Pararescuemen provide trauma medical service during the rescue of downed
aircrew members who have to eject, crash land or ditch their aircraft. If the
aircrew members are injured, PJs provide medical treatment, stabilize the
patients and help evacuate them to safety. PJs also use their life saving skills
during rescues and evacuations caused by natural disasters. Additionally, they
provide combat search and rescue support to joint special operations forces and
stand alert to rescue and recover astronauts during space shuttle
launches.
Combined teams of CCT and PJs are called Special Tactics teams. Special
Tactics teams are assigned to AFSOC and provide the air to ground interface and
casualty collection and evacuation for the ground forces commander. For example,
Special Tactics teams parachuted into Panama with the Ranger assault forces
during Operation JUST CAUSE. While PJs were providing trauma medical care and
evacuation for wounded Rangers, the CCTs were removing obstacles, placing
infrared lights along the runway and controlling aircraft into the blacked-out
airfield.
Special Tactics teams also distinguished themselves during the liberation
of Kuwait in Operation DESERT STORM, where they rescued a Navy pilot from deep
in Iraqi territory. They were also involved in several classified missions into
Iraq and Kuwait. More recently, in the bloody Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia, a
PJ repeatedly risked his life to provide medical assistance to wounded Rangers.
For his bravery, he received the Air Force Cross, the nation’s second highest
honor for extraordinary heroism. Another PJ and a CCT each received the Silver
Star, eight others were awarded Bronze Star medals for Valor and five were
awarded Purple Hearts for wounds they received. Once again, they lived up to
their motto.
NFNS 00-XX
May 4, 2000
U.S. AIR FORCE
STARS TAKE TO THE SKIES
By
Tech. Sgt. Ginger Schreitmueller
Air
Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs
NAVAL
AIR STATION KEY WEST, Fla. (Night Flyer News Service) – Their silhouettes pop
into the sky from behind the C-17 Globemaster.
In less than the count of "one-thousand-one," eight red, white
and blue canopies fill the skyline.
The jumpers aim their chutes toward
the target – a small panel that marks the drop zone and proclaims the
territorial touchdown for the Air Force’s newest demonstration team.
The U.S. Air Force Special Tactics
and Rescue Specialists Parachute Demonstration Team, or STARS, began training
camp here April 8. The STARS mission is
to bring a greater understanding and awareness of the Air Force and Special
Tactics to the American public.
“These men are all freefall
parachutists and military jumpmasters with at least 200 jumps to their
credit," said Wayne Norrad, the STARS director and a retired chief master
sergeant.
There are three full-time jumpers plus
Chief Norrad permanently assigned to the team, which is headquartered at the
720th Special Tactics Group, Hurlburt Field, Fla. For demonstrations, the team will normally
consist of four or five jumpers, a drop zone controller and the team
coordinator/narrator.
“Unlike the Army’s Golden Knights or
the Navy’s Leap Frogs, the team isn’t a permanent duty assignment,” said Chief
Norrad, a retired Combat Controller.
“The STARS team is not allocated separate manpower billets, so the team
must operate with augmentees who have full-time jobs as Pararescuemen or Combat
Controllers. When we have a jump
planned, we’ll pull the team from their home units to participate. They may be doing a freefall demonstration
today, and heading out to execute a real-world mission tomorrow.”
The STARS team isn’t the only parachute
demonstration team in the Air Force. The U.S. Air Force Academy also has a
team, “Wings of Blue.” The STARS
concept and team name has existed in Air Force Special Operations Command since
1996.
“I made my first jump with the STARS
about 4 years ago,” said Master Sgt. Stacey Poland, a Combat Controller
assigned to the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron, McChord Air Force
Base, Wash. “Many of us have taken part
in parachute demonstrations throughout our career, but there was no official
Air Force parachute team. We’ve
recognized a need for an official team for quite a while, but the concept has
been slow rolling toward reality.”
Though STARS traces its roots to AFSOC,
today’s team is a mix of Combat Controllers and Pararescue professionals from
across the Air Force. The jumpers are
assigned to Air Force Special Operations Command, Air Education and Training
Command, Air Combat Command, Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard. Special Tactics are combined teams of Combat
Controllers and Pararescuemen who are combat ready members of the most highly
trained and elite Special Operations and combat search and rescue forces in the
world.
Though the Controllers and PJs on the
team have parachuted to earth more than a 200 times, the team itself is in the
early stages of development.
