Page 1 - Desert Lightning News Sept. 2015

9RO1R Serving Southern Arizona’s military community, including Davis-Monthan Air Force Base September 3, 2015

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Davis-Monthan breaks deployment records

Airman 1st Class Cheyenne A. Powers

355th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, U.S. Air Force photo by Airmen 1st Class Cheyenne A. Powers
Ariz., -- Since the beginning of 2015, 1,252 per-
sonnel and 596 short tons of cargo have been de- U.S. Air Force Airmen from the 355th Fighter Wing depart for a deployment from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., Feb. 11. These
ployed out of D-M. Airmen are a part of the largest deployment of personnel since WWII to deploy from D-M.

“This was the biggest cargo movement ever on the 354th Fighter Squadron were deployed to Eu- 354th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron commander.
this base, and the biggest personnel movement rope as a Theater Security Package. “We accomplished this mission by training and inte-
since WWII,” said Staff Sgt. Sammie Ervan, 355th grating with our allies throughout Europe.”
Logistics Readiness Squadron quality assurance “Our mission was to reassure our NATO allies
logistics plans. that the United States is committed to peace and sta- The deployed Airmen are all expected to re-
bility in Eastern Europe,” said Lt. Col. Ryan Hayde, turn to D-M by the end of August.
D-M has deployed Airmen from every active
duty unit on base in support of four separate op-
erations: Operation Atlantic Resolve, Operation
Freedom Sentinel, Operation Inherent Resolve,
and Operation Resolute Support.

In support of Operation Atlantic Resolve, Air-
men as well as 12 A-10C Thunderbolt IIs from

Extraordinary effort regardless of outcome

Staff Sgt. Carolyn Herrick

943rd Rescue Group Public Affairs

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- Imagine a 5-year-old Courtesy photo
boy chasing grasshoppers at a camp site. He wanders too far. Darkness
falls, and he is lost. A storm is brewing in the sky above, and the camping Nine U.S. Air Force Reserve pararescuemen from the 943rd Rescue Group leave Davis-Monthan
party turns into a search party. Air Force Base, Ariz., Aug. 8 to assist the search and recovery efforts for 5-year old Jerald Joseph
Williams, who went missing in the Kaibab National Forest north of the Grand Canyon Aug. 6.
When this scenario unfolded earlier this month, six U.S. Air Force Re-
serve pararescuemen and three combat rescue officers from the 306th and just wanted to push through. We knew that no matter how tired,
Rescue Squadron dropped everything and caught a lift from the Arizona cold or hungry we were, nothing we were going through could compare
Army National Guard to go assist the search and recovery effort for Jer- to what this little boy was going through. That is what energized us and
ald Joseph Williams, who went missing in the Kaibab National Forest kept us going.”
north of the Grand Canyon Aug. 6.
See EXTRAORDINARY, Page 22
“We spent all night calling his name out,” said 2nd Lt. Ryan Gilbert, a
306th Rescue Squadron CRO. “Some of the volunteers were actually get-
ting injured searching. It was raining, and the terrain was pretty rugged,
so we were the only ones authorized to search at night. We have the night
vision goggles and [other gear] and training necessary, so we were basi-
cally up all night, every night, looking for him.”

Gilbert is a formerly-enlisted pararescuemen with more than six com-
bat deployments and 12 years of service. This experience as a PJ, he said,
makes him a better leader to his enlisted team because he not only knows
what their hands-on job is and what training and equipment they need to
do it - he also has established credibility.

“That first day was long,” he said. “The guys had been awake for more
than 24 hours and stayed up searching through the night. Since we were
all ground-based, there was no crew rest; but all the guys were motivated