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ARTICLE: Alaska squadron rescues troops in fierce battle
“I thought we had three seconds to live,” Sparks said.
The two men, members of the 212th Rescue Squadron of the Alaska Air National Guard’s 176th Wing, hung from a cable lowering them 40 feet to a rocky mountainside. Bullets flew from every direction. Three struck the cable.
Just as Sparks’ feet touched ground, a rocket-propelled grenade exploded about 20 feet from him. “The world just turned orange,” he said.
ARTICLE: 33rd RQS wins third straight “Jolly Green Rescue Mission of the Year” award
Within minutes of receiving the call for two wounded soldiers, Capt. Marcus Maris, the flight lead and pilot for Pedro 83, and his team launched both helicopters, establishing on-scene overwatch of the battlefield. Despite their rapid response, intensified RPG and machine gun fire, interlocking enemy fields and a steep rocky terrain forced Alpha Company into a defensive position, leading to a total of 11 casualties.
Unrelenting enemy fire coupled with Alpha Company’s depleting ammunition and increasing casualties made establishing a clear landing zone and protective cover for CASEVAC nearly impossible. The rescue mission quickly became a dangerous race against the clock.
History is being made by USAF rescue forces in Afghanistan. Even so, the AF is still unable to tell that remarkable story–a story that would make a signification dent in the narrative of COINdinistias that assert that airpower and the AF are of marginal importance.
This will be a topic in a future post(when I can make the time for it–you will observe that my new job has pretty much crowded out routine posting here); for now, please read these articles and watch the videos linked below.
I couldn’t embed the first video. See it by clicking HERE.
