Posted on 02/22/2008 3:59:31 PM PST by SandRat
Reserve search-and-rescue crews based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will begin deploying to the Middle East next week.
About 80 reservists with the 943rd Rescue Group, which specializes in combat search and rescue, are scheduled to leave in the first of three deployments, said Master Sgt. Shawn McCowan, a unit spokesman.
The 943rd will deploy along with members of its parent unit, the 920th Rescue Wing, for more than a year, McCowan said.
He wouldn't say when the unit would leave or exactly where the reservists will be sent due to security concerns, which is standard military procedure. The unit will deploy other reservists in early June and again in October, he said.
The 943rd, a tenant unit at D-M, was activated in February 2005 and is equipped with six HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters, according to a military fact sheet. The 943rd is the only reserve combat rescue unit in the Southwest, the fact sheet said.
The unit was established to provide search-and-rescue capabilities in support of combat operations abroad and also can respond to natural disasters that occur in the United States.
● Contact reporter Aaron Mackey at 573-4138 or at amackey@azstarnet.com.
God be with them.
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