Reserve rescuers excel at Angel Thunder 2011

Published Oct. 25, 2011
By Master Sgt. Luke Johnson
943rd Rescue Group Public Affairs

DAVIS MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- The surrounding mountain and desert terrain around the greater Tucson, Ariz., area set the stage for the fifth-annual Angel Thunder Personnel Recovery and Rescue exercise.

Angel Thunder is a two-week exercise where military rescue personnel from around the world conduct hands-on emergency response training to increase proficiency in dealing with catastrophic events, and rescue Airmen from the 943rd Rescue Group got to hone their unique combat-search-and-rescue skills during the two week exercise.

"Angel Thunder is touted as being the world's premier combat-search-and-rescue exercise," said Lt. Col. Brett Howard, 305th Rescue Squadron commander.

According to Colonel Howard, the most important aspect of the exercise is working together with all the different units involved in CSAR operations, such as C-130 Hercules and A-10 Warthogs units. All of the different units involved in Angel Thunder exercise plan and carry out missions in various humanitarian and CSAR scenarios designed to test the capabilities and interoperability of each unit involved.

"It prepares you like nothing else for a CSAR mission," said Howard.

Angel Thunder started out as a humanitarian exercise rescuing people from natural disasters and then evolved into CSAR missions such as rescuing pilots shot down from improvised explosive devices striking convoys.

"This exercise will help us be more prepared for any CSAR missions we may face for our future deployments," said the colonel.

For pararescuemen from the 306th Rescue Squadron, the exercise provided opportunities to utilize their unique CSAR skills and train with other units.

"It was an excellent experience to work with other agencies and see how they operate," said Senior Airman Jason Sweet, 306th RQS pararescueman.

Being his first Angel Thunder Exercise, Sweet got to experience firsthand via the complex nature of CSAR operations and how units work together to complete the mission.

"There is a larger picture in CSAR operations," he said. "Such as the de-confliction of air space and coordination of other rescue teams and assets."

Different countries paraticpated in the exercise as either players or observers. There were 16 countries participating in the exercise overall including Singapore, Columbia and Australia.

"It definitely fine tuned my skills and I added on new skills to better prepare me to perform my duties for future deployments," said Sweet.

For more information on the 920th Rescue Wing, visit us at www.920rqw.afrc.af.mil check our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter.