Kadena Airmen rescue stranded surfer

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Gerardo Gonzalez
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFPN) --  A day of surfing in Okinawa could have turned deadly for a Marine Corps family member the evening of Aug. 5 had it not been for the quick efforts of Airmen here.

An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter crew jumped into action after the Japanese coast guard asked Kadena's 18th Wing for assistance in finding a 19-year-old American gone missing while surfing at a local beach.

The man, a victim of the riptide, was reported missing at 7:15 p.m. But as the sky darkened, the coast guard was forced to call off its search because of low visibility, leaving the fate of the young man in the hands of six Airmen from the 33rd and 31st Rescue Squadrons.

"Nighttime is one of our specialties in the combat rescue business," said Lt. Col. Gary Henderson, 33rd RQS commander. "We have additional equipment and do a lot of training at night to have that kind of capability."

Mission approval was granted at 10 p.m. Within 30 minutes the helicopter was "wheels up" and en route for what turned out to be a quick search thanks to a suggestion from one of the crewmembers.

"Our aerial gunner, Senior Airman Matt Morrow, a surfer, suggested we search an area near (a beach) where there are fishing nets anchored off the coast," said Lt. Col. John Dallin, 33rd RQS director of operations and mission pilot. "That's where we spotted his surfboard first and then saw him hanging onto the nets."

From then it was a "textbook" pick-up, said Tech. Sgt. Brandon Casteel, a 31st RQS pararescueman. The helicopter made several passes over the surfer and deployed chemical light sticks into the water to help pilots get a visual reference of the area. On the final pass the helicopter hovered close enough to the water for two pararescuemen to jump out.

"We went in the water and swam to him," Sergeant Casteel said. "We assessed him and made sure he was good to go, then swam him back out into open water and called in the helicopter."

After spending nearly four hours in the water, the 19-year old was safe and on his way to a medical facility for examination.

Sergeant Casteel said he thinks the surfer and a friend may have been tossed around by large waves. Though the friend made it back to shore, the surfer did not. He instead drifted away from land until he grabbed onto the fishing nets.

“He was in pretty good shape," Sergeant Casteel said. "I think he was just glad to get out of the water ... he was cold and tired."

The aircrew was grateful for the outcome of the rescue considering they initially feared the worst.

"It was a good mission," Sergeant Casteel said. "To actually see the guy (alive) and help out was awesome."

Colonel Dallin agrees that it could not have gone better.

"This was the smoothest execution of teamwork I've ever seen," he said.

"We're very proud of our HH-60 crew, (pararescuemen) and all the Airmen (who) contributed to this rescue for their outstanding work," said Brig. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, 18th Wing commander. "This was a great ending to what might have otherwise been another senseless tragedy."

The 33rd RQS commander was also quick to credit not only his aircrew, but the Airmen working behind the scenes in aircraft maintenance, the command post and security forces.

"From start to finish we got a lot of good support from all around," Colonel Henderson said.