By Michael Sirak
Adding a datalink to the Air Force’s current fleet of HH-60G Pave Hawk combat-search and-rescue (CSAR) helicopters remains critical so that the aircrews and pararescue personnel can receive in-flight threat updates and readily transition between missions in the air, the commander of one Air Force rescue wing said yesterday.
“It would be very nice to have a datalink on the helicopter[s],” Col. Steve Kirkpatrick, commander of the 920th Rescue Wing that is headquartered at Patrick AFB, Fla., and the only Air Force Reserve Command wing assigned to CSAR, said Oct. 3. “They would be able to get real-world intel[igence], so that, if they have to go into another mission, they know exactly what they are getting into.”
Kirkpatrick spoke at the Joint Search and Rescue 2007 conference that the Institute for Defense and Government Advancement sponsored in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
The 920th operates nine Pave Hawks and five HC-130 fixed-wing rescue tankers at Patrick as well as five HH-60Gs based at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. It also has a contingent of pararescuemen located in the Pacific Northwest.
Lacking a datalink makes it much more dangerous for the Pave Hawks crews to adjust dynamically to new orders when in the air, such as transitioning from an aero medical evacuation (medevac) mission to a CSAR tasking, Kirkpatrick said.
“It is unfair for my people to have to do medevac and transition to CSAR without knowing what the threat is,” he said. “They may not know what they are getting into because they have no current update of intel or anything else.”
In fact, Kirkpatrick said, such scenarios make him “very nervous” about the safety of his crews.
The Air Force has actually begun to earmark funding in FY ’08 to equip the Pave Hawks with a datalink, Kirkpatrick told Defense Daily after his presentation.
“I think we are in pretty good shape,” he said. “All I [am] doing is trying to make sure that the funding just stays intact because until we actually see the equipment, we continue, as wing commanders, to push for what we need in the field.”
He said he was unaware of the fielding schedule for the datalink.
“I do know that they have a prototype,” he said.
Kirkpatrick also said during his presentation he would like to see his personnel trained for medevac missions, which is not currently the case. Yet his aircrews have been asked to perform many such missions in support of the other services.
“That is something that I have been harping [on],” he said. “It is not Air Combat Command’s fault but…if we are going to have the mission on our plate, then I want it written in so that my people train to that standard.”
“We are going to do what we are told to do,” he continued, “but my job is to make sure we are trained and equipped to do the absolute best of our ability.”
Kirkpatrick also said he is eager for the Air Force to get a new rescue helicopter, which is dubbed CSAR-X, to replace the Pave Hawks. He also wants to see a new Combat Rescue Tanker enter the fleet soon to replace the wing’s aging HC-130s.
“The sooner the better,” he said. “But until that time, we have got to continue to upgrade our current fleet to make it more capable.”
While the HH-60G has been “a great helicopter,” it is getting old and is power limited, he said.
“Anytime that you are going into heavy terrain, it is an issue,” he said.
“We would certainly like to have more cabin space,” he told Defense Daily. “We would like to have more range. We would have to have better performance, and all three prototypes that are up for consideration meet those higher standards… So I am all in favor for whatever comes down the road.”
Assuming the fielding schedule of the CSAR-X recapitalization program does not slip too much, he said he anticipates his wing taking delivery of its new helicopters around the middle of next decade.
Kirkpatrick also said the operations tempo on his wing is “very demanding” and he spends much time to maintain the morale of his personnel and keep the unit intact, since each of his members is highly trained and a valued asset whom he does not wish to lose.
He cited a demanding rescue mission in February that HH-60s from his wing carried out from Kandahar, Afghanistan, after an H-47 helicopter crashed with 21 soldiers on board. Eight personnel died in the crash, but the Pave Hawks and their crews were instrumental in saving the remaining 13 lives despite operating in an inhospitable environment and difficult conditions, he said.
In addition to CSAR readiness, the preparedness of his units for civil SAR missions is taking on greater importance since Hurricane Katrina ravaged New Orleans and the Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coasts in 2005, he said.
One of the challenges in the civil rescue realm is to ensure that his personnel can communicate not only members of the other military branches, but also with interagency representatives and local and community responders, he said.