Members of the California ANG’s 129th Rescue Wing, Moffett Field, are back at home after undertaking a dangerous three-day rescue effort, some 1,000 miles from the northern California coast. An MC-130 flew out to sea to intercept a Liberian tanker that had sent out a distress call. Three pararescuemen jumped from the airplane, landed in the ocean with medical gear, and boarded the vessel. Two days later, a 129th RQW HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter came to pick up the rescuers and their patients—one with two broken arms and one suffering from hypothermia after jumping overboard.
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
