Combat search and rescue (CSAR) aresearch and rescue operations that are carried out during war, within or near combat zones.[1]
A CSAR mission may be carried out by atask force ofhelicopters,ground-attack aircraft,aerial refueling tankers and an airbornecommand post.[2] The USAFHC-130, introduced in 1965, has served in the latter two roles.[3]
TheFirst World War was the background for the development of early combat search and rescue doctrine, especially in the more fluid theaters of war in theBalkans and theMiddle East.
In the opening fluid stages of theFirst World War theRoyal Navy Air Service Armoured Car Section was formed with armed and armoured touring cars to find and pick up aircrew who had been forced down. When trench warfare made this impossible, the cars were transferred to other theatres, most notably the Middle East.[citation needed]
In 1915, during the First World War, Squadron CommanderRichard Bell-Davies of the BritishRoyal Naval Air Service performed the first combat search and rescue by aircraft in history. He used his single-seat aeroplane to rescue his wingman who had been shot down in Bulgaria. HisVictoria Cross citation included "Squadron-Commander Davies descended at a safe distance from the burning machine, took up Sub-Lieutenant Smylie, in spite of the near approach of a party of the enemy, and returned to the aerodrome, a feat of airmanship that can seldom have been equalled for skill and gallantry."[4] Like the search and rescue efforts of the future, Davies' action sprang from the fervent desire to keep a compatriot from capture or death at the hands of the enemy.[citation needed]
During theMesopotamian campaign, British and other Commonwealth forces began to use similar tactics on a larger scale. Shot down aviators in hostileBedouin territory were often located by search parties in the air and rescued.[5]
Other nations also contributed to the development of modern-day CSAR.DuringWorld War II, theLuftwaffe (Seenotdienst organization) operated armed camouflaged air-sea rescue aircraft.[6]
In theFirst Indochina War, French physician, pilot and parachutistValérie André pioneered MEDEVAC tactics, a precursor to what we[who?] know as CSAR today,[when?] by flying helicopters into combat zones to retrieve or sometimes treat, injured soldiers.[citation needed]
In August 1943, a US wing flight surgeon, Lt. Col.Don Flickinger, and two combat surgical technicians, Sgt. Richard S. Passey and Cpl. William G. MacKenzie, parachuted from search planes in the Naga area of Burma to assist and care for the injured.[7] At the same time, a ground team was sent to their location and all twenty walked to safety.[citation needed]
Although parachute rescues were not officially authorized at the time, this is considered byPJs to be the birth ofUnited States Air Force Pararescue. Eric Sevareid said of his rescuers: "Gallant is a precious word: they deserve it". A few short months later, Capt. Porter was killed on a rescue mission when his B-25 was shot down.[citation needed]
During theVietnam War the costlyrescue of Bat 21 led the US military to find a new approach to high-threat search and rescue. They recognized that if a SAR mission was predestined to fail, it should not be attempted and other options such as special operations, diversionary tactics and other creative approaches tailored to the situation had to be considered. Recognizing the need for an aircraft that could deliver betterclose air support, the US Air Force introduced theA-7 Corsair, originally a carrier-basedNavy light attack aircraft, to replace the Air Force'sA-1 Skyraiders, an aircraft that also was originally a carrier-based naval attack bomber.[citation needed]
As a result of the Vietnam CSAR experience, the US military also improved the night capability of helicopters and area denial munitions.[8]: 36
During the Vietnam War, U.S. SAR forces saved 3,883 lives at the cost of 71 rescuers and 45 aircraft.[8]: 46
On 21 April 1917, CaptainRichard Williams of theAustralian Flying Corps landed behind enemy lines to rescue a downed comrade duringWorld War I.[9][10]
In 1972, Lieutenant ColonelIceal Hambleton, a navigator/electronic warfare officer with a background in ballistic missile technology and missile countermeasures in theUS Air Force, was the sole survivor of anEB-66 shot down during theEaster Offensive. He eluded capture by North Vietnamese forces until his rescue, eleven-and-a-half days later. Duringthe rescue operation, five US military aircraft supporting the CSAR effort were shot down, eleven US servicemen were killed, and two men were captured. The rescue operation was the "largest, longest, and most complex search-and-rescue" operation during the entireVietnam War.[11] It has been the subject of two books and the largely fictionalized filmBat*21.[12]
TheUnited States Air Force (USAF)24th Special Tactics Squadron was involved in the1993 Battle of Mogadishu.[13] Timothy Wilkinson, a Pararescueman, was awarded theAir Force Cross for his heroic actions during the battle.[14]
Air Forcepararescue personnel (PJs) have been awarded one United States Air Force Medal of Honor and 12 Air Force Crosses since the Southeast Asia conflict.
During the opening moments ofOperation Desert Storm, anMH-53 Pave Low crew from the20th Special Operations Squadron recovered anF-14 Tomcat pilot who was shot down over Iraq.[15]
On June 2, 1995, a USAFF-16C was shot down by aBosnian Serb ArmySA-6surface-to-air missile nearMrkonjić Grad,Bosnia and Herzegovina. The American pilot,Scott O'Grady,ejected safely and was rescued six days later.[16]
In 1999, members ofUnited States Air Force Pararescue along with Air Force Special Operations recovery aircraft successfully rescued the pilot of anF-117 "stealth" attack aircraft (see1999 F-117A shootdown) and the pilot (David L. Goldfein) of anF-16 fighter aircraft. Both of the aircraft were shot down overYugoslavia while on aNATO-led mission.[17]
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