Photo By Staff Sgt. Emily Farnsworth | Alaska Air National Guard Staff Sgt. David Duncan, a loadmaster assigned to the 211th...... read more read more
Subscribe
Loadmasters with the 211th Rescue Squadron (RQS) play a pivotal role in keeping the Alaska Air National Guard’s rescue triad always ready for its civil search and rescue mission.
Alaska’s rescue triad is made up of three squadrons -- the 210th, 211th, and 212th rescue squadrons. Each contains a component of the Air Force’s rescue triad; HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters, HC-130J Combat King IIs, and Guardian Angels, comprised of combat rescue officers (CROs), enlisted pararescuemen (PJs), and survival, evasion, resistance and escape (SERE) specialists.
Loadmasters are responsible for a wide variety of jobs in and around their aircraft to maintain readiness. These jobs can range from running preflight checklists to conducting in-flight duties in the back of the airplane.
“Here at the rescue unit, on top of my responsibilities to get the plane ready for the pilots and crew as well as loading passengers and rigging cargo, I’m also responsible for employing mission equipment like rescue bundles, and prepping the aircraft for the PJs who will jump out,” said Alaska Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Dustin Brown, a loadmaster assigned to the 211th RQS. “I also get to assist those PJs in the back of our plane during missions.”
These responsibilities are dynamic and depend on what is needed to carry out the aircraft’s mission.
“What we really do depends on the flight’s mission,” said Alaska National
Guard Staff Sgt. Jasmine Chaves, a loadmaster assigned to the 211th RQS. “For search and rescue, we typically support the helicopters because they are the ones who can get close and get the PJs on the ground. If we have a survivor who needs equipment we can’t deliver on the ground, we have the ability to airdrop it.”
The HC-130Js flown by the 211th RQS can support the HH-60 helicopters by providing aerial refueling and searching for survivors on the ground.
With aerial refueling, the HC-130J solves one of the major drawbacks that come with helicopters, which is a limited operating distance, said Alaska Air National Guard Staff Sgt. David Duncan, a loadmaster assigned to the 211th RQS. By giving fuel in flight, the helicopter doesn’t have to land to refuel and can continue working. The HC-130Js also have the capability to land and empty fuel into trucks at a Forward Air Refueling Point so the helicopters can come in and land to fill up and then take off again.
During the aerial refueling process, loadmasters act as observers in the back of the aircraft to ensure the process goes smoothly.
Another important task a loadmaster can accomplish is an airdrop which can
consist of cargo and a bundle of supplies or people, and can be invaluable to completing the rescue mission.
Both Chaves and Duncan said they agree airdrops are one of the best parts of being a loadmaster.
“An airdrop can be a lot of work in loading, rigging and then conducting the actual drop once we’re in flight,” Chaves said, “but they’re definitely my favorite.”
Duncan adds that while he thinks a large airdrop is incredible, he actually enjoys a different kind of airdrop.
“It is always exciting when we get to drop something heavy because it has a great big impact on the ground and on the aircraft when something weighing 28,000 pounds leaves the plane,” Duncan said. “It is super cool, but what I actually love doing is deploying freefall bundles and parabundles.”
A parabundle uses a parachute to slow its descent to the ground while a freefall bundle is a big foam block containing a radio and instructions. This allows communication between a survivor on the ground and the aircraft.
“I enjoy deploying freefall bundles because we fly only 100 feet above the ground and I get to direct the pilots’ trajectory,” Duncan said. “Once we’re over the target, I wait till I feel the aircraft start to pull up, then I release the bundle. It is a symphony of machinery and bodies on the plane working to deliver a radio to exactly that spot on planet earth.”
The ability to airdrop supplies to survivors with precision is especially important to supporting the mission in the wilderness of Alaska where the terrain often prevents visibility.
These loadmasters’ expertise, tied with hours of practice, allows them to have a strong relationship with the other members of the rescue triad while completing this shared mission.
“It is important for us to prove proficiency to the pararescuemen, the HH-60 crew and to the pilots we are flying with because in dynamic situations we need to be able to rely 100 percent on the person next to us,” Duncan said. “This way we know we are performing optimally and we can ensure the pararescuemen next to us know our capabilities and what our actions will be when we deliver the PJs to their target.”
With this in mind, loadmasters get to see the key role they play in mission readiness in the Last Frontier.
| Date Taken: | 07.14.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2020 20:01 |
| Story ID: | 373907 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, ALASKA, US |
| Web Views: | 124 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, Alaska Guardsmen load the mission, by SSgt Emily Farnsworth, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
