Monday, May 20, 2013

Courage

"Courage is the first of human qualities because it is the quality that guarantees the others"  - Aristotle

What depicts Special Operations "Personnel" above all others - Courage.  Some may say it's strength, both physical and mental.  But above all, it's the courage that comes from down within your soul that forces you to go on one more day during training, to look fear, pain, I'm sorry agony, and everything to continue on.  To know that there is no other plan, no other option but to complete the training that they started.  There is no amount of yelling or screaming in their face that can stop them, but yet it motivates them to continue - one more moment, one more hour, one more day, one more phase - sleep and food are luxuries.  All the sweat, tears, pulled muscles, torn ligaments, twisted ankles, etc. to graduate, to be apart of an elite class of Special Operations Warriors, Heroes.

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer"  George Patton

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Special Tactics

Most people know about the Special Operations units of the US Army, US Navy and the US Marines.  They are easy, Delta Force, Rangers SEALS, etc.  Not many people know about the US Air Force's Special Operations Special Tactics Pararescue - PJs.  There are two elements of the Pararescue career field,  rescue and special tactics.

"Rescue" is the path that the movie 9 Line covers.  It depicts what the PJs accomplish on a day to day basis in both the civilian stateside sector and also within the war zone, Afghanistan.  The National Geographic Channel "Nat Geo" aired a fabulous mini-series documentary this past winter depicting the "rescue" side, entitled "Inside Combat Rescue".  It can be watched on YouTube at: (note: each episode has it's own url):


The other part of Pararescue is the unseen Special Tactics.  Shhhhhhhh   The Special Tactics side of Pararescue is not spoken of very much, they are the unseen men embedded with the Navy SEALS, Delta Force and the Army Rangers.  They provide the medical assistance that these teams require in certain missions that they accomplish.  Pararescuemen are the only Medical Personnel that are fully trained in all aspects of the Special Operations field and Combat.  They train directly with the SEALS, Delta Force and the Rangers.  Practically every high profile mission that has been accomplished, and then fed to the media had a PJ with them.  Such missions include the rescue of Jessica Lynch, the 1st individual she saw was a PJ, the mission in Somalia known to the public as "Black Hawk Down" it was a PJ that was the medic working on the wounded (the operation on the leg, who can forget?!), and also, among SEAL Team 6...and when they were shot down, yes we lost a PJ.   They are never spoken of, and within the movies they are never displayed and are usually just shown as an Army Medic.  They ask for no glory, no fame, they don't boast of what they do.  None of that matters to the PJs, they do it "That Others May Live"



Thursday, May 2, 2013

9 Line Medevac

I have people ask me on a regularly about the title of the film: "9 Line".  What does it mean?  I have had both Active Duty and Veterans from all branches ask.  It's not a common knowledge term, but for those who do know what it means, they understand that it means, simply - "rescue". 

The Special Tactics and Special Operations units across the globe clearly understand the importance of receiving a 9 Line request.  It means we have men down, military or civilian, but they are down and in need of help and rescue.  The request is going to inform of a medical evaluation and patient pick up site, necessary equipment and or materials that may be needed for extraction.  Medical personnel from the different branches utilize this information and determine how and who will be sent in.  The Air Force's Special Operations Pararescue Search and Rescue units have quickly become the most common group of men (no there are no women in this career field) to perform such extractions.  The Pararescuers, or more commonly known as PJs (pararescue jumper) are highly trained in combat rescue and live by there motto "that others may live". 

A 9 Line is requested, then received by the what is known as a "TOC" - tactical operations center, the information is then passed onto the "CRO" - combat rescue officer (an officer who is a PJ), who discusses it with his team that will be sent in - the time starts to tick...

9 Line request proceeds as such:

Line 1:  Location
Line 2: Call Sign/Frequency
Line 3:  # of Patients by Precedence
            A- Urgent (w/ in 2 hrs)
            B-Urgent Surgery (w/ in 2 hrs)
            C - Priority (w/ in 4 hrs)
            D - Routine (w/ in 24 hrs)
Line 4:  Special Equipment
            A - None
            B - Hoist
            C - Extraction Equipment (i.e. jaws of life, etc)
            D - Ventilator
Line 5:  # of Patients by Type
            L + #  = Litter
            A + # = Ambulatory
Line 6:  Wartime (Security of PZ)
            N - No enemies
            P - Possible Enemy
            E - Enemy in Area, Proceed with Caution
            X - Enemy in Area, Armed Escort Required
Line 6:  Peacetime (if an extraction is needed stateside or outside of a warzone for example Hurricane Katrina - PJs were called in and this was used compared to the above information)
            Number and Type of Wounded
Line 7:  Method of Marking PZ
            A - Panels (color)
            B - Pyrotechnic Signal
            C - Smoke Signal
            D - None
            E - Other
Line 8:  Patient Nationality and Status
            A - US Military
            B - US Civilian
            C - Non-US Military
            D - Non-US Civilian
            E - EPW
Line 9:  Wartime (NBC Contamination)
            N - Nuclear
            B - Biological
            C - Chemical
             When there is no contamination, a description of the scene, location, will be used, i.e mountain terrain, low trees, etc

Overall, yeah, okay, somewhat simple, to hear one come through or actually read one, is totally different.  In this film, it's all about the 9 Line's that come through during "Chase's" deployment in Afghanistan.  Here is one such 9 Line that is sent in:  (OS means Off Stage)

GONZO - O.S.
Scepter 2-3, this is Gonzo 9, over.
COMPTROLLER 2
Gonzo 9, go for Scepter 2-3 over.
GONZO - O.S.
Scepter 2-3, 9 Line request, over.
COMPTROLLER 2
Gonzo 9, send it, over.
GONZO - O.S.
Line 1: 4-1 Sierra Mike Romeo
3136680729, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 2: Papa Echo, Gonzo 9, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 3: 6 Alpha, 5 Bravo, 8
Charlie, 5 Delta, 4 Echo, break.
80.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 4: Delta, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 5: 19 Alpha, 9 Bravo, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 6: Papa, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 7: Charlie, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 8: 4 Alpha, 5 Charlie, 19
Delta, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
Line 9: flat and open with
buildings, 250 meters to the
northwest, break.
GONZO - O.S. (CONT'D)
How copy, over.
COMPTROLLER 2
That’s a solid copy Gonzo 9,
standby for inbound Casevac, over.
GONZO - O.S.
Roger that Scepter 2-3, standing
by.

Looks a little different than the original.  Stay tuned for more...