“STARS has been around in different
forms for many years, but basically the program was run with volunteers and
limited funding,” said Staff Sgt. Ty Clark, the noncommissioned officer in
charge of STARS. “Now, we’ll have a
full-fledged team and eventually our infrastructure will be more
self-sustaining so we’ll be able to function more like other parachute
demonstration teams. You’ve got to walk
before you can run,” said Sergeant Clark, a Combat Controller and one of the
team’s primary jumpers.
As the team grows and matures,
Sergeant Poland said the focus won’t change.
“Getting out there in front of the
American people is what STARS is all about,” he said. “It’s one of the best ways to show potential recruits who we are
and what we do. We will do
demonstrations at air shows and sporting events, but our focus is on the
younger audience. We want to get out to
high schools around the country and do jumps before school assemblies or
homecoming games. These are the people
we need to reach out and touch with our messages about the Air Force and
Special Tactics,” said Sergeant Poland, one of the primary jumpers for STARS.
The team’s first official demonstration
was a Salute to Youth program at Palmdale, Calif., April 28. They also are scheduled to drop into a
stadium full of fans at Comiskey Park before a Chicago White Sox game in May,
and perform a jump into Hurlburt Field’s Air Park for the AFSOC's 10th
Anniversary Celebration in June.
“Being part of this team is the kind
of stuff that motivates people,” said Master Sgt. Doug Carwile, a Pararescueman
assigned to ACC’s 347th Operational Support Squadron, Moody Air
Force Base, Ga. “To be part of the
solution, to get out and meet people and help recruiting are great
opportunities. I’ve seen the Golden
Knights and the Leap Frogs, and know there are a lot of true professionals in
our career field who can do the same caliber work, if not better.”
Helping bring attention to the
Special Tactics community and ultimately helping recruiting efforts is one of
the motivating factors behind Senior Master Sgt. Jack Brehm’s involvement in
STARS.
“With 23 years as a PJ, I’ve become
a self-motivated recruiter,” said the PJ assigned to the New York National
Guard’s 102nd Rescue Squadron.
“Our career field is about 80 percent manned and I’ve made it a personal
goal to do all I can my last few years in service to bring up those numbers.”
The STARS taking on the mission to
enhance public understanding and awareness of the Air Force and Special Tactics
are:
Full-time
team members
-- Master Sgt. Stacey Poland, 22nd
STS, McChord (AFSOC)
-- Staff Sgt. Ty Clark, 720th
STG, Hurlburt Field (AFSOC)
-- Senior Airman Brad Braddock, 720th
STG, Hurlburt Field (AFSOC)
Primary
augmentee team members
-- Senior Master Sgt. Jack Brehm, 102th
RQS, F.S. Gabreski Airport, N.Y. (ANG)
-- Master Sgt. Doug Carwile, 347th
OSS, Moody (ACC)
-- Staff Sgt. Joe Barnard,
Detachment 1, 342nd Training Squadron, Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M.
(AETC)
-- Staff Sgt. Ron Thompson, 66th
Rescue Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. (ACC)
-- Senior Airman Ian Vredenburgh, 21st
STS, Pope Air Force Base, N.C. (AFSOC)
Alternate augmentee team
members
-- Master Sgt. Jon Swails, 303rd
Rescue Squadron, Portland International Airport, Ore. (AFRC)
-- Tech. Sgt. Tim Donovan, Det. 1,
342nd TRS, Kirtland (AETC)
-- Staff Sgt. Calvin Markham, 23rd
STS, Hurlburt Field (AFSOC)
--
Staff Sgt. Jules Roy, 102nd RQS, N.Y. (ANG)
More information on STARS is
available by contacting Chief Norrad at usafstars@hurlburt.af.mil; or by
calling DSN 579-4246, commercial (850) 884-4246.
Members of the STARS parachute
demonstration team perform a freefall demonstration during training camp at
Naval Air Station Key West, Fla. (Photo
by Staff Sgt. Vic Owens, 16th Communications Squadron)
Specialtactics.com
Combat control teams were established in January 1953. The original CCT
mission of supporting airborne operations for U.S. Army ground forces was
inherited from the World War II Army Pathfinder scout teams. The CCT mission has
evolved over the years and now includes air traffic control service, day or
night, even under the most difficult or hostile conditions. CCTs also survey,
assess, mark and control airfields, helicopter landing zones or parachute drop
zones. This enables Air Force aircraft to deliver troops and supplies -- on time
and on target. They often control aircraft in and out of the mission area while
attached to elite Army and Navy special operations teams and select, mark and
communicate target information for fighter aircraft, attack helicopters or
AC-130 Spectre gunships during close air support strike missions.
