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CSAR mission finally gets the national exercise it deserves

It’s hard to believe, but Air Force officials say they never conducted a national-level combat search-and-rescue exercise until this year.

Exercise Angel Thunder, held over five days in late July at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and the surrounding region, brought together rescue practitioners from the Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard and other service branches. Even federal drug agents participated. Twenty-four aircraft and 200 people took part.

An Air Force release said the purpose of the exercise was to “test theater spin-up capabilities and examine the integration of all Air Force assets in mission planning procedures and mission execution.” That jargon doesn’t describe the sweat, toil and sacrifice of selfless men and women who are too few in number, are deployed too often and can never receive enough recognition.

Among service branches, the Air Force has primary responsibility for the CSAR mission. At the cutting edge are those who fly the A-10A Thunderbolt II, HC-130 Hercules and HH-60G Pave Hawk.

Longtime readers of this column know I have argued for an HH-60G replacement and that I’m frustrated by the apparent breakdown in the Air Force’s effort to field a new rescue helicopter. Among my heroes are the pilots, flight engineers, aerial gunners and pararescue jumpers who climb into the sky every day in the HH-60G, knowing their aircraft is at best marginally adequate. They deserve a new helicopter — now.

Angel Thunder began as a local exercise in 2006 and now has the stamp of approval from Air Force leaders. Other exercises in the past have been small and local.

“There is a definite need for a sustainable, independent, national-level CSAR exercise with a permanent staff to plan and support the exercise,” Maj. Brett A. Harnett, a key organizer, told me during a telephone interview. He said the exercise must be realistic and include everyone in the military involved in combat search and rescue. Its purpose, he said, is to prepare those who are en route to today’s combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan.

They didn’t pick the best name for Angel Thunder. In a perfect world, a combat rescue mission wouldn’t be thunderous. It wouldn’t even be loud. The good guys would sneak quietly into bad-guy land, snatch up the survivor and get out without making many decibels.

But that’s a quibble. Where it matters, Angel Thunder went well and was a credit to all who participated. I commend the Air Force for belatedly and effectively formalizing an exercise that will prepare troops for one of our most important combat tasks.

The writer, an Air Force veteran, lives in Oakton, Va. He is the author of “Air Combat,” a history of fighter pilots. His e-mail address is robert.f.dorr@cox.net.