Coming in for a landing

An Air Force Reserve pararescueman, carrying an additional bag of supplies attached to his harness, guides his way in for a landing after a free-fall jump here April 5. Airmen of the 920th Rescue Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., train extensively to keep current on their combat search and rescue qualifications. This includes parachuting during daylight and dusk. Pararescuemen are highly trained in parachuting, mountaineering and SCUBA and are among the most highly trained emergency trauma specialists in the U.S. military. With this medical and rescue expertise, PJs are able to perform life-saving missions in the world?s most remote areas. (U.S. Air Force photo/2nd Lt. Leslie Forshaw)

Sunset jump

Staff Sgt. Andrew West, Air Force Reserve pararescueman, takes off his gear after a free-fall jump here April 5. Airmen of the 920th Rescue Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., train extensively to keep current on their combat search and rescue qualifications. This includes parachuting during daylight and dusk. Pararescuemen are highly trained in parachuting, mountaineering and SCUBA and are among the most highly trained emergency trauma specialists in the U.S. military. With this medical and rescue expertise, PJs are able to perform life-saving missions in the world?s most remote areas. (U.S. Air Force photo/2nd Lt. Leslie Forshaw)

10th Air Force commander visits 943rd Rescue Group

Brig. Gen. William Binger, 10th Air Force commander, performs pre-flight checks prior to his familiarization flight in an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter. General Binger visited the 943rd Rescue Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to learn about the combat-search-and-rescue mission and the Air Force Reserve units based there. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ Master Sgt. Luke Johnson)

10th Air Force commander visits 943rd Rescue Group

Brig. Gen. William Binger, 10th Air Force Commander, and Lt. Col. Jeffery Peterson with the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Test Center walk on the flight line at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. prior to the general's familiarization flight in an HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter. General Binger visited the 943rd Rescue Group to visit with Airmen and learn about the group's combat-search-and-rescue capabilities. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ Master Sgt. Luke Johnson)

Reservists clear a path to Mars

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The crew of a 920th Rescue Wing HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter conducts post-flight operations after supporting a NASA Delta II rocket launch from Kennedy Space Center just before 5:30 a.m. today. Reservists from the 920th are responsible for clearing the Eastern range before all Space Shuttle and rocket launches -- flying off the coast of Kennedy Space Center to ensure no boats are in the launch path. The lazy twist of smoke in the early-morning sky is all that remains from the trail left by the rocket, which carried the Phoenix spacecraft on the first leg of its trip to Mars' arctic plain, where a landing craft will dig through the Martian soil and ice to analyze the samples it retrieves. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Paul Flipse)

DRESSED FOR SUCCESS

Capt. Gregory Lowdermilk, a combat rescue officer with the 920th Rescue Wing, pulls on his wetsuit before plunging into the Atlantic some 40 miles off Port Canaveral. The former chief master sergeant was one of nearly 1,000 personnel from NASA , the Air Force Reserve and active Air Force, Army, Marines, Navy and Coast Guard who participated in the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Paul Flipse)