Airlift! The Story of the Military Airlift Command

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.^-

1

I

omniand

Marcella Thum and

Gladys Thum SL^'^r COMM;.

ISBN D-B^b-QfiSE^-b

LB >^1E.^5

AIRLIFT! The Story of

the

Mihtary Airlift

Command

Thum and Gladys Thum Marcella

Illustrated with photographs

"You

we haul." Ever since the Military Command's beginning in 1941 as the

call,

Airlift

Air Corps Ferrying

Command,

been doing

—

from troops

The

just that

MAC

has

everything

airlifting

to missiles to a whale.

Military Airlift

wartime under

Command

operates in

battle conditions. Yet seeking

out the eye of a hurricane, airdropping food

and supplies ing

for disaster victims, air-evacuat-

wounded, taking the President where he

wants to go on Air Force

One are only a few of

other responsibilities.

MAC has been called

its

"the biggest, busiest, most far-ranging aerial

cargo carrier in the world."

MAC

s

dramatic, little-known story

is

told

here in text and photographs. Also featured are

MAC's

legendary transports, from the ever-

reliable

C-47 Gooney Bird

to the

C-5 Galaxy,

^the largest aircraft in the world.

DD,

MEAD & COMPANY k, N.Y. 10016

AIRLIFT!

ctvtRYyyG

mS^^

AIRLIFT! The Story of the

Marcella

Military Airlift

Command

Thum and Gladys Thum

Illustrated with photographs

DODD, MEy\D

&

COMPANY

New

York

PICTURE CREDITS Lyndon Baines Johnson

Library (Cecil Stoughton), 88;

National Air and Space

Museum, Smithsonian

Institution,

85, 86, 95, 108. All other photographs are Official

U.S. Air Force Photos.

©

Copyright

1986 by Marcella

Thum

and Gladys

Thum

All rights reserved

No

book may be reproduced in any form in writing from the publisher Distributed in Canada by McClelland and Stewart Limited, Toronto Manufactured in the United States of America part of this

without permission

1

2

4

3

6

5

7

8

9

10

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Thum,

Marcella.

Airlift!

:

the story of the Military Airlift

Command.

Includes index.

Summary: which

is

A

history of

MAC,

a military organization

the "backbone of deterrence" for United States

fighting forces, the largest peacetime cargo airline in the world,

and

a

humanitarian airhft

in

times of

disaster. 1.

United

Command Air Force.

Gladys.

States.

Air Force.

— History—

Military Airlift

Juvenile literature.

Military Airlift

Command

—

[1.

United

History]

I.

States.

Thum,

II. Title.

UG633.T46 1986 ISBN 0-396-08529-6

358.4'4'0973

85-27397

In tribute to the Airlifters of the United States Air Force, valiantly served

and

who

gallantly died in support of this nations dedi-

cation to the principles of liberty

and freedom.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Grateful recognition

mander, Det

Donald

1,

Hq

Custin,

AAW Historian; Lt.

Portia

McCracken,

Dolney, 375th

Tom

AAW

Edward Wittel, Com-

Raymond

Fuller,

MAC

Historians; Betty KenJojola,

MAC

Hq

MAC

Linda Frierdich, and

Public Affairs;

Public Affairs; Maj. Byron

O'Laughlin of The

Editor, Airlift;

Hq

MAC

Col.

Weather; David Wilson, Darlene Maj.

Col.

1361st Aerospace Audiovisual Service; John Fuller,

Little, Joylyn

nedy, 375th

gi\'en to Lt.

is

Flyer; Maj.

Lt.

Tom

Howard and

Thornton

Phillips,

and Vivian White of the Research Center,

USAF

Museum, Dayton, Ohio. Special thanks to Lt. Cols. Billic Carpenter and John Johanck,

present and past commandants. Airlift Operations School, and the

following faculty and Lt. Col.

staff of

the School: Lt. Col. David Myers,

Clement Wehner, Maj. Carol Henry, Maj. Ronnv Smith,

Maj. Peter Nelson, Maj. Danny Dees, and Maj. Kent Douglas for their unfailing assistance

and support.

Contents

Foreword

JJ

We

1.

"You

2.

Lifeline in the Sky

3.

"That Others

4.

The Hurricane Hunters

5S

5.

Flying Ambulances

68

6.

Air Force

7.

Air

8.

Airdrop or Airland

9.

Behind the Scenes

10.

Call,

Haul"

May

13

28 41

Live"

One

83

Commandos

MAC'S Index

Planes

93

—Anything, An\\\hcrc at

MAC

103

117

US J

39

FOREWORD

From

its

beginning

in

Command,

1941 as the Air Corps Ferrying

throngh three wars and innumerable humanitarian missions, the Military Airlift

Command

and abroad by pro\'iding in the world.

Although

has served the United States at

airlift, its

home

when and where needed, anywhere

primary mission

national strategy and national policy,

is

MAC

airlift in

also has

support of

many

other

varied and important responsibilities: aeromedical, spceial air mission, operational

support

airlift,

combat

rescue, special operations,

audiovisual and weather services.

The

authors of this book have not attempted to write a com-

plete, in-depth presentation of the U.S. Air Force's Military Airlift

Command.

Tliev ha\'e, however, brought together little-kno\\'n

information on the proud histon^ of the oldest

USAF, As

as well as

a former

mand,

I

showing what

Commander

belicx'c tlic

MAC

is

command

in tlie

and does.

in Cliief of the Militan' Airlift

importance of military

airlift in

Com-

the past and

11

present should be better known; even

awareness of the

vital

more important

role the Military Airlift

is

inereased

Command

will

play in the future.

General William G. Moore,

USAF

12

Jr.

(Ret.)

CHAPTER

You

By

Call,

the spring of 1941, during

We Haul

World War

II,

England was

ing under Nazi air attacks and desperately in need of

and

fighter planes.

Although America was

President Franklin D. Roosevelt on

War

Secretary of

bombers

to

Command

to speed

England.

The

up the

war material by

—but

28,

more bombers

officially neutral,

1941, ordered the

delivery of American-built

Command

—the transporting

airlift

air

May

still

reel-

very next day the Air Corps Ferrying

was activated. The

ginning of military

I

was not only the beof planes, troops,

and

the predecessor of the Military Airlift

Command, the oldest command in the United States Air Force. The original mission of the new Command was to ferry Americanbuilt

British

lend-lease airplanes

States to departure points in

Canadian

pilots to Britain.

from

Canada

factories

in

the United

for transport

Soon, however, the Fernying

by

British-

Command 13

also

became

a military air transport service for the

ment. Military passengers and

civilians

War

Depart-

on diplomatic missions

were ferried aboard B-24 Liberator bombers from Boiling Field

Washington, D.C.,

North Atlantic

Montreal and Newfoundland, then

to

to Scotland.

via the

Often the only seating available

the passengers aboard the B-24s was in the

bomb

in

for

bays!

