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Recovery mission takes a wild turn for Charleston senior NCO

  • Published
  • By Airman Ian Hoachlander
  • 437th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. (AFNS) --  A senior NCO here recently returned from a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command recovery mission to find the remains of an American pilot in Laos.

The mission of JPAC is to achieve the fullest possible accounting of all Americans missing as a result of the nation's past conflicts. Master Sgt. Wesley Housel, a member of the 437th Operations Support Squadron, was a digger assigned to a 10-member recovery team on a 36-day deployment. His team's mission was to search and recover the remains of a lieutenant who was shot down in Laos during the Vietnam War.

He said he volunteered to take part in one of these missions because this was a task he has always wanted to be a part of. 

JPAC teams are staffed with a forensic anthropologist, field medic, an explosive ordnance disposal technician, a life support investigator and a forensic photographer. A handful of Laos locals also help the team carry their equipment and built anything the team needed.

Recovery missions can last anywhere from 35 to 60 days depending on location, terrain and the nature of the recovery. Crash sites are blocked off 4-meter-by 4-meter squares, and the soil is then sifted with a high pressure hose and a quarter-inch screen. When JPAC members think they've found human remains or life support equipment, the findings are sent back to the Central Identification Laboratory at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii for confirmation. 

"After the rain rolled through, the humidity would kick in and South Carolina would feel like a cold place compared to Laos," Sergeant Housel said.

The rainy season was not the only hurdle the team had to overcome. The terrain was very steep at the crash site and there was very thick vegetation.

"What is important to remember while on these types of missions is safety is paramount. You have to remember that you are there for a fallen comrade, because the conditions you operate in will destroy your morale very quickly if you do not maintain focus," Sergeant Housel said. "The average incline at our crash site was probably about 30 percent." 

In order for the team to get to the crash site, they would take a 25-minute helicopter ride every morning from their hotel into the jungle.

The morning of July 27, the team boarded an aircraft they typically did not use and took off from a new area.

"We started to lift off and the pilot set it (the helicopter) back down ... and took right off again," Sergeant Housel said.

According to Sergeant Housel, the witnesses said the helicopter slid back and the main rotor struck a tree behind it. When it struck the tree, the rotor actually stopped in the tree, the helicopter spun and landed upside-down.

"The next thing I know is I'm upside-down in my seat and that the importance of wearing a seatbelt is true," Sergeant Housel said. "I told my buddies to stay in their seatbelts -- not that politely -- because we didn't know if we were done rolling. We spun one-and-a-half more times and rolled one-and-a-half more times. The helicopter took off July 27 at 7:58 a.m. and we landed at 7:59 a.m. ... upside-down."

He said every member aboard the helicopter remained calm and exited the aircraft accordingly. The professionalism of the military showed through even after the crash. Then one simple word turned an orderly evacuation into everyone running for the hills.

"Each member on the helicopter was getting out cool and calm ... until someone yelled 'fire,' Then it was every man...for themselves," Sergeant Housel joked.

While team members faced perilous conditions, the dedication and attention to safety Sergeant Housel displayed ensured the mission was a success in more ways than one.