It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save lives and to aid the injured. I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently, placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things I do, that others may live.
I suspect it is the USAF Pararescue – very little is written about these guys – one of the few books that dives deep about them is a superb book titled "That Others May Live" by John Brehm.
Of the 22 Air Force Cross – the second highest military award that is given to members of the USAF – recipients, an incredible 12 are Pararescuemen.
It takes 2 years to train (after selection) to become a Pararescue Jumper. It's the longest training of any part of the Department of Defense, and of the 100 or so candidates, less than 5 typically graduate.
One of the reasons why the training for this is so challenging is because the members of the Pararescue team are attached to other special forces teams, Rangers, Coast Guard, Delta, SEALs, Force Recon, and so on – they have to be able to keep up with any of these: which means they need an extraordinary level of ability at swimming, combat, parachuting – in addition to all the stuff they focus on: search and rescue, first aid, evasion, etc.
For example, the hurricanes of 1991? the famed Blackhawk helicopter depicted in Sebastian Jungers book? Pararescuemen.
The Battle of Mogadishu? 2 of the 3 special operatives that were awarded special recognition? Pararescuemen.
Michael Yon discussed this:
The Pararescue medics are often called “PJs.” The SEALs, Delta, Rangers and Green Berets all hold the PJs in high regard. Firstly, the PJs are among the best medics in the U.S. military (we have incredible medics—so that’s a significant statement). Secondly, PJs go through just about any combat training available, ranging from HALO to mountaineering to scuba. They’ve got scuba gear here at Camp Bastion and have had to use it to recover soldiers who were killed after the enemy blew their vehicle into some water. In a different war, the Pedros would be tasked to rescue pilots who might be shot down hundreds of miles into enemy territory.
There is only one thing that British soldiers love more than mail and that’s Pedro. When I told British soldiers from 2 Rifles that Pedro was going to take me, many British soldiers asked me to say “thank yous” to the Pedros. The Pedros are a great morale booster because we know when we take casualties, Pedro is coming with miniguns and incredible medics. When other helicopters are grounded by bad weather, Pedro goes. When bullets are flying, Pedro comes in with miniguns blazing. They also rescue Danish, Americans, and others, including contractors and Afghan civilians sometimes.
Get this:
In Iraq Pararescue Jumpers work 12 hours a day. No days off. None. In a 3 month tour the team that Michael Yon were attached with did 400 missions. 400!
When DEVGRU or SFOD-D are fucked, they pray for Pararescue Jumpers.
Read other related questions on Quora:
- What are best documentry on special forces operation?
- Which country would win a counterstrike-style knockout tournament between the elite special operations forces?
- What is the world's best special police units?
from Quora http://ift.tt/29A3ZhK
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