Bernd Debusmann Jr.at the White House
Initial reports indicate that the pilot of a U.S. F-15 fighter jet downed over Iran has been rescued — which, if confirmed, would be the latest in the decades-long history of U.S. search-and-rescue combat missions.
The search operation for a second crew member continues deep inside Iran, according to CBS, the BBC’s American partner.
Combat search and rescue (CSAR) missions are considered among the most complex and time-sensitive operations for which the U.S. and allied military prepare.
In the United States, elite Air Force units are specially trained for CSAR missions and are often preemptively deployed near conflict zones where aircraft could be lost.
What is combat search and rescue?
Simply put, CSAR missions are military operations aimed at finding, assisting, and possibly rescuing personnel in need, including downed pilots and stranded troops.
Unlike conventional search and rescue efforts – which might take place during humanitarian operations or after disasters – CSAR missions take place in hostile or contested environments.
In some cases – such as during the recovery efforts announced Friday in Iran – operations can take place deep into enemy territory.
CSAR missions are often carried out by helicopters, with supporting refueling aircraft and other military aircraft on hand to carry out strikes and patrol the area.
A former parachute squadron commander told CBS News that a rescue operation like the one reported in Iran would involve at least 24 paratroopers roaming the area in Black Hawk helicopters.
They added that the team would be ready to jump out of planes if necessary and that once on the ground their priority would be to contact the missing crew member.
After locating them, the paratroopers would provide medical aid if necessary, escape the enemy and travel to a location where they could be rescued, according to CBS News.
“Heartbreaking and extremely dangerous is an understatement,” the former commander told CBS News.
They added: “This is what they train for, all over the world. They are known as the Swiss Army knives of the Air Force.”
Verified video from Iran on Friday appears to show U.S. military helicopters and at least one refueling plane operating over Iran’s Khuzestan province.
The missions are extremely urgent, as enemy forces would likely be deployed in the same area in an attempt to locate the same U.S. personnel that CSAR teams are trying to rescue.
Jonathan Hackett, a former US Marine Corps special operations specialist, told the BBC’s World Tonight that a rescue team’s priority would be to look for signs of life.
“They’re trying to work backwards from the last point they knew this person was at, and deploy based on how fast this person could move under different circumstances in this really difficult terrain,” Hackett said.
Hackett said this type of reported rescue would be a “non-standard assisted recovery mission”, where indigenous groups in the area could have been contacted beforehand with the aim of creating contingency plans that could be activated to assist in any rescue.
The history of CSAR missions
Wartime airborne rescue missions have a long history, dating back to World War I pilots making impromptu landings in France to save their downed colleagues.
The U.S. Army’s parachute rescue units date back to a 1943 mission in which two combat surgeons parachuted into Burma, now Myanmar, to help injured soldiers.
The world’s first helicopter rescue took place a year later, when an American lieutenant rescued four soldiers behind Japanese lines, according to the Smithsonian’s Air & Space magazine. The incident also marked the first operational use of a helicopter in combat.
Formal search and rescue units were first established in the United States immediately after the conflict. But modern CSAR began during the Vietnam War.
One mission, known as Bat 21, resulted in the loss of several aircraft and numerous American casualties while attempting to recover the pilot of a downed plane behind North Vietnamese lines.
The war necessitated a vast expansion of CSAR missions, with increased scope and complexity. This experience helped the military refine tactics and procedures that have since helped lay the foundation for rescue operations.
US Air Force Parachute Rescue Teams
Although each U.S. military branch has its own limited CSAR capabilities, the U.S. Air Force has primary responsibility for finding and rescuing military personnel.
This work is primarily carried out by what are known as paratroopers, who are part of the Army’s broader special operations community.
The paratroopers’ official motto is “These things we do so that others may live,” and their work is seen as part of a broader promise to U.S. service members not to be left behind.
These personnel are highly trained as warfighters and paramedics, and go through what is widely considered one of the most difficult selection and training processes in the U.S. military.
The selection and training process – which takes approximately two years from start to finish – includes parachute and diving training, as well as basic underwater demolition, survival, resistance and evasion training, as well as a comprehensive civilian first aid course.
They also received specialized courses in battlefield medicine, complex recovery operations and weaponry.
On the ground, these teams are led by specialized Combat Rescue Officers, responsible for planning, coordinating and executing recovery missions.
Recent US rescue missions
Parachute teams deployed widely throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting thousands of missions to rescue U.S. and allied troops injured or in need of extraction.
In 2005, Air Force parachute teams were involved in recovering a U.S. Navy Seal who had been injured and was seeking shelter in an Afghan village after his team was ambushed and his three other members were killed – an incident later made into the film Lone Survivor.
Missions to recover downed American pilots have been rare in recent decades.
In 1999, the pilot of an F-117 stealth fighter shot down over Serbia was found and recovered by pararescuers.
In a high-profile incident in Bosnia in 1995, American pilot Scott O’Grady was rescued during a joint Air Force-Marine Corps CSAR mission after being shot down and evading capture for six days.