The Rescue Mission
Provide rescue coverage to national command authorities and warfighting CINCs for matters of national importance
Notes:
SLIDE 4: USAF combat rescue forces exist primarily to retrieve downed flyers from behind enemy lines. Our broader mission, however is to rescue isolated personnel as part of the over-arching mission of personnel recovery. We engage in rescues across the entire spectrum of conflict:
Major Theater Warfare SSC/OOTW Peacetime
Combat rescue Noncombatant Evacuation (NEO) Civil SAR
Contested medical evacuations Counter-narcotics support Disaster relief
Administrative theater MEDEVAC International Aid Space shuttle support
The bottom line: Our national command and our theater CINCs need rescue coverage whenever they commit American and allied forces into harm’s way. American society’s value on individual human life means treating warfighters as expendables is politically unacceptable. USAF combat rescue forces have the charter to honor that core American value and keep our military operations focused on their key objectives