Fallon SAR bird goes down, all crewmembers rescued

[wink]

As far as I can tell from my interactions with them, these guys do SERE as their full time gig.

It is. No officer career track though. Their officer leadership are pilots, most often helicopter guys. The Arctic Survival School is honchoed by Huey guys because they all have flown the nuclear security mission up north and been required to qualify at Arctic Survival School earlier in their careers. I met the current O-5 and O-6 leadership from Fairchild when I was up at Eielson and they are Huey guys too. Good dudes.

 

[Hair Warrior]

https://www.masterclass.com/classes/jessie-krebs-teaches-wilderness-survival

^ same AFSC, guessing she was an E9 if she had 30 years

 

[Gatordev]

No desire to quarterback the accident and I'm really glad these guys are okay, but do the Station SAR guys have some type of waiver to go above 10k? Or did the limit change in NATOPS? Purely curious.

Being able to go above 10K for meeting "mission essential" requirements (note, not operational necessity) has been a thing since 2010-ish.

In aircraft where oxygen systems are not available (such as helicopters), it
shall be determined that it is mission essential by the CO/OIC or mission commander for flight altitude to exceed
10,000 feet. Time above 10,000 feet without supplemental oxygen shall not exceed one hour and altitude shall not
exceed 13,000 feet .

I've used this twice...once for actual operational issues when trying to get back to Guatemala City while conducting HADR. The other time was because I wanted to take pictures of the Grand Canyon (before they created the transit areas). No doubt both reasons are valid...........right?

 

[Brett327]

Saw a pic of the aircraft. Looks like it set down in a gently sloping valley/ravine. It looked more or less intact.

 

[DanMa1156]

As far as I can tell from my interactions with them, these guys do SERE as their full time gig. Each base has its own SERE Instructors who provide recurrent training to aircrews in addition to the initial AF SERE up in Fairchild. I forget how often it is we have to go, but I believe it's every three or four years. I don't recommend getting scheduled for the January class at Travis, you'll find yourself jumping in the San Francisco bay to play with the life raft. You won't need coffee that morning!

No desire to quarterback the accident and I'm really glad these guys are okay, but do the Station SAR guys have some type of waiver to go above 10k? Or did the limit change in NATOPS? Purely curious.

Being able to go above 10K for meeting "mission essential" requirements (note, not operational necessity) has been a thing since 2010-ish.



I've used this twice...once for actual operational issues when trying to get back to Guatemala City while conducting HADR. The other time was because I wanted to take pictures of the Grand Canyon (before they created the transit areas). No doubt both reasons are valid...........right?

Was going to say the same as @Gatordev - been like that since as long as I've flown helo's - I think it changed to that while I was in the HTs (I vaguely recall that). Actual NATOPS limit is 13,000 ft. DA.

 

[RedFive]

Was going to say the same as @Gatordev - been like that since as long as I've flown helo's - I think it changed to that while I was in the HTs (I vaguely recall that). Actual NATOPS limit is 13,000 ft. DA.

Yeah, as soon as he said that it started to ring a bell. I've only got so many penguins! ?

 

[A_Longo88]

So, given the tangential subject line, I'll post this here. Was up at Eielson AFB, AK last week. My nephew in law took command of the Arctic Survival School there. Was fun. Got an intro to how they do business, see the facilities and training areas and meet the crew. Good bunch of guys. Very sharp. So in the classroom displays I see this raft. They tell me it is standard pack for all the USAF ejection seats. Very sweet. Inflated insulated floor and as you can see, inflated side curtains that can be closed around the survivor. Does the Navy use this now? The old raft we used back in the 20th century had what seemed like just an 8 mil rubber floor and flappy things you pulled over the raft. This is far superior.
View attachment 31679

This looks more comfortable than the furniture in my house.

 

[Griz882]

I am happy everyone is well, but you know the army guys are going tp feast on this one for a while! And they should. Good work by all.

 

[ABMD]

https://www.masterclass.com/classes/jessie-krebs-teaches-wilderness-survival

^ same AFSC, guessing she was an E9 if she had 30 years

Welcome back @Hair Warrior, I also saw her class advertised on the 'tube. I have a friend who was enlisted AF SERE, actually going backpacking/hiking in Maine with him in 2 weeks.

 

[RobLyman]

I am happy everyone is well, but you know the army guys are going tp feast on this one for a while! And they should. Good work by all.

OMG. Of course they will. The MTPs in the office next to me are CH-47F pilots. A day doesn't go by that we don't exchange some sort of jab at each other.