Despite the fact that few American pilots and crews prior to

1941 had any experience in flying over water or at night, within six

months the Ferrying Command, under the command

nel Robert Olds, flying night

December

had delivered 1,350

aircraft to the

and day. With the Japanese attack

the Ferrying

Command

began

East Coast,

at Pearl

Harbor on

World War

1941, and America's entrance into

7,

of Colo-

much-expanded foreign

its

II,

ferrying

operations by delivering four B-24 Liberator bombers to the Middle East.

The

Command

Ferrying

ing air routes that

Eventually these

had never been

new

air routes

.

different

from the Ferrying

ATC

handled

airlift

entire

War

important

Department.

new mission

ican servicemen

and

And by

order, considering that the

by

chart-

aircraft before.

the globe.

was renamed the Air

mission of the

August, 1942,

of air-evacuating sick

women

mapping and

ATC

was not

Command, but greatly expanded. for the Army Air Forces but for the

much

just

circle

Command

Command (ATC) The not

traveled

would

In June, 1942, the Ferr\qng

Transport

also started

ATC

took on the

and wounded Amer-

throughout the world.

new Command had

less

It

was

a large

than a dozen

transport planes and even fewer airfields with which to perform

its

duties.

Factories were working day and night turning out fighter planes

and bombers

14

for the

war

effort.

At

first,

ATC

had

to purchase

Boeing

Martin Flying Boats, and Boeing Stratoliners

clippers,

(C-75s)

from commercial

lack of aircraft

The

airlines to use as transport planes.

was only one of the new command's problems.

mapping

laborious

and

across the Atlantic

of new, previously uncharted air routes

Pacific,

which

are as essential to airlift as

highways are to automobiles, had only out in the Pacific. Japan's occupation of

—the new

routes

had

fore desperately

just

begun when war broke

many

of the Pacific islands

Wake, Guadalcanal, and Midway

Philippines,

air

But

to

be charted and new island

needed

men and

—meant

that

airfields built be-

supplies could be airlifted to the

war zone.

Pacific

The most

ATC,

pressing problem facing

and crews

of trained pilots

though, was the lack

to fly their transport planes.

Most

of

the experienced pilots and crews were already flying fighters and

bombers. Once again,

ATC

turned to the commercial

and crews were inducted into the

Civilian pilots

placed under contract to the

airlines

Army

and

service

man

pilots to

Then one day

civilian

Even with

Air Force.

help from the commercial airlines, however, there were

enough

airlines.

still

ne\'er

ATC

ferry-

the transport planes.

Col. William H. Tunner, head of the

ing division's domestic wing, discovered that the wife of one of his

was

officers pilots,

and

women

like

a pilot,

here's

'Tm combing the woods for my nose. Are there many more

and exclaimed,

one

right

under

your wife?"

''Why don't you

ask her?"

Major Love

replied.

Although there was considerable opposition

women pilots

pilots flying for the military'

—

so

much

to

the idea of

so that the

women

were not granted military status and onlv flew within the

United States

—Nancy Love managed

to start the

Women's Aux15

(WAFS)

Ferrying Squadron

iliary

.

Jacqueline Cochran later

Women's

corporated the organization into the

(WASP)

Pilots

At

first,

the

Air Force Service

program.

women

and high-powered

Army

fighter planes.

Air Force's biggest bombers

They

also acted as test pilots

By 1944,

targets for antiaircraft artillery practice.

all

the pilots ferrying fighter planes were

of

all

women, and

were accomplished with

women wore

WASPs

in the cockpit.

the wings of

Women's

and

half of

three-fourths

domestic deliveries of America's military planes of

thousand

Soon,

pilots ferried small training planes.

however, they were ferrying the

towed

in-

all

types

More than one

Air Force Service

Pilots.

While women

pilots

were breaking new ground

in

America, the

greatest sustained, intensive use of airlift in history

was being

undertaken on the other side of the world. In 1942, Japan blocked all

water and land access to China, effectively cutting the supply

line to

Chinese and American troops fighting the Japanese

China.

The

only remaining lifeline into China was by

air

in

from

Eastern India over the awesome Himalaya Mountains into the

Yunnan Province

Hump." The task of

of China. This 500-mile air route was

known

as

''the

and supplies

to

flying ''the

bringing vitally needed guns

Chinese and American troops

to the India-China

"the

Hump,"

Wing

Hump" became

of the Air Transport

one of the epics of

The uncharted Himalaya Mountains 16,500

feet.

Many

in

China, was given

Command.

airlift history.

soared from

The weather was

called

monsoons, to violent turbulence that could cause

16

14,000 to

of the peaks were shrouded in constant cloud

cover.

plummet 3,000

Flying

treacherous, from torrential rainstorms,

feet a minute,

a plane to

and freezing temperatures that

Four members of the Women's Air Force Service Pilots (WASPs) after graduation from B-17 school at Lockbourne Field, Ohio, 1944.

could cause severe icing on the

unknown.

When

planes went

aircraft.

down

just

Radio beams w ere almost

in the

Himalayas, few of the

crews were ever seen again. Pilots

who avoided

the higher peaks to the north, and took the

southern route over the Himalayas, had to cross over northern

Burma

into

territory

Birds,

China and fared

little better.

and ATC's unarmed C-46

and

later,

Burma was

Japanese-held

Commandos and C-47 Gooney

the C-54 Skymasters,

Japanese Zeros. Although often shot

at,

came under

attack from

transport planes were not

17

built or

equipped to shoot back.

If

shot

down

over Burma, the

dense jungle soon obliterated any trace of the planes, and any vivors

had

to fend off tribes of headhunters

who

sur-

lived in the area.

Some ingenious pilots of C-87s (converted B-24s) also flying ''the Hump/' placed black-painted bamboo poles, the thickness of gun

barrels, into their ships' noses, sides,

and

tails,

hoping

their

planes would resemble Liberator bombers and frighten off the Zeros!

A

C-46 Commando of the Air Transport Command flying ''the Hump,'' the snow-capped Himalayas between India and China, in World War 11.

-^.^•^N. *

^^'

i,:'*%»'^HiM:t^

Nevertheless, despite shortages of gasoline and airplane parts, primitive living conditions, and crews suffering from malaria and

American

dysentery, and three

flown into China, ''the

Hump"

in military histor}', airlift kept

and

''beans

One

bullets."

every thousand tons

lives lost for airlift

continued. For the

an entire combat theater

historian has said,

Hump

nibal's crossing of the Alps, the

in the annals of military history as

first

time

alive

with

"Together with Han-

operation will go

one of the most

down

difficult logistics

missions accomplished by any military force.''

