Zip-line

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - An Air Force Reserve pararescueman zip-lines from over 300 feet to a platform located on other side of an empty rocket-building complex as part of rescue training Jan 20th. This is one of many methods used by PJs and combat rescue officers (CROs) to get to a patient for treatment. The training, by ROCO Rescue, is high-angle, high-altitude and confined space rescue refresher for the PJs and combat rescue officers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar)

Securing Oscar

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - Master Sgt. Christopher Lais, reserve pararescueman from the 920th Rescue Wing, Fla., and Senior Airman Dan Duhon, reserve PJ from Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., secure Oscar, "the victim," to a SKEDCO - a portable, flexible plastic mode of transporting an injured person. Once finished here, the PJs make their way up to the highest point in the empty rocket complex and start their rescue efforts, by hoisting Oscar straight up hundreds of feet in the air. The training, by ROCO Rescue, is high-angle, high-altitude and confined space rescue refresher for the PJs and combat rescue officers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar)

Rescue

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - A reserve pararescueman from the 920th Rescue Wing is hauled up several stories with his "victim". The PJs train with ROCO Rescue, a high-angle, high-altitude and confined space rescue course. Skills learned and "re-freshed" here help prepare the PJS and combat rescue officers for any type of rescue they may encounter either here or overseas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar)

Up and over

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - Master Sgt. Chris Seinkner, reserve pararescueman from the 920th Rescue Wing, Cocoa Beach, Fla., and ROCO instructor Josh Hill, pull Oscar, the "victim," to safety at the top of the empty Titan rocket assembly complex here Jan 20th. The training, by ROCO Rescue, is high-angle, high-altitude and confined space rescue refresher for the PJs and combat rescue officers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar)

Stairwell rescue

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - Master Sgt. Ken Surry, Capt. James Sluder and Master Sgt. Robert Smith, U.S. Air Force Reserve pararescuemen from the 920th Rescue Wing, Cocoa Beach, Fla., practice their rescue skills in a narrow stairwell at an empty Titan rocket complex here. The training, by ROCO Rescue, is high-angle, high-altitude and confined space rescue refresher for the PJs and combat rescue officers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar)

Ropes and Pulleys

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. - Senior Airman Eric Humphrey, reserve pararescueman from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and Master Sgt. Joe Traska, reserve pararescueman with the 920th Rescue Wing, Cocoa Beach, Fla., prepare their ropes and pulleys for rescue training. The training, by ROCO Rescue, is high-angle, high-altitude and confined space rescue refresher for the PJs and combat rescue officers. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar)

Rescue Airmen take on 'Titan' training

Published Jan. 25, 2011
By Staff Sgt. Leslie Kraushaar
920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs

CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla. -- An unused rocket assembly building here is finding new life as a training facility to teach high-altitude, high-angle and confined space rescue techniques.

Air Force Reserve pararescuemen and combat rescue officers from the 920th Rescue Wing, joined their active duty counterparts to attend a two-week ROCO Rescue course in the facility. The 300-foot tall Titan rocket assembly building is providing the requisite challenges for teams who have to climb, clamp, rig and pull "survivors" up and down the steel platforms.
Rescuers wear tactical vests, body armor, radios and ballistic helmets when training. The added weight and limited mobility add realism to the training. "We simulate anything - any type of situation that these guys may find their selves in and have a victim to rescue," said Mr. Ishmael "Ish" Antonio, tactical program manager and instructor for ROCO Rescue.

A retired PJ himself, Mr. Antonio travels all over the country with his team of instructors to "refresh" the rope skills of PJs and CROs.

"We don't tell them how to do their jobs - this is just a refresher for them. These are perishable skills, ones that must be maintained," said Mr. Antonio.

In one training scenario, rescuers leave a 220-pound dummy on the complex floor, then climb up the metal staircases, stopping near the top of the assembly building..

Then the clock starts - first, one PJ rappels down to the "victim" to package him up for hoisting; second, the other four or five team members make up a rope and pulley system from the gear they have on them; third, the PJs and CROs then start slowly hauling up the PJ and "victim" by heaving on the pulley systems and rope systems they made; fourth, pull the PJ and "victim" to the safety of the steel platform.

As one team finishes this - a team several stories above them, starts to rappel a PJ to pick up where that team left off for the same goal: to get the "victim" up to the highest point in the massive complex.

"You really learn how to use the tools in your pocket," said Tech. Sgt. Adrian Durham, reserve pararescueman with the 920th RQW. "Keeping everything as simple as possible is our goal here."

"We are considered rescue technicians," said Capt. James Sluder, reserve combat rescue officer with the 920th RQW. "This course and our knowledge of ropes give us the credibility to be able to come in and do the rescue in a timely, safe fashion."

Using this training comes in handy with deployments always looming in the future and the humanitarian rescues that can happen at any time. In fact, this exact training was put to use during their last deployment in Afghanistan last year where they had to extract and save over 300 Afghan Nationals from buried vehicles after an avalanche swept away a road.

"You never know what you're going to get until you get there," said Mr. Antonio.

The PJs and CROs are a unique group. Their knowledge of ropes sets them apart from the other Special Forces entities and allows them to perform their duties in technically challenging areas, such as mountains, ravines, rivers and, in some cases, industrial areas, said Mr. Antonio.

"You have to be able to think quickly in these situations," said Sergeant Durham. "Time is always against you and the best protection from being killed is speed."

The 920th RQW is Air Force Reserve Command's Combat-Search-and-Rescue Unit. There are two geographically separated units, each with their own Guardian Angel Weapons System (CROs, PJs and search, evasion, resistance, escape specialists) at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. and Portland International Airport, Ore.

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