The deployment of Air Force combat search and rescue units to assist with Operation Inherent Resolve in late September began with preparations starting more than a month in advance. Airmen from the 435th Contingency Response Group from Ramstein AB, Germany, deployed to Diyarbakir AB, Turkey, on Aug. 12 to set up the infrastructure required for the HC-130s and HH-60Gs that recently were sent to the base. Eighty airmen with the group built 88 operational structures at the Turkish Air Force Base over less than two weeks, according to an Oct. 7 Air Force release. HC-130Js deployed from Moody AFB, Ga., arrived beginning in late September, along with HH-60Gs and a total of 300 airmen, according to the Air Force. Gen. Philip Breedlove, commander of US European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, said last week the deployment will not be permanent and the airmen will be on call for search and rescue operations in support of the fight against ISIS.
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…