While

the Air Transport

tegic airlift

—transporting

United States

Command

planes, troops,

war zone

to a

was the beginning of

—

and supplies from the

Europe the IX Troop Carrier

in

Command was the beginning of tactical airlift and supplies

directly into battle.

which was not part of

ATC,

stra-

—transporting troops

The Troop

Carrier

Command,

used C-47s and gliders to carry

air-

borne troops directly into battle in Nazi-held France on D-Day.

Wars throughout by which

side

is

been won or

history have always

the strongest, but by logistics

lost

—which

not just side can

supply and resupply their army the fastest with the most troops

and equipment. Surface and tial in

any long-term

sealift

conflict.

But

transportation are stiR essen-

for the

first

time during

World

War

II,

field

with a speed and efficiency and over distances never before

troops and war materials were transported to armies in the

possible. Airlift

had added

After the end of

a

new dimension

World War

II,

the

to warfare.

Army

Air Corps

became

a

separate military service, the United States Air Force. In 1948, the

Air Transport Service

Command

was renamed the Military Air Transport

(MATS) and became

operating a global

air

fense. In addition to

a

major

command under USAF,

transport system for the

its

Department

of

De-

strategic airlift mission, aeromedical evacu-

19

and transporting important

ation^

of the United States,

MATS

dignitaries,

became

such as the President

responsible for Air Weather,

Air Rescue services and Airways and Air Communications Service.

However, Tactical Air Command,

MATS, became

responsible, for the

a

separate

most

command from

part, for tactical airlift,

transporting airborne troops and their equipment into forward

combat

areas.

Despite

its

vital missions,

MATS was cut back severely after the

war, as were other military services. So

much

so that

when

the

West Berlin, the World War II, were

Russians suddenly threw their blockade around

C-47

MATS,

transports of

the workhorses of

almost worn out.

At the

close of

World War

II,

West

Berlin was an island sur-

rounded by the Russian zone of occupied Germany. Berlin had been

—

The Western powers United States, Great and France controlled West Berlin; the Russians, East

split in

two.

—

Britain,

Berlin. In June, 1948, Russia

to

West

lighting

Berlin.

Without

blockaded

Western powers

tanks were massing on the

blockade could be the

road and water access

food, medical supplies, and coal vital to

and heating homes and

to force the

all

start

factories, the

to

Communists hoped

abandon West

Berlin. Russian

German borders. Many of World War III.

believed the

Gen. Lucius D. Clay, the U.S. military governor of West

Berlin,

telephoned Maj. Gen. Curtis LeMay, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, and asked an urgent question, ''Can you haul coal?''

General

LeMay

replied with

what has become the

rallying cry of airlifters everywhere, ''General,

traditional

we can haul

any-

thing.''

The 20

job of running the Berlin

airlift

was given to the former

head of ATC's ferrying

domestic wing,

division,

now Maj. Gen.

MATS.

William H. Tunner, Deputy Commander, Air Transport, General Tunner was put in charge of the

and saw

Berlin

at

Task Force

1st Airlift

in

once that the larger G-54 Slcymasters were neces-

sary to take over the job of supplying the besieged city.

Even with the

larger G-54s, there

problems facing the Berlin

hills

or ''Operation Vittles'' as

airlift,

Tempelhof Airport

called.

were almost insurmountable

middle of Berlin

in the

and apartment buildings, making

it

girdled

is

air traffic difficult

was

by

under the

best of conditions. In the winter, low-lying fogs and sleet storms

made

takeoffs

and landings even more dangerous. Yet

keep the

each day hundreds of American and British aircraft had

city alive,

and take

to land, off-load their valuable cargo,

Instead,

airport.

to

because of

the

heavy

off

again from the

traffic,

airplanes

''stacked up'' over the airfield, wasting valuable gasoline

were

and time,

waiting to land.

General Tunner's aircraft arriving at

apart, flying at all

at

up

staff set

a

new

traffic pattern.

Tempelhof was spaced

200 miles an hour.

To

Each loaded

exactly three minutes

maintain that

traffic

pattern,

planes were required to pass checkpoints at a precise height and

an exact time. Each plane then made a straightaway pass

runway and to climb

if

the pilot failed to

and return

to his

home

make the

at the

landing, he was ordered

base from which he would

make

a fresh start.

The tern

even break their rigidly controlled

pilots didn't

when Russian

airplanes,

and

fighter planes dived in front of the transport

shells

and paratroopers were dropped

C-54s. In spite of any and a remarkable

traffic pat-

all

620 round-trip

close to the

obstacles, the Berlin airlift continued,

flights a day.

The

airlift

brought every-

thing from coal and flour and medical supplies to milk and candy

21

The markings on

this

MATS

C-S4

tell

the story: "Last Vittles flight

airlifted to Berlin!'

for the children of

West

called off their blockade. ber,

Berlin. In

The

May, 1949, the Russians

Berlin

by which time American and

airlift

continued

till

finally

Septem-

had

de-

gained in flying the Berlin

air-

British air transports

livered 2.5 million tons of material to Berlin.

The lift

valuable experience

came

in

handy

MATS

a year later

when North Korea invaded South

Korea, and America was once again at war. first

C-54 was the

plane destroyed in that conflict.

The

Pacific

airlift

supporting the United Nations forces in

Korea was one of the longest tical pipeline of

aerial

supply lines in history, a

nearly 10,000 nautical miles.

from the West Coast of the United States

22

A MATS

The

to the

logis-

shortest route

combat zone

re-

quired 30 hours of flying time.

two Army Korean

di\'isions

again, as in

and personnel, additional

United States

MATS

airlift

had

to the

II,

to the

to turn to civilian airlines to supply

war zone. In 1952, President Harry Tru-

With CRAF,

more than 300 commercial

CRAF

(CRAF)

,

planned use of

a

aircraft

capability in times of national

Korea.

move

because of a shortage of planes

established the Civil Reserve Air Fleet

riers, lift

their bases in the

World War

in existence today.

still

agonizing weeks to

six

front.

Once

man

from

took

It

which

is

civil car-

can be added to U.S.

air-

emergencv or war.

nearly doubled the U.S. long-range

Each day more than 100 tons

of

airlift

capability in

emergency military items

were flown from the United States to Japan for transshipment to the fighting units in Korea.

On from

the battlefields in Korea, wherever troops were entrenched, rice

paddies to mountaintops,

munition, food and medicine. penetrated 125 miles behind

airlift

MATS Air

enemy Hues

provided guns and am-

Rescue helicopters often to rescue

downed United

Nations crewmembers, and for those troops wounded airlift

meant medical

care

and

in action,

a hospital bed, often within twenty-

four hours.

After the Korean

War,

various ''brush-fire'' wars and political

erupted around the world in the 1950s and

crises

'60s.

The

Suez,

Lebanon, the Congo, the Dominican Republic, and Pakistan were

among some

A

of the trouble spots

fast-reacting, highly

where violence suddenly exploded.

mobile force was needed

or end conflicts posing a threat to the airlift

gave

MATS

United

to deter, contain,

States.

