it is the first time during Operation Freedom’s Sentinel that the two have worked together to extricate simulated casualties. “Personnel recovery is a no-fail strategic mission,” said Maj. Robert Wilson, 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron commander. “The interoperability between the US Army and the US Air Force, by way of the CH-47F, has enabled our Guardian Angel teams to effectively conduct a wide variety of PR operations in ways not previously attainable.”
Executing personnel recovery missions with CH-47Fs gives the seven-man Guardian Angel team advantages, such as an increased capacity to recover a larger number of isolated personnel, and the ability to fly further and higher than previous platforms allowed.
“I’ve been flying CH-47 models for 22 years,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Shawn Miller, CH-47F pilot with the South Carolina Army National Guard. “This is an unprecedented tasking. Never in its history has an Army unit been tasked to provide dedicated aviation assets and crew to conduct joint personnel recovery operations.”
“The CH-47F’s speed, size, and range increases Guardian Angel rescue team’s ability to project the full gambit of rescue capabilities across the area of operations, bringing lifesaving capabilities to US and coalition forces in need,” said an 83rd ERQS combat rescue officer (CRO). The larger aircraft means a larger Army ground security team, which minimizes the threat to the GA forces and allows them to solely focus on the rescue. [Additionally] having the ability to load our entire team onto a single airframe greatly enhances our span of control of our technical rescue specialties and the ability to treat multiple patients at once.” The aircraft can move up to three litter or 15 ambulatory patients, depending on how the aircraft is configured.
Image credit: Credit: TSgt Gregory Brook