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Sumter catches glimpse of 'Inside Combat Rescue'

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Krystal M. Jeffers
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Far from home, in a country about the size of Texas, a call for rescue rings. Men dressed in camouflage burst from buildings and race toward a helicopter. The pilot, who wears a helmet that hides his face, flicks switches in the cockpit, and the aircraft slowly rumbles to life. The rotor blades begin to slowly turn and speed up with each pass as Airmen pile into the aircraft's belly. Tension seems to fill the air because the Airmen are aware people's lives hang in the balance. Once permission is given, the plane lifts into the air and rushes toward danger on the front lines.

Scenes like this are not uncommon in National Geographic's newest documentary, 'Inside Combat Rescue,' which follows a unit of pararescue jumpers, combat rescue officers (CROs) and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter pilots deployed to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. Pararescue jumpers and combat rescue officers are also commonly referred to as PJs and CROs respectively. They are also the Department of Defense only combat force specifically organized, trained and equipped to conduct combat rescue missions, according to the Air Force's pararescue factsheet.

For the first time, cameras were allowed to follow these elite units on to the battlefield. For four months, National Geographic joined these Airmen on the frontlines and recorded them as they charged into the fray to save others' lives while risking their own. The camera crew also captured Skype sessions with loved ones, and pranks and camaraderie among the group when awaiting a call for rescue.

A free, public premiere of the first episode of a six-part documentary, 'Inside Combat Rescue,' was shown at the Sumter Opera House, S.C., Feb. 9.

In attendance at the show was Maj. Gen. Lawrence Wells, 9th Air Force commander, who presented the documentary and educated the audience on South Carolina's role in rescue missions at deployed locations.

"We have F-16 Fighting Falcons from Shaw and McEntire Air National Guard Base and those airplanes ensure that we have combat air dominance, so we are allowed to go in and rescue warriors who have been wounded in action," the general said. "We also have C-17 Globemasterss from Charleston AFB. These aircraft take wounded warriors, after they have been sent to the hospital in Afghanistan, and they move them to Germany or to the United States. It is all part of our medical evacuation and recovery."

"These gentlemen fight their way in; they save lives and fight their way out," Wells continued.

When the unit receives a rescue call, they try to get the wounded to the hospital within an hour of their injury. This hour is known as the "golden hour."

If an injured warrior is rescued and transported to the hospital within an hour they have a 96 percent chance of survival, Wells said.

"Since 2001, this group of PJs, CROs and Pave Hawk pilots have saved more than 12,200 lives," said Wells.

"No matter what, we have people trained to bring home our Soldiers and Airmen," said Staff Sgt. Benjamin Westveer, U.S. Air Forces Central survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialist. "The government will do whatever it takes to bring them home."

Westveer has been in the military for 10 years, and during that time he has been on approximately seven missions in harm's way.

"I thought it was phenomenal," Westveer said after the showing. "I actually spent a month with that particular unit. National Geographic did a very good job representing how they work and talk."

Other audience members also had positive reviews.

"It was outstanding," said Staff Sgt. Ashley Kirkland, 337th Recruiting Squadron recruiter, Shaw AFB. "It was a good, firsthand look inside their career. I thought they did a good job capturing everything. I enjoyed it."

Kirkland was there to support her four recruits to whom Wells gave the oath of enlistment, along with 11 other recruits, after the showing. The recruits are going to be doing jobs like combat controller, PJ, explosive ordinance disposal, security forces, CROs, and SERE, said Kirkland.

Teresa Nagel, mother of Tom Nagel, PJ recruit, attended the showing not only to watch her son take his oath of enlistment, but to also learn more about his career field.

Nagel admitted that prior to the showing, she didn't understand what the PJs were or what they did even after researching it online. The film provided that understanding for her, Nagel said.

When the showing was over she said, "It was excellent. I don't think I will be able to watch the rest of it just because it was so emotionally wrenching. I was holding my breath."

The film showed the Airmen's struggles to complete their life-saving missions; the tension when they fly into combat and the emotional toll their job takes on them and their families.

"We've never really shown the impact it has on the families, the deployed warriors or, more importantly, those troops who are injured in combat," said Wells. "We have a sacred calling - the United States Air Force, PJs, CROs - which is that we will not let any Soldier, Sailor, Airmen or Marine go into combat, be wounded and be left there. We have a commitment to go save them and do everything to help them survive."

"The saying that they say all the time "these things we do, that others may live," is a commitment these young Airmen have that is beyond any other commitment they've made. You can rest assured if you have a son or daughter who is deployed into combat, somebody will be there for them every time they go outside the wire," he concluded.

Inside Combat Rescue is scheduled to premier Feb. 18 at 10 p.m on the National Geographic Channel. Check your local listings for channel information.