Modern

the ability to position troops and supplies

jet

when

and where they were needed. It

wasn't until the Vietnam

War, however,

that a jet aircraft.

23

the

C-141

meet

built to

was specially designed, engineered, and

Starlifter,

new C-141, along with

men

10,355

and cargo

military standards as a troop

the older C-133 Cargomaster, airlifted

at the

maximum

Hoa

in

South

in the largest

and longest

stra-

attempted to a combat zone from the

tegic military airlift ever States.

Again, as in Korea, the

down out By

to Bien

42 days. Unloading operations of each plane required

in

twenty minutes

United

and 5,118 tons of

of the 101st Airborne Division

equipment from Fort Campbell, Kentucky,

Vietnam

The

carrier.

MATS

Air Rescue helicopters swooped

of the sky to rescue pilots

downed behind enemy

the end of the war, they had saved 4,120

human

lines.

beings from

death, suffering, or captivity.

Tactical

Air

which

airlift,

Command, fire

time was

still

under the Tactical

airlifted supplies directly into the front lines,

as the besieged U.S.

enemy

at that

Marine base

at

such

Khe Sanh. Under constant

from machine guns and mortars, C-1 30s continued

to

unload food and ammunition, airdropping the supplies when the

runway was destroyed,

in the biggest single parachute airdrop op-

eration in U.S. military history.

In Vietnam, a

modest term

their missions.

between is

armed

power

airlifters called

to describe the courage

One

flying the

took to

The C-1 30

fly

was

on many of

transport pilot described the difference

C-1 30 and the F-4 fighter plane. ''The F-4 pilot

to get out of there.

for the F-4 pilot,

24

airlift

it

''trash haulers.'' It

to the teeth, starts high, does his trick

and wishes he had

blue.

themselves

A

and

lights the scat

C-1 30 pilot does his act low and slow

'just a little' scat

he can wait

power.

If

things don't go right

for his seat to kick

him out

into the

guys have to unbuckle, run about 50 feet to the

cargo ramp, and then decide

if

a

parachute landing

fall is

better

than riding the beast into the ground."

Both

strategic

and

tactical

Vietnam ended up

transports in

ammunition

carrying everything from tanks and

to elephants

and

refugee Vietnamese babies.

On lift

January

1,

Command,

1966,

with

its

MATS

was redesignated the Military Air-

strategic airlift

and other missions remain-

Communications

ing mostly the same. However, the Air

Mission had been separated from

Rescue mission was

MATS

now expanded

in 1961,

MAC's

Air

to include coordinating search

and rescue missions within the United States

NASA's

and

Ser\ice

as well as

supporting

space explorations. Air Rescue was renamed the Aero-

space Rescue and Recovery Service.

The

Charting Service which had begun under

Air Photographic and

MATS

in

1951 became

the Aerospace Audiovisual Service, providing motion picture, television,

and

still

photographic coverage for

In December, 1974,

MAC

as well as strategic airlift.

By

assumed

all

Air Force activities.

responsibility for tactical

consolidating strategic and tactical

airlift

under one command, the efficiency and

airlift

was greatly increased.

In 1977,

MAC became a specified command,

flexibility of total

still

under

USAF

but reporting directly to the President through the Secretary of

Defense and Joint Chiefs of crisis.

Staff during

wartime and periods of

Special Operations Forces was added to

MAC's many,

versatile missions

MAC

were tested

in

in 1983.

October, 1983,

during the Grenada operation called ''Urgent Fury." Grenada involved almost every

MAC

wing

in

the United States, from

special operations, aeromedical evacuation, aerospace rescue

recovery, to weather

and audiovisual

services.

and

MAC planes airlifted 25

• 38085

m T

r

#***

til

Army

AFB

nm

V

MAC C-141B North Carolina from Grenada.

troops march off a

in

and helicopters

troops, military equipment,

on Grenada, and

airfield

assault forces

From tarized

bone

its

Starlifter after returning to

MAC

planes carried the

wounded and

home.

commercial

airline,

MAC,

today, has

of deterrence'' for U.S. fighting forces.

vital interests are

threatened,

supply, and redeploy U.S.

ment anywhere

combat

in the world,

of

MAC,

MAC

more than

a mili-

become the

''back-

forces

and do

Wherever America's

must be ready

it

and

to deploy, re-

their support equip-

in a matter of days.

however, are not just trained to operate in

wartime and under battle conditions.

26

to the Point Salines

original mission of operating as little

The people

Pope

MAC

also

is

the largest

peacetime cargo

ment

of

airline in

Defense and

In addition,

MAC

its

the world,

its

customers the Depart-

components.

also operates the world's largest

far-reaching humanitarian

threatened by natural or

throwing a

airlift,

man-made

disasters.

lifeline

As we

and most to peoples

shall see in the

next chapter, perhaps no other military organization has touched the

lives of so

With

MAC

many people

of so

many

lands.

the delivery in 1969 of the C-5 Galaxy, the worlds largest aircraft achieved a revolution in airlift. Here an F-S is being loaded aboard

aC-S.

MILITARY AIRLIFT

COMMAND

27

CHAPTER

Lifeline in the

It

was an early Friday afternoon

in

gronnd began to shake beneath the

Sky

when

October, 1980,

city of

El

Asnam

and mosques collapsed

like

the

in Algeria.

Within minutes, the earth heaved and ofHce and apartment ings, hotels, schools,

2

build-

houses of cards.

Frightened residents rushing out into the street were crushed

beneath the bricks and stones.

happened

so quickly.

The dogs

One

survivor said, "Everything

did not have time to bark.''

When

the last tremors had ended, 80 percent of the city was destroyed

and thousands were dead or

injured,

still

trapped beneath the

rubble.

By Sunday morning

the

first

carrying relief supplies and a

Team. By the time the three

28

airlift

MAC

C-141 had arrived

at Algiers

38-man Disaster Assistance Survey was

finished, eight

C-130 Hercules, and one C-5 Galaxy

aircraft

MAC and

C-141s,

their crews

had flown 375 tons of devastated

tents, blankets,

and

otlier supplies to the

eity.

Earlier in the year, in August, Hurricane Allen, the seeond

most

powerful Atlantic hurricane in history, ripped through the Caribbean, leaving shattering death and destruction in

winds were clocked of

homes and

hurricane reshaped

more than 100 people. In the coastline of Jamaica.

hotels disappeared with a single slap

Immediately

wake. Allen's

185 miles per hour, demolishing thousands

at

killing

its

MAC

dispatched

just six hours, the

Two

beachfront

from 30-foot waves. Disaster

Assistance

Support

teams, helicopters, and supplies to the stricken islands of Jamaica, Haiti, Barbados,

One

Dominica, and

St.

