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129th Rescue Wing surpasses 1,000 saves while deployed

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Scott Saldukas
  • 451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
CAMP BASTION, Afghanistan --  The 129th Rescue Wing based at Moffett Federal Airfield, Calif., surpassed the 1,000 save mark May 18 when members of the unit rescued an Afghan national policeman who suffered a gunshot wound in Southern Afghanistan.

The California Air National Guard unit reached the milestone while deployed to the 26th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron (ERQS) here.

"It's pretty awesome when you look back on it to know that you are a part of history," said U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jacob Garel, a pararescueman element leader during the mission. "Ultimately it was just another day and we are all happy that we were able to help."

He explained how the historic save was just a routine mission and the crew responded to the call without noticing the milestone.

"We got there and began to treat the Afghan policeman immediately," the pararescueman, or PJ, said. "We applied a tourniquet on his leg and treated the wound while beginning fluids and antibiotics. Not sure why, but he wasn't cooperating and was fighting with us the entire time making it more difficult than it needed to be."

Garel went on to explain how the rescue crews attempt to operate within the "golden hour," the first 60 minutes that greatly improves survivability. Upon receipt of a medevac request the crews make every attempt to complete the mission within one hour to ensure the highest survival rate possible.

"Every call we try to be as fast as we can regardless of the injury because we usually enter a hot zone," said Staff Sgt. Nicholas Plummer, a PJ involved with the 1,000th rescue. "Even though the fact of 1,000 saves is pretty cool, we are just doing our job. But I will say, the 1,001st save we got not even 24 hours later was probably the best one I have been a part of yet."

During the early morning of May 19, the ERQS received a medevac request to aid a patrolling unit where a Marine slid down a 30-foot embankment into a six-foot wide well that dropped nearly 60 feet, the two PJs explained.

"The well was so wide that he couldn't have slowed himself down while he was falling," Plummer said. "When we got on scene, you were able to see the claw marks he made trying to stop himself."

After assessing the scene, a PJ who also happened to be an experienced mountain climber suggested using a house near the well as an anchor.

"I literally ran rope around the entire house while Jake made a belay loop," Plummer said, who hails from Hopkins, Minn. "Once everything was secure, a team lowered one of our guys down the well to assess the Marine's injuries and hook him to be hoisted up."

Upon meeting the Marine 60 feet below the earth's surface they found that he had broken his femur, had an open ankle fracture and also separated his shoulder.

"This guy was amazing. He was in really bad shape but had the best attitude," Garel said. "He was so proud that he was able to put his own tourniquet on in the complete dark."

In total, the time from the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters arriving on scene to the transfer of the Marine to medical professionals at the Role 3 Hospital here was less than 30 minutes.

"This was one of the best missions I have been a part of, everything went smoothly," Garel said, who hails from Sacramento, Calif. "This is the first time for us both that we had to use our high-angle training for a combat rescue. And to use the house, more like a mud hut, as an anchor was genius. I had never seen that before. Obviously training plays a big part in how we respond but someone's experience is equally as important. Like wrapping the house, that guy's past experience of mountain climbing came into play here and helped rescue a Marine. That is what we do."

While the Guard unit conducted a remarkable amount of saves during their deployment here, their mission is not always combat-related, the PJs said.

Since the wing's inception in 1955, nearly 60 percent of their saves have been civilians. In addition to their 1,000-plus saves, the unit is credited with more than 600 assists, or supporting another rescue unit conducting a save. Non-combat related saves range from civilian casualties off the coast of the Pacific to providing lifesaving services during rescue efforts in Hurricane Katrina's aftermath.

"We have the best job in the military. I love what I do and I can't imagine doing anything else," Plummer said.

Garel followed by saying, "We constantly have the opportunity to go in and save someone's life."