Air National Gaurd Attempts Rescue Effort At Sea 900 Miles Off California Coast
A team of para-rescue jumpers from the California Air National Guard unit out of Moffett Field left Tuesday morning to rescue an American sailor 900 miles off the California coast, west of San Diego.
A distress call from the cargo ship Green Ridge to the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday morning, at 9:50 a.m., reported a sailor had fainted and was bleeding with a possible hemorrhage. A rescue team was airborne on a C-130 by 3 p.m.
The Guardian Angel para-rescue crew from the 129th Rescue Wing parachuted from a MC-130P Combat Shadow aircraft safely into the open ocean and used an inflatable boat to reach the Green Ridge.
Col. Gregory F. Jones, commander of the 129th Rescue Wing, told the San Francisco Chronicle the crew had completed the first stage of the rescue Tuesday night.
“The 129th Rescue Wing’s federal mission is to conduct combat rescue. But as California Guardsmen, we have a responsibility to apply our lifesaving capabilities to the homeland. This is a prime example of how the 129th Rescue Wing and the Air National Guard are always on mission for the American people.”
While parachuting into a cold ocean 900 miles from shore to rescue a sailor might sound like something out of the movies, it’s something the men and women of Air National Guard and the Coast Guard take seriously.
Air guardsmen from the 129 Rescue Wing has saved more than 1,000 people.
.@129RQW from Moffett Field to treat injured man aboard boat 900 miles off coast: http://t.co/4kAW8qGoS5 pic.twitter.com/2kL2VfkwrP
— KCBS 106.9 FM/740 AM (@KCBSRadio) August 19, 2015
A para-rescue crew again parachuted into the open ocean and used an inflatable raft to reach the family. The infamous case drew widespread criticism about the family’s decision to take to the open ocean in such a small boat with small children aboard.
Earlier this month, a boater spoke out on camera praising the Coast Guard for saving his life after he fell off his boat in May.
Damian Sexton was out fishing for Tuna when an unexpected wave tossed him into the ocean. After four hours swimming in the open ocean, a Coast Guard swimmer hooked him up to a sling and hoisted him into a rescue helicopter.
Today, members of the Air National Guard have joined active duty soldiers to assist firefighters battling 95 wildfires burning across seven western states.
[U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Michael Achterling / Released / Spencer Platt / Getty Images]