Lucia.

of the longest continuing humanitarian relief missions per-

formed by

MAC was the African drought relief in

Rainfall dropped well

below normal

1973 and 1974.

in the sub-Sahara region, turn-

ing the land into a dust bowl, incapable of supporting grain or li\'estock.

Wells dried up and the people

in the 7,000-mile region

faced death by dehydration, starvation, or disease. Since there was

no

railroad

and only

the interior,

airlift

dirt roads into

was essential

keep millions of people

the crowded refugee camps in

to bring in the food necessar}' to

alive.

Joining with other countries, the United States answered the

urgent

The

call of

the United Nations international African relief effort.

Military Airlift

wheat,

rice,

Command

airlifted

tons of food, primarily

sorghum, and powdered milk for the children, along

with goats, sheep, and w ater buffalo to the drought-stricken African countries.

The

airlift

operation was complicated by scorching

1 1

5-degree

temperatures over the Sahara Desert and red sandstorms often

climbing to 10,000 turbulent

feet,

making

visibility difficult.

There 29

H

was no

difficulty,

women

and

however, in off-loading the food! Starving

men

heaw

sack

scrambled aboard the planes and the

would be out

of grain

of the aircraft

last

of the aircraft in 25 minutes.

was carefully swept so that not

Then

a grain of

the floor

food would

go to waste.

Ten

and famine devastated

years later an even worse drought

Africa again. In Ethiopia alone 300,000 died.

Once

and supplies were sent to Africa from countries and over the world.

all

MAC's

C-141s

vaccine, skim milk, water tanks,

the

human wa\e

again food

relief

agencies

airlifted in blankets,

measles

and other

of refugees fleeing to

\ital relief supplies to

Sudan from Chad and

Ethiopia.

Through the airlift lifeline

years the Military Airlift

countless

number

Command

has thrown an

of times to countries ravaged

by

earthquake, flood, hurricane, famine, and other natural disasters.

Usually the request for disaster

Ambassador

in the stricken

comes

relief

first

from the U.S.

country to the State Department,

passes the request along to the Secretary of Defense. If

deemed

who

airlift is

necessar}^ the Joint Chiefs of Staff then tasks the Military

Command.

Airlift

Natural disasters, of course, do not happen only in foreign countries.

Within the United

States,

MAC

emergency equipment, and supplies split

in the

MAC A

after a massive

the earth and sent buildings tumbling in Alaska.

supplies were airdropped to 50,000

snow

delivered relief personnel,

earthquake

Food and

Navajo Indians stranded by

mountains of northwest Arizona.

airlifted

MAC C-130

almost four hundred tons of sandbags to Min-

departing after bringing grain to Africa during a period of

famine.

31

Snow removal equipment blizzard of 1977 in Bujfalo,

is

off-loaded

from a

MAC

C-130 during the

New York.

nesota to fight off rampaging floods there, and in Arizona, fighters fire

were airhfted

in

from neighboring

retardants dropped to control forest

states

fires

fire-

and chemical

raging throughout

that state.

Not

all disasters

are natural.

Many

are

man-made.

heavals around the world have brought about

death and destruction in their wake. Military

civil

airlift

Political up-

wars bringing

can sometimes

stop these small wars from turning into worldwide conflagrations,

provide military material to

allies,

and deliver food and medicine

to victims of war.

Two 32

days after the Belgian

Congo

(later

renamed

Zaire)

gained

its

independence

in 1960, fighting

broke out between out-

law rebel forces. Europeans and Americans trapped within the country, as well as Congolese citizens, were savagely killed or taken

hostage and threatened with execution. President

Lumumba

re-

quested military aid from the United Nations to restore order. Less

than 48 hours

later,

MAC

(at that time, the Military

port Service) and U.S. Air Forces in

become by the end

Air Trans-

Europe mounted what would

of 1960, the largest

American

military airlift

since the Berlin blockade. It

was an

airlift

made more

difficult

by aircrews operating

harsh, unfamiliar environment of equatorial Africa.

maps were

unreliable,

mountains or marked

in the

Navigation

showing mountains where there were no in the

wrong

places. Celestial navigation

was hampered by intense desert sandstorms that hid the

stars.

Radio beams were of low frequency or nonexistent, and multilingual air traffic controllers

had

to

be found

in a region

where

English was seldom spoken.

Language was

also a confusing barrier in transporting

United

Nations soldiers from sixteen different countries to the Belgian

Congo. first

Many

of the troops were traveling in airplanes for the

time in their

1964,

MATS

lives.

By the time the

airlift

ended

in January,

had flown some 2,000 missions, moving 46,000

United Nations troops and more than 10,000 tons of cargo. Despite the difficulties, the foreign troops airlifted successfully

Other military

without

airlift

and

field

equipment were

a single serious accident or incident.

missions to political hot spots around the

world follow^ed in the 1960s and 70s.

MAC

airlifted

and Army units and supplies during the Cuban and crises,

Air Force

USS Pueblo

evacuated to safety U.S. and other foreign nationals from

the Dominican Republic and Pakistan, brought in a contingent of

33

peacekeeping forces to Zaire after an invasion by rebel troops from

More and more,

Angola.

began

airlift

to take a leading role in

projecting America's military force abroad.

The most

vital

U.S. national interests, was the

Yom

Kippur War.

up

of these military airlift missions, backing Israeli airlift of

A fierce conflict had

1973, during the

erupted between Israel and

Egypt and

Syria. Russia

and

was running dangerously low on tanks, rockets, and

Israel

was supplying Egypt and Syria with arms,

ammunition.

Within nine hours C-5

aircraft

of the U.S. decision to assist Israel, the

first

MAC

was loaded and airborne. Within 33 days,

C-141s and C-5s flew 566 missions over 6,450 nautical miles, making only a single stop en route for refueling.

More than 22,000

tons of critical war material was airlifted to Israel, effectively turning the tide of battle. Soviet

Union

1,700 nautical miles.

And

flying a

MAC

a 40-day period, the

1

5,000 tons of war ma-

much

shorter route of only

provided Egypt with

airlift

935 missions while

terial in

airlift

By comparison, over

successfully completed the Israel

while routinely performing

its

other

many

daily

regular

missions. Airlift missions in crisis

response to a sudden military or humanitarian

Assignment

are called Special

SAAMs

are also operated

when

Airlift

when

or

other

airlift

and cargo

34

means

SAAM

response to military or humanitarian

— the need

MAC

routes, such as

in support of military exercises,

or transportation

Although the demands of each

common

(SAAMs)

a mission requires a special pickup

or delivery at points outside the established airlifting military troops

Missions

are inadequate.

SAAMs,

in

have one element

in

are different,

crises,

for a swift, efficient response to the

emergency

without

jeopardizing

MAC's

business-as-usual,

regular

airlift

missions.

On home

a typical day,

more than 170

station carrying passengers

countries, with period.

