3 Nov 2005

‘Guardian Angels’ swoop down from above to save lives

To Hurricane Katrina victims pararescuemen were angels. To injured Airmen they’re saviors. Known as “PJs,” these Airmen are part of an elite team specially trained in combat recovery and rescue. For 16 PJs with the 58th Rescue Squadron here, the military training they have paid off when they plucked civilians and pets off rooftops after Hurricane

3 Nov 2005

Only sky proves limit for ‘mountain men’

For some people, reaching the top is enough. For two 352nd Special Operations Group pilots here, reaching the top of the world was not enough. Capt. Rob Marshall of the 67th Special Operations Squadron, and 1st Lt. Mark Uberuaga of the 21st Special Operations Squadron, recently returned from climbing to the summit of Mount Elbrus -- 18,510 feet of

26 Oct 2005

Air Force Special Operations unit wraps up Asian aid mission

Kadena Air Base’s 353rd Special Operations Group is going home. Almost a month after a monster earthquake and killer waves claimed untold thousands of lives, the Air Commando’s work here is complete. The Combat Shadows and Combat Talons have flown nearly one million pounds of cargo and more than 600 disaster relief workers into ground zero, the

26 Oct 2005

A $500,000 weekend

In the cool of the morning of April 22, 2005 Airmen surrounded the prayer tower, heads bowed, as eight names were read. Eight names. Eight heroes. The eight men of Operation Eagle Claw. It was a secret mission aimed at rescuing the 53 Americans being held hostage at the U.S. Embassy in Iran when the mission was aborted at the last minute due to

26 Oct 2005

Airmen come to the rescue

Airmen from the 563rd Rescue Group here jumped to action Oct. 17 saving 17 people who became stranded while hiking in a remote area of Mexico. Adverse weather trapped an American hiker and 16 Mexican rescue workers on a mountainside 60 miles southeast of San Diego on the Baja peninsula, as they attempted to retrieve the remains of another American

26 Oct 2005

City underwater gets help from above

With their homes and city underwater, many citizens of New Orleans have been looking to the skies for help from helicopter rescue crews of the Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard and active duty. Hoisted aloft from rooftops and carried aboard from broken bridge spans and other locations isolated by flooding waters, more than 2,000 people have

26 Oct 2005

Two Hurlburt Field heroes help crash victims, save lives

“There were people staggering and people screaming. It was total chaos.” That was the scene Tech. Sgt. Mike Gray, a pararescuemen assigned to the 720th Special Tactics Group, Hurlburt Field, Fla., saw as he and his wife turned the corner from their home behind Martin Luther King Boulevard in Fort Walton Beach early Saturday morning. Eight bicycle