Active 1956-present Role Search and Rescue | Country United States Garrison/HQ Patrick Air Force Base | |
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Branch United States Air Force Part of Air Force Reserve Command | ||
The 301st Rescue Squadron is part of the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida. It operates HH-60 Pave Hawk aircraft conducting search and rescue missions.
Contents
History
The 301st was originally activated in August 1956 at Miami International Airport, Florida as an amphibious aircraft unit, equipped with the Grumman SA-16 Albatross and began training for combat search and rescue missions. The 301st performed search and rescue and medical evacuation missions primarily over land areas of and water areas off Florida. It was the first of five rescue squadrons established by Continental Air Command in the Air Force reserve in the 1950s to be activated. In January 1957, the squadron performed the first rescue by a reserve unit.
In 1960, the Air Force moved its units from Miami International Airport, which had become one of the busiest in the world, to Homestead Air Force Base, located south of Miami. From Homestead, the squadron began participating in NASA's manned space flight rescue contingency operations for Project Mercury, beginning with Freedom 7, the first manned Mercury launch, in 1961.
In the 1970s, the squadron converted to a helicopter unit, adding a few Sikorsky HH-34s in 1971, then becoming an all-helicopter unit in 1973, when it added Bell HH-1 Hueys and lost its remaining Albatross amphibians. The Hueys provided support for the Air Force's Water Survival School at Homestead and Biscayne Bay.. In 1974, the squadron began to operate Sikorsky HH-3 Jolly Green Giants, which had an air refueling capability. The squadron became a composite unit in 1979, when it added Lockheed HC-130 Hercules aircraft to refuel its Jolly Greens. It began to provide rescue coverage for space shuttle launches in 1981, and added launch support at the Eastern Test Range in 1993. HH-60 Pave Hawks replaced the Jolly Greens in 1991.
When Hurricane Andrew struck south Florida in August 1992 the squadron rescued 137 residents during the 18-day humanitarian operation following Andrew's landfall. However, Andrew also devastated the squadron's home station and it performed these rescues while operating from Tamiami Airport, Florida. Within a few months, the Air Force determined not to return the 301st to Homestead, and in January 1993 it moved to Patrick Air Force Base, further north in Florida. After the move, on one day in March 1993, the unit saved 93 elderly residents from rising flood waters at their Tampa area retirement community.
In 1997, the Air Force split its composite rescue units. The portion of the 301st flying HH-60G was retained as the 301st Rescue Squadron as it became a helicopter unit again. The HC-130P/N portion of the squadron became the 39th Rescue Squadron and the pararescue portion became the 308th Rescue Squadron. The three squadrons formed the operational element of the 920th Rescue Group.
The 301st has deployed crews to provide search and rescue coverage worldwide, including to Keflavík, Iceland, during and after the Gulf War, and to the Persian Gulf area since 1993.