MAC's

more than 800

MAC

and

aircraft are

a cargo to as

arrivals

away from

many

and departures

as

in a

twenty

24-hour

customers are the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines,

and other Defense Department agencies and commands. These missions can include everything: resupplying units stationed at the

Antarctic for Operation

Navy

Deep

base, transporting military

seas, flying

MAC

men

to

new assignments

over-

around the globe twice a week carrying embassy pas-

Former American prisoners of war a

Freeze, airlifting cargo to a remote

in

North Vietnam

are airlifted aboard

C-141y headed for Clark Air Base, and then home, in 1973.

u

* #^«

sengers and mail, or

and western

Pacific,

making

a daily resupply run to the

among many, many

MAC

In one year's period,

carried

other routine missions.

more than 2,100,000

sengers and 489,000 tons of cargo through

which

MAC

(SAAMs)

.

pas-

—

known

is

its

as

opposed to

no wonder

It is

most far-ranging

called the ''biggest, busiest,

is

airlift

regularly scheduled service, as

is

Special Assignment Airlift Missions that

aerial ports

its

passenger and cargo terminals. This type of ''channel,''

middle

aerial

cargo carrier in the world!"

MAC

The

Command

Center, located in the big, red brick

headquarters building at Scott

worldwide

airlift

Center, the

operations.

commander

As

Illinois, is

part of his

in chief of

more than 1,000

of the

AFB,

aircraft

MAC

hub

the

morning

is

for

MAC's

briefing at the

informed of the status

belonging to

MAC,

as well as all

missions currently in progress.

airlift

MAC

bases

within the United States and overseas directs and operates

airlift

A

missions within their

MAC

Command

own

areas.

AFB

dated information on every Since

MAC's

aircraft

is

mission around the globe.

command

to fly into military bases

ALCE

in the world, first

(Airlift

and

Control

from the nearest U.S. or over-

center, to act as mobile

command

cen-

those locations.

ters at

On

are connected with

constantly being provided with up-

airlift

Element) teams are sent out seas subordinate

These centers

may have

anywhere

civilian airports

centers at

Center through command-wide computers, and

headquarters at Scott

a recent

NATO

military exercise

assault troops flew into a small

was waiting planes,

36

command

network of subordinate

at the base.

when

Norwegian

The

ALCE

MAC

air base,

an

planes with

ALCE

team

cadre helped unload the

found quarters for the aircrews, repaired

aircraft,

organized

flight plans,

prepared crew briefings, and took care of a luindred

other details involved in an

The

ALCE

mission into a foreign

airlift

even persuaded the Norwegians to cut

air base.

down

trees

within 75 feet of the taxiway to get necessary wing clearance for the C-141s that were due in the next day!

When

orders

Assignment

come

Airlift

into

Mission

Action System

a Crisis

(CAT)

is

formed.

reports within

The

is

MAC

for a Special

activated and a Crisis Action

team, which

Team

Center

an emergency situation,

in response to

one hour to the

of the Crisis Action

Command

is

is

on standby

Command

at all times,

Center. Each

a specialist, in

Team

member

maintenance, trans-

portation, communications, personnel, or operations,

among

other

fields.

MAC

is

divided into three subordinate

numbered Air

McCuire AFB, New

the 21st, with headquarters at

Forces:

Jersey, covering

the eastern hemisphere; the 2 2d, headquartered at Travis

AFB,

California, covering the western hemisphere; the 23d, located at

AFB

command over rescue, aeromedical evacuation, and special operations, among other tasks. The Crisis Action Team at headquarters must decide which Scott

divisions forces,

if

with a worldwide

and wings, which bases and personnel, and which reserve any, will be involved in the emergency

Each wing tasked has

its

own

Crisis

airlift

mission.

Action Team.

The headquarters team must make a great many other decisions. Which aircraft routes are to be flown? What en route support requirements, such as refueling for aircraft, will be needed? Are ade-

quate

airfields available to

MAC

aircraft in the foreign country,

or will airdrops be necessary to deliver the supplies? are necessary, terrain?

what

if

airdrops

in

weather and

systems, using satellite radio

communica-

special

Communication

And

problems

will

be faced

37

American hostages

in Iran return

home on

a

MAC

C-I37 in January of

1981 after nearly a year and a half of captivity.

tions, are set

may be

up or

restricted, as necessary.

Commercial

airlines

called in to free military aircraft to participate in the crisis

airlift.

The

Crisis Action

Team

at

wing

level

must

act quickly in assign-

ing crews and aircraft with the needs of the emergency, for rapid

and

efficient delivery of assistance to the victims

death to many.

The

CAT

is

often

life

or

teams operate around the clock until

the last plane returns to the base. However, the

develops

may mean

unpredictable,

crisis itself as it

requiring sudden,

unexpected

changes in planning and operation.

The 38

tragedy at

Guyana

in

1978 was one such unpredictable

At 8:30 p.m., on Saturday, November

mission.

airlift

Command

was alerted by the National Military

Pentagon that

a U.S.

had been murdered

American sembled

MAC

at

MAC

among

in the

A

Jonestown, the eolony of an obscure Crisis

Team was

Action

immediately

as-

headquarters. Six hours later a C-141 was dis-

patched from the 437th Military carrying,

Center

eongressman and several American eitizens

religious cult.

at

MAC

18,

Airlift

Wing

South Carolina,

at

others, an aeromedical evacuation

Combat Control Team

team and

a

to provide security.

After arriving at Cuyana, the nightmare of the massixe suicides that

had happened

Air Force and

Team

at

at the

Jonestown colony was revealed.

Army Task Force was

MAC

set up.

headquarters had to enlarge

The its

A

Joint

Crisis Action

mission into a

full-scale airlift. It

was immediately apparent that

heavy-lift helicopters

were

needed to shuttle out the bodies of the Jonestown victims. Three

HH-53

helicopters were dispatched

cue and Recovery

Wing

at

required aerial refueling by

from the 55th Aerospace Res-

AFB,

Eglin

HC-130

Florida.

The

helicopters

aircraft several times before

they reached Guyana. Nine C-141 flights airlifted the bodies from

Georgetown, the capital

city, to

Dover Air Force Base

ware. Also needed were consular registration teams,

officials,

communication gear and

in

Dela-

medical and graves specialists,

support

troops and supplies.

Before the

hours

later,

MAC

Crisis

Action

air

port missions were involved in the Crisis

down 166 Force and Army active

finally

thousands of people, both Air

and reserve personnel, scores of

No

Team

stood

bases and almost seventy trans-

Guyana

airlift.

Action Team, of course, works alone. Supporting them

in their mission are the

93,000 active-duty military and

civilian

39

personnel of the Military Airlift

ground personnel, and National Guard. in

aircraft of the Air

MAC

26 countries, with 14

MAC-controlled

Command as well as crewmembers,

personnel

Force Reserves and Air

may be found

MAC bases in the

facilities in

Europe, one

340 locations

at

United States and two

in

Germany and one

in

the Azores.

