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J May-june 2009 39 from the Airmen. This elite group of men go through rigorous training that can take up to 24 months to earn the title of para- rescueman. They’re the only Department of Defense specialty specifically trained and equipped to conduct conventional and unconventional rescue operations. Pararescuemen can extract, treat, stabilize and evacuate injured personnel while acting in an enemy-evading and recovery role. They maintain emergency medical technician-paramedic qualifications throughout their careers. To become a pararescue- man they must complete the Pararescue Preparatory Course, Army Airborne School, Air Force Combat Diver School, Navy Underwater Egress Training, Air Force Basic Survival School, Army Military Free Fall Parachutist School, a Paramedic Course and the Pararescue Recovery Specialist Course. Once they finish their courses, they’ve only just begun. After an additional year of operational training back at the 920th, they are ready to deploy on an actual rescue mission. Now they must be ready at a moment’s notice to respond to those in need. While some Airmen perform their jobs in an office, pararescue- men earn their pay chiseling their bodies at the gym and pushing themselves to be the best they can be as they run countless miles on endless roads. Staying in top physical shape for them isn’t an option, it’s a necessity. When they’re called to help someone in need, there is no room for error, no time for rest and the cold reality that their level of individual strength and willpower may mean the difference between saving or losing a life. “That others may live,” is the last line of the oath all para- rescuemen take at the end of their training, but the words are taken to heart by all members of the 920th RQW. This unit is unique in the Air Force as it is made up of more than 1,500 Reservists. Some are full-time Air Reserve Technicians or Active Guard Reservists, and others are traditional Reservists, serving part-time while holding down civilian jobs. Airmen assigned to this Air Force Reserve Command unit are heavily involved in combat missions where they search for, locate and recover American servicemembers. In 2005, the wing deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. While deployed the unit made 54 combat rescues. In February 2008, the wing again deployed to Afghanistan for a 14-month mission to assist with medical evacuations as the number of insurgent attacks increased. “Since February 2008, we helped save more than 300 warfight- ers in (medical evacuation) missions in Afghanistan,” said Colonel Macrander. But the 920th, with its 23 subordinate groups and squadrons – including two geographically separated units at Portland, Ore., and Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. – also provides world- wide-humanitarian relief, as wing members support rescue efforts in the aftermath of disasters such as hurricanes, floods and earth- quakes. They’re also called upon by officials from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall AFB, Fla., to assist in the search and rescue of people lost in the mountains or at sea. Wing members saved 137 residents in south Florida following Hurricane Andrew in 1992, and another 93 Tampa-area residents from flood waters in 1993. More than 200 people were rescued after Hurricane Floyd in 1999, and the wing is credited with saving 1,043 people after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The unit also supported relief efforts for 2008 hurricanes Gustav and Ike with more than a dozen rescues for those storms. The unit is called out to assist the Coast Guard on search and rescue missions about four times a year, with the latest effort in early March. Airmen from the 920th helped in the search effort for four missing boaters — including two NFL players — whose boat capsized in a 24,000-square-mile area in the Gulf of Mexico. Although three boaters were lost, the 920th assisted the Coast Guard in rescuing one person from the rough and chilly waters. To be the best, you have to prepare for the worst. When Mother Nature unleashes her fury, when a boat capsizes out at sea, when a person is injured while mountain climbing, or when warfighters are down and need assistance, the members of the 920th RQW are trained and ready wherever and whenever they are needed. “We get a lot of satisfaction knowing we returned somebody’s loved one to his or her family,” said Colonel Macrander, who helped save a Navy SEAL who was the lone survivor of a four- person team ambushed deep in al-Qaida territory in 2005. “To see the smiles on their faces knowing they came back home is truly rewarding in and of itself,” the colonel said. “There is no greater mission than to use your skills and go out and save some- body’s life.” An Air Force Reserve pararescueman of the 920th Rescue Wing surveys the Banana River off the coast of Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. Light sticks are worn as a safety precaution while conducting nighttime water rescue training exercises. The wing is training in preperation of a possible rescue of NASA astronauts in the event of a shuttle bailout.