New York National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing first HH-60W Jolly Green II
The New York National Guard’s 106th Rescue Wing officially marked the arrival of its new HH-60W Jolly Green II search and rescue fleet during a recent ceremony at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base.
As told by Capt. Cheran Campbell, New York National Guard Public Affairs, in the article New York Air Guard wing welcomes new, high-tech helicopters, the aircraft will replace the HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters formerly flown by the wing. The new high-tech helicopters are more capable than the aircraft they replace.
“This is a momentous occasion which allows for us to reflect on where we are as an organization and where we are headed,” said Col. Shawn P. Fitzgerald, 106th Rescue Wing commander.
The 106th Rescue Wing relied on the HH-60Gs when it responded to hurricanes and major storms during missions in Florida, Texas and North and South Carolina.
The HH-60G, nicknamed the “Golf” by pilots because of its HH-60G designation, was a great aircraft and played a role during the Persian Gulf War and in Afghanistan and Iraq, said Capt. Nic Arosemena, a pilot in the wing’s 101st Rescue Squadron.
“Its contributions have cemented its reputation as a workhorse of the US Air Force rescue community,” Arosemena said.
HH-60W
“The ‘Whiskey’ model you see before you may look almost identical to the Golf, but I can assure you, it is much different,” Fitzgerald said. “So much so that the training of our aircrew and maintainers requires months and additional intensive training and practical hands-on experience. It’s not an easy transition.”
The HH-60W is designed from the ground up with integrated mission systems that improve situational awareness for aircrews conducting the CSAR mission in contested environments. The helicopters feature new multi-function displays to provide pilots with critical flight information.
Modifications to the HH-60W include a digital radar warning receiver; laser, missile, hostile fire warning; integrated chaff and flares; cabin and cockpit armor; externally mounted 7.62 mm and .50 caliber weapons; LINK 16 military tactical data link network; Situational Awareness Data Link; integrated cockpit and cabin displays; advanced communications; Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast; tactical moving map displays; upturned IR-masking exhausts; and efficient wide-chord rotor blades.
Maj. Gen. Michael W. Bank, the commander of the New York Air National Guard and a former commander of the 106th Rescue Wing, said the new helicopters are part of an effort to keep the wing combat ready.
“The addition of the 130-J, now the Whiskey, the construction that is going on here for your buildings, you guys are modernizing the wing to be ready for the 21st century Air Force that we need,” Bank said.
Maj. Gen. Raymond F. Shields Jr., adjutant general of New York, said the modernization of the wing’s aircraft was important for the New York Air National Guard to respond to new challenges.
The 106th Rescue Wing
New York recently signed an agreement with the Swedish military to train together, alongside existing relationships with South Africa and Brazil.
Shields said the 106th Rescue Wing has been heavily involved in training with Brazil, and he expects the wing’s Airmen and new aircraft to conduct similar missions with Sweden.
During the ceremony, the wing leadership also honored Tech. Sgt. Michael Tessar, by naming him the first dedicated crew chief for the brand new HH-60W.
“As advancements in military aircraft technology continue, so, too, will the skills of myself and my fellow maintainers and aircrew,” Tessar said.
The ceremony concluded with a HH-60W demonstration fly-by by the first crew qualified in the aircraft, Lt. Col. James Liston and Staff Sgt. Joe Devito.
The 106th Rescue Wing is a New York Air National Guard unit stationed at Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, New York.
The wing operates the HC-130J Combat King II and the HH-60W Jolly Green II search and rescue aircraft. The wing provides worldwide personnel recovery, combat search and rescue capability, expeditionary combat support, and civil search and rescue support to federal and state authorities.
That Others May Live
Additionally, after he midair explosion of the Space Shuttle “Challenger” in 1986, the 106th Rescue Wing was designated to provide support for every shuttle launch thereafter. In October 1991, an HH-60 and a tanker flew to an endangered sailboat about 250 miles south of its base. The Pave Hawk and HC-130 dropped survival gear to the vessel, which was riding out the storm, and began their return to base. Both aircraft encountered severe weather conditions and the helicopter was unable to take on fuel.
The HH-60 was forced to ditch in the Atlantic Ocean about 60 miles south of the base in what would later become known as “the Perfect Storm”, and all but one member of the crew were saved by the crew of the United States Coast Guard cutter Tamaroa. TSGT Arden Smith, a pararescueman (PJ), lost his life fulfilling the squadron’s motto That Others May Live. The 106th Rescue Wing has assisted the state in battling the 1995 “Sunrise Wildfires” in the Hamptons, they were first on the scene after the crash of TWA Flight 800, and the recovery of the wreckage from the plane flown by John F. Kennedy, Jr., which crashed into the Atlantic Ocean in 1999. The squadron located the transponder of the wreckage of the plane underwater.
In 1998, the wing carried out the longest over-water rescue mission in an HH-60.
On September 11, 2001, the first ANG personnel on scene at World Trade Center were those of the 106th Rescue Wing.
Photo by U.S. Air Force