No

group within

MAC,

though, provides more specialized and

vital assistance in a natural or

man-made

disaster than the highly

—the airmen

trained personnel described in the following chapter

and women

40

of

MAC's

Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadrons.

CHAPTER

3

rr

That Others

May Live

Deep

within Viet

by enemy hoping

in,

eopters

fire

Cong

territory,

an American pilot

during the \^ietnam War.

The enemv

Responding

to rescue the

to the pilot's

a IIII-3E Jolly

Mayday

heli-

signal are A-1 Skyraiders

Green Giant helicopter

Airman Duane Hackney,

screen,

down

man.

of the Aerospace

and Recovery Squadron. After the Skyraiders have

smoke

clowned

soldiers elose

to use the sur\'ivor as ''flak bait'' to shoot

coming

is

a

laid

and

Rescue

down

a

pararescueman aboard

the rescue helicopter, volunteers to be lowered into the jungle to

downed

search for the

locates the pilot,

who

is

pilot.

After two sorties. Airman Hackney

hoisted into the helicopter.

As the rescue crew departs the flak tears into

ing

fire

area, intense

and accurate 37-mm

the helicopter amidship, causing

aboard

tlic craft.

With

damage and

disregard for his

own

a rag-

safety, Air-

41

.p -••

1

man Hackney

fits

his

own parachute

to the rescued

man. Locating

another parachute for himself, Airman Hackney manages to his

arms through the harness when

the crippled aircraft, blowing door.

Though

a

second

37-mm round

slip

strikes

Hackney through the open cargo

stunned, the pararescueman manages to deploy his

unbuckled parachute and make

a successful landing.

He

later

is

recovered by a companion helicopter.

For

work that day, Duane Hackney received the Air Force

his

Cross. But

Hackney was not alone

in his heroism.

Pararescuemen

—

of the Aerospace

Rescue and Recovery Service

parachute jumping

—won more decorations than any other group

men

of

An

in the Air

Force serving in Vietnam.

organized military effort to rescue

did not start with the

59 float plane,

crews

downed

called PJs for

downed airmen, however,

Vietnam War. Germany, using the Heinkel-

pioneered air-sea rescue of

first

in the

English Channel during

Luftwaffe

its

World War

English and Americans soon followed with their

own

II.

air-

The

air-sea rescue

teams. Modified American B-17s parachuted plywood lifeboats,

stocked with supplies, to aircrew survivors. In August, 1943,

when

a

C-46 crashed over an uncharted jungle

near the China-Burma border, the only means of getting help to the survivors was by paradrop. cal

corpsmen volunteered

men, the

first

been founded brought to

PJs

lieutenant colonel and two medi-

for the assignment.

For

a

month, these

—although the Air Rescue Service had

—cared

safety.

A

The

for the injured until

success of this

first

not yet

the party could be

parachute rescue team

proved that a highly trained rescue force could save survivors a plane

when

was downed.

Demonstration of HH-53 helicopter hoist used in rescue operations.

43

After the war, the question arose as to which service should be responsible for rescue operations. Rescue at sea

had always been

the traditional responsibility of the United States Coast Guard.

The Army

rescue capabilities. In 1945,

Command,

own

Air Forces, however, wanted to expand their it

was decided that the Air Transport

Command, be

forerunner of the Military Airlift

the responsibility for

air

air

search and rescue over land and

given

ATC's

overseas air routes.

When Service

North Korea invaded South Korea, the new Air Rescue

moved

swiftly into action,

first

with

Sikorsky H-5 heli-

its

The H-5s and Army rescue helicopters not only moved wounded soldiers from the battlefront to the Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals (MASH) but copters and, later, the larger and faster H-19.

,

assisted in evacuating troops trapped

copters performed

most

of the rescue

behind enemy

work

there were also fixed-wing aircraft involved.

moving

Grumman SA-16A Albatross,

called

lines.

in Korea,

Heli-

although

The lumbering, slowDumbo, could operate

from both land and water.

By

the end of the Korean

War,

Rescue Group were credited with nel to safety, as well as

had become with It

of

its

new

rescue

airlifting

996 combat

a vital part of the

special breed of

man

crewmen

saves.

9,680 military person-

The

Air Rescue Service

United States Air Force, along

—the pararescueman.

was the Vietnam War, though, which developed the rescue

downed

pilots

on sea and land to

trained pararescuemen in rescue missions

One

of the

moved

into

a fine art.

As more and

better-

Vietnam, the helicopters used

were also improved.

improvements that revolutionized search and rescue

operations was the aerial refueling of helicopters. transfer of fuel

44

of the 3rd Air

between an HC-1 30P and an

The

first in-flight

HH-3E happened

in

1966. In-flight refueling extended the range of the helicopters,

allowing

them

reach airmen

to continue circling,

down

in

and cutting the time

as the

Green Giants, lacked aircraft fire in

ful

enough

HH-43B/F

sufficient

armor

North Vietnam, and

to maintain a

tains. In addition,

took to

North Vietnam and Laos.

However, despite the advantage of helicopters, such

it

aerial refueling, early rescue

Huskies and

HH-3E

Jolly

to sur\'ive the intense anti-

their engines

were not power-

hover over the jungles of the higher moun-

armed with only

a

7.62-mm machine gun, the

choppers did not have enough firepower to ''shoot their way out" of dangerous situations.

Then,

in

HH-3E, was An HH-53

1966, the Sikorsky

developed.

Super

Jolly

Dubbed

twice the size of the

the Super Jolly Green Giant, the

Green Giant being refueled by an HC-130. With

air-to-air refueling capability,

crew's endurance.

HH-53B,

the range of the

HH-53

is

limited only by the

HH-53

could carry a crew of

and 40 fully-equipped

soldiers,

turboshaft engines, speed of 195

7.62-mm Gatling type miniguns, ity,

made

HH-53B

the

including two pararescuemen,

six,

necessary.

if

two GE-T64-3

Its

mph, titanium armor, and

three

as well as its air refueling capabil-

the largest, fastest, and most powerful heli-

copter in the Air Force.

