Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla., has provided air rescue at home and deployed to the world’s hot spots for more than 50 years. AFRC historian James D’Angina reports that the wing’s 301st Air Rescue Squadron was the first unit to conduct an Air Force Reserve rescue, picking up a couple of airmen whose B-47 bombers had collided off the coast of Cuba in January 1957. Their first rescue aircraft was the Grumman SA-16B Albatross, and first helicopters were refurbished Navy H034s. Today, 920th Reservists are deployed to Southwest Asia, while others continue to assist the Coast Guard with local area rescues, like last week’s search for a fisherman off the coast of Jacksonville, Fla. (The Coast Guard finally called off the search on Saturday after 39 hours, per the St. Augustine Record.)
Lawmakers are growing impatient for an overdue fighter recapitalization study from the Air Force, and members say they'll demand more detailed justifications for future aircraft retirements.