Air Force unit a real lifesaver

[Rebecca 0]

This is about one of my closest friends, soon-to-be daddy (with my best friend Steph), John Lowe. War Eagle, Lowes. I love y'all.

(I love feeling so proud of my friends.

ABOVE AVON PARK AIR FORCE RANGE -- Maj. John Lowe has flown rescue missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, flying in the dark of night to find injured Navy SEALs or a 10-year-old Afghan boy injured by mortar fire.

But it was late last year, facing no enemy fire, that Lowe said he did the most meticulous flying of his young career.

Lowe was one of the helicopter pilots who went to New Orleans in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina to save hundreds of residents stranded on their roofs.

The flights meant working in tight urban spaces, sometimes just a few feet from power lines. Occasionally he would drop so low that his wheel would brush the roofline of the house he was targeting.

"We had to use every bit of training we had," said Lowe, 33. "And even then we had to make some stuff up."

Lowe is part of the Air Force Reserve Command's 920th Rescue Wing, a specialized combat rescue unit at Patrick Air Force Base. The unit has been saving downed soldiers -- and civilians -- for five decades.

The wing is credited with 54 saves in Afghanistan and 26 saves in Iraq. And in New Orleans, crews from the 920th pulled 1,043 people from the flood.

The unit's motto is, "These things we do that others may live," but Lt. Col. Jeff Macrander said it could just as easily be, "Been there, done that, got the T-shirt."

"We can pretty much go anywhere on the planet," he said.

Tuesday the unit invited reporters to attend a rescue simulation at Avon Park Air Force Range, a training ground southwest of the base. Two Pave Hawk helicopters and an HC-130 transport plane were to find and rescue a wounded and stranded airman.

The helicopters, equipped with two window-mounted machine guns, left the base a little after noon, skimming above the Florida brush at 125 mph.

The transport plane joined them, carrying rescue jumpers who also are certified paramedics. The jumpers hit the ground with supplies, weapons and fully loaded medical packs.

The idea, Senior Master Sgt. Doug Kestranek said, "is to stop the bleeders and get the airways open."

Tuesday, the rescue jumpers parachuted out and tended to their mock victim. Within 20 seconds of the Pave Hawk's touching down, they had loaded him aboard.

The unit conducts similar training exercises throughout the year. The work has proven useful away from the battlefield.

Lowe, for example, didn't think he would be rescuing people from a drowned American city when he became a pilot in 2002. But he and his unit were in New Orleans within hours after the storm.

Though there was little coordination at first, finding victims was easy.

"We went in after dark," he said, "and every single roof in the city had someone with a flashlight on it. Just thousands of them."

So Lowe and his crew dropped down and began pulling people out.

Most victims were hoisted up in a safety harness lowered from the helicopter. But in some cases, that was impossible or too slow. Lowe said that at one point, a rescue jumper -- tethered to the inside of the copter -- lay on his stomach, reached out and pulled people in.

"He said, 'Take it down another foot, and I can just grab them,' " Lowe said. "So that's what we did."

In all, Lowe's crew rescued 278 people during the time in New Orleans. This weekend, he and the 920th will be honored by the Air Force Association for work during Katrina and elsewhere.

Lowe said combat and humanitarian rescue work offer different challenges.

But they're equally rewarding.

"A life is a life," he said. "It doesn't matter where you're from."

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[leapdog 0]

Excellent! those men and women are tough.

Gunnery Sergeant of Marines
"I would like it if I were challenged mentally at my job and not feel like I'm mentally challenged." - Co-worker

[ExAFO 0]

My AFF instructor way back when was a CMSgt PJ. Suffice to say I felt safe no matter what happened.

Edited to add: And I carefully omitted telling him I was a 2Lt at the time. Didn't want him to change his estimation of me.

Illinois needs a CCW Law. NOW.

[masterrig 1]

What do you say about someone like that? WOW! A real credit to his uniform and his country.


Chuck

[Broke 0]

Dude PJs rock!

Divot your source for all things Hillbilly.
Anvil Brother 84
SCR 14192

[Amazon 7]

USAF PJ's and thier entire units RAWK


Over the years they have gone far above and beyond to follow thier motto...

That Others May Live.
Many a family in this country owes much to these units.

[freeflir29 0]

Clowns!



Just kidding. PJ's are good shit. Have several friends still doing the job. Only person I would want working on me more than a PJ if I was broken is an 18D. They save many lives every year of not just military people. A friend sent me his article from Airman magazine. Seems he plucked a few fisherman from their sinking boat off Iceland a few years ago. They can have that job though. I always found that it's a lot easier to make holes than trying to patch them up.