The

rescue of a

verified,

The downed airman must

and

the nearest

in a hostile

first

enemy

in the area

must

typical search fire,

and rescue might be

a pilot ejects

Vietnam. Usually he lands

vival knife,

The fly

If

rescue

control of the mission

from

will

be undertaken.

as follows. After

being hit

his fighter plane over

in a tree

above the jungle

he uses

his

URC-11

North

floor, sus-

respond to his

survival radio in his seat pack to

command

Mayday

Skyraiders radio the

the pilot's location to

enemy

is

or several A-1 Sky-

within half an hour.

downed

enemy

One

post.

pilot's exact position

to another area, circling several miles

of the

location of

his parachute. After cutting himself loose with his sur-

contact an airborne rescue raiders

The

controllers at rescue centers to

determine the type of rescue mission that

pended by

his position

be discovered.

also

command and

must be coordinated with ground

by ground

be located,

his physical condition determined.

appears feasible, airborne

A

environment, how-

more than courageous pararescuemen and powerful

ever, requires

helicopters.

downed airman

away so

as

troops lurking nearby.

uncertain, the Skyraiders

make

and then

not to reveal

If

the location

low, level passes

over the area for several hours, a tactic called ''trolling for until the

When

enemy

forces are located.

the rescue helicopter arrives, the

a small flare

and the chopper moves

lowers the jungle penetrator.

46

fire''

The

downed

pilot fires off

directly overhead while a PJ

penetrator has spring-loaded

HH-3 a

helicopter loweririg a forest penetrator to hoist a pararescueman

downed airman. Penetrators were used

in the jungles of

and

Vietnam.

47

A

double hoist from water to

48

air

by pararescuemen.

arms that part the jungle foliage straps himself to the penetrator

arms

at the other

end

and

it

the pilot

If

lowered.

is

The

survivor

releases a set of spring-loaded

for protection as

the branches of the trees. will

as

is

lower himself on the penetrator and

he

is

hauled up through

injured, a assist

pararescueman

the pilot up to the

helicopter and tend his wounds.

shot

If a pilot is

SA-16A

first

down

over water, the Albatross, a fixed-wing

The

used in Korea, often becomes the rescue vehicle.

amphibious plane can make

water landing to pick up survivors,

a

if

the sea permits, or lower a hoist to the

is

too rough.

If

downed

pilot

if

the sea

necessary, the pararescueman can parachute into

the water to lend assistance.

Whatever the procedure Vietnam had

used, by 1966 a

a one-in-three

downed

aircrew in

chance of rescue. By the time of

America's withdrawal from Vietnam, the Aerospace Rescue and

Recovery Service, formerly Air Rescue Service, had saved 3,883 lives.

The Aerospace was added to Air Rescue's title when space exploration added a new duty to their mission, that of retrieving nose cones, space capsules, and astronauts in support of

space missions.

When

Gemini 8 space

flight in 1966,

the decision was

made

NASA manned-

to terminate the

making an emergency splashdown

about 500 miles east of Okinawa, a rescue

aircraft

crew arrived

in

time to see the spacecraft hit the water. Three PJs parachuted into the ocean and had flotation equipment attached to the spacecraft

within 20 minutes.

They

stayed with the astronauts until a

Navy

destroyer arrived three hours later. In addition to wartime

manned tary

ARRS provides flight crews for another Command service: weather reconnaissance.

space

Airlift

combat rescue and rescue coverage

flights,

for

Mili-

But

49

ARRS's best-known peacetime mission tary

and

civilian search

is its

and rescue due

responsibility for mili-

man-made

to natural or

disasters.

Such rescues can range from pararescuemen descending from helicopters

to

snatch

climbers trapped on

four

frostbitten

Mount McKinley

and

to saving

mountain

injured

74

lives

when

fire

broke out aboard the cruise ship Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska.

At 6:00

By

ship.

A.M., passengers were ordered to

abandon the sinking

30 a.m., helicopters from rescue units in Alaska were

9:

hoist-lifting survivors

from the

lifeboats

and ferrying them

to rescue

vessels.

Within 75 minutes

of the volcanic explosion at

Mount

St.

Helens, Washington, Air Force Reserve rescue helicopters were on their

way

to

remove survivors from the mountain, with

a total of

101 lives saved.

A small plane

crashes in the wilderness.

rescuemen reach the crash

site

Within two hours,

and give medical aid

para-

to the

two

survivors.

A

sailor

badly burned on a Russian ship in the Atlantic, 700

is

miles from the nearest land. flowai to the

Two

PJs, stationed in the Azores, are

Russian ship. They parachute near the ship, are picked

up, and provide medical treatment for the sailor until the ship

reaches port days

No

matter

later.

how

small or large,

all

federal land

and sea rescue

operations within the continental United States are coordinated

and controlled through the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center located at Scott

Air Force Base,

by personnel trained

in

search

Illinois.

The Center

50

manned

and rescue operations and

equipped with telephone, teletype, air-to-surface puter capability.

is

radio,

is

and com-

When

an emergency

is

reported to the Center, the incident

numbered arrow on

verified

and Center workers plaee

map on

the wall in front of the eommunieations consoles.

tation

is

made on

efforts

may be

a

a

blackboard at the

one time

in progress at

side.

A

is

a large

A

no-

dozen or so rescue

Center, which operates

at the

around the clock.

The

request for assistance

ate rescue agenc\-,

whether

immediatclv passed to the appropri-

is

it is

local, state, or federal.

Such rescue

agencies include c\erything from the local Ci\il Air Patrol to a

squadron of the

ARRS. The emergency

can be anything from

skiers or hikers to the transporting of a

from one hospital

human

eye

b\'

lost

helicopter

to another, to a flooded ri\er threatening a town,

or an oxerdue light plane.

Speed

is

essential in

crashes, studies

cent

if

To

show

any rescue attempt, but that the sur\'i\al rate

is

in the case of

plane

better than 50 per-

rescue can be accomplished within eight hours. that end, international Search

and Rescue

Satellites

monitor emergency locator transmitters worldwide. The of both the

from

aircraft

work

of

United States and Russia

and

''listen''

satellites

for distress signals

such signals immediately to a net-

ships, relaying

ground terminals. The information

States Mission Control Center,

is

relayed to the United

which shares space with the Air

Force Rescue Coordination Center. During tion, the

now

its first

year of opera-

Search and Reco\'cr\' Satellite Aided Tracking program

(SARSAT)

contributed to saying more than 90

li\'es

throughout

the world. In peace and in war, the Aerospace Rescue and Reco\en' Scr\icc

has sayed more than 20,000

liyes.

Its

pararescuemen arc among

the most highly trained, dedicated professionals in the armed forces.

How

docs one

become

a

pararescueman? W^cll,

it

isn't easy!

51

Pararescue

men

line

up

for their turn to use their parachutes.

All pararescuemen are volunteers

and

all

must

successfully pass

a grueling test before entering pararescue training.

volunteers, usually only six or seven pass the test. gins at Lackland cal 5:

00 A.M., and can include a

1

The

student's

day begins

at

500-meter swim, a two-mile run, and

and

4000-meter swim plus pool harassment, underwater

pararescueman^ already trained in the

52

training be-

of calisthenics, or a seven-mile run with pushups,

situps, or a

equipment.

The

every 20

Texas, with a rigorous eight weeks of physi-

conditioning and discipline.

two hours

A

AFB,

Of

air^

takes to the water with scuba

-;^f