210th Rescue Squadron

210th Rescue Squadron
File:210th Rescue Squadron emblem.jpg 210th Rescue Squadron Emblem
Active	1990–Present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Squadron
Role	Combat Search and Rescue
Part of	Air National Guard/Pacific Air Forces
Garrison/HQ	Kulis Air National Guard Base
Nickname(s)	The Second 10th
Motto(s)	"These things we do.....That others may live"
Commanders
Current commander	Lt Col Thomas Bolin

The 210th Rescue Squadron is a unit of the Alaska Air National Guard. Its parent unit is the 176th Wing. It flies the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter.

Mission

The wartime mission of the 210th is combat search and rescue to locate and recover downed fighter pilots. The day-to day mission is to perform an 11AF 24-hour Alaska Theater Search and Rescue Alert. A by-product of the two missions is civilian search and rescue. The 210th is the busiest Air Force combat search and rescue squadron in the world. To date, the 210th has launched on over 500 missions resulting in over 300 lives saved and over 100 lives assisted. The 210th Rescue Squadron passed its 310th rescue in 1996.

History

Nicknamed "The Second 10th", the 210th RQS has been bestowed the Lineage and Honors history of the 10th Air Rescue Squadron (ARS), an active duty squadron organized at Elmendorf Field in 1946 and mostly manned by Alaskans. The 10th had itself inherited the tradition of the 924th Quartermaster Company, Boat (Aviation), a rescue unit which was constituted in Alaska on 14 June 1942, saw action during the Aleutian Island Campaign, was redesigned the 10th Emergency Rescue Boat Squadron on 3 July 1944, and was deactivated on 8 March 1946. Expanded into the 10th Air Rescue Group on 14 November 1952, the subordinate Alaska Air Command unit became the 71st Air Rescue Squadron and pioneered arctic search and rescue techniques. The parent 10th ARG was deactivated on 8 January 1958 and the 71st ARS was deactivated between 18 March 1960 and 8 March 1970. After re-activation, the 71st served Alaska proudly during the 1970s and 1980s including the rescue of 74 people off the sinking cruiseship Prinsendam in the Gulf of Alaska on 4 October 1980.

In 1987, the Air Force announced the 71st would again be deactivated. However, the tradition of Arctic search and rescue would continue; Alaska Senator Ted Stevens introduced legislation creating a new search and rescue unit for the Alaska Air National Guard. The 210th ARS received federal recognition from the National Guard Bureau on 4 April 1990 and the unit activation ceremony was held at Kulis ANG Base on 11 August 1990. The 210th took delivery of its new Sikorsky HH-60 "Pave Hawk" search and rescue helicopters between June and August 1990 and new Lockheed HC-130 search/tanker aircraft in November and December 1990. The unit achieved initial operational capability faster than the normal Air Force programming process normally allows.

The 210th began sharing the 24 hour Alaska Theater overland helicopter Search and Rescue alert with the deactivating 71st ARS on 1 January 1991 and assumed the entire helicopter alert on 1 April 1991. The HC-130 began daytime alert in April 1991 and assumed 24 hour alert in May 1991. The 71st ARS completed deactivation on 30 June 1991. (Subsequently, the 71st ARS has been re-activated as an active Air Force unit at Patrick AFB, Florida). In January 1992, the 210th achieved combat-ready status. In 1993, additional aircraft were added to the squadron inventory. On 1 January 1994, Detachment 1, 210th RQS was activated at Eielson AFB, Alaska, to perform search and rescue for Eielson based fighters and to perform logistical range support for the northern military ranges. In early 1995, more new HH-60 aircraft joined the 210th and the original HH-60s were transferred to other units. In 1996, the squadron received new HC-130s aircraft and transferred its original HC-130s to another unit. The 210th possesses state-of-the-art "force multipliers". Its Pararescue section is Emergency Medical Technician qualified.

Assignments

Major Command

• Air National Guard/Military Airlift Command (??? – 1 June 1992)
• Air National Guard/Pacific Air Forces (1 June 1992 – present)

Previous designations

• 210th Rescue Squadron (1995–Present)

Bases stationed

• Elmendorf AFB, Alaska (1952–1955)
• Kulis ANGB, Alaska (1990–2011)
• Elmendorf AFB, Alaska (2011–present)

Aircraft operated

• HH-60 (1990–present)

Further reading

• Drury, Bob. The Rescue Season: A True Story of Heroism on the Edge of the World (also titled The Rescue Season: The Heroic Story of Parajumpers on the Edge of the World). New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001. ISBN 0-684-86479-7. About the 210th Rescue Squadron during the 1999 climbing season on Denali.