Patrick Airmen ready to help Hurricane Ike victims

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Paul Flipse
  • 920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs
PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFPN) --  Airmen of the 920th Rescue Wing here flew two HH-60G Pave Hawks from Patrick Air Force Base to Gulfport, Miss., to preposition search and rescue aircraft to aid victims of Hurricane Ike Sept. 12.

Airmen flew the two helicopters and two HC-130P/N Hercules long-range refueling aircraft will fly to Gulfport Biloxi International Airport to become part of the 331st Air Expeditionary Group -- a joint search and rescue unit standing ready to deploy at a moment's notice.

Col. Steve Kirkpatrick, the 920th RQW commander, will run the operation. As head of the 331st AEG, he will direct more than 400 joint-forces people along with 20 Air Force and Navy H-60 helicopters and four HC-130s.

Their mission after the hurricane makes landfall is to serve affected states with qualified and immediate medical care, while bringing the ability to conduct air refueling, airlift, airdrops of supplies and the ability to hoist people in need out of flood water.

"Our (search and rescue) crews endure specialized training to conduct humanitarian and combat search and rescues," Colonel Kirkpatrick said. "We hope there isn't a need for it, but if there is, we will do it and we will do it well."

The men and women of the 920th RQW are no strangers to this kind of work.

In 2005, they rescued hundreds of people after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf of Mexico coastline in Louisiana and Mississippi. Within 34 hours of Katrina's landfall, they deployed to the region and were the first Air Force responders on scene. Once in place, the unit's rescue professionals sustained 21 days of around-the-clock operations involving 200 wing reservists. The wing was credited with saving 1,043 lives, including 475 people on Sept. 1, 2005.

A typical combat search and rescue crew is comprised of two pilots, a flight engineer, a gunner and two pararescuemen. During humanitarian search and rescue missions, the flight engineer and gunner assist pararescuemen in rescue operations. 

(Courtesy of Air Force Reserve Command News Service)

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