B-Roll of Staff Sgt. Kayleigh Jones, 66th RQS SMA, conducting her daily duties on an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter.
U.S. Air Force Capt. Victoria Snow, HH-60G Pave Hawk pilot, assigned to the 33rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, sits in the cockpit before a training mission with a Guardian Angel team assigned to the 308th ERQS, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan in support of Operations Freedom's Sentinel and Resolute Support.
The Guardian Angel Teams, consisting of combat rescue officers and pararescuemen work with the HH-60G aircrews to constantly maintain the highest levels of proficiency to ensure the successful execution of the personnel recovery/casualty evacuation mission set. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Tech. Sgt. Gregory Brook)
Excitement fills the air because the engines start, but the crew members maintain their focus as they hurriedly finish loading their gear onto the aircraft and run through their preflight checklists. Adrenaline courses because the pilot settles into the mission mindset.
She dons her flying helmet, her mask adorned with a lime green mustache.
Her mustache reflects that of her aircraft. The Pave Hawks assigned to the squadron are all painted with a mustache on the noses; a nod to the Pave Hawks’ call sign dating back to the Vietnam War: “Pedro.”
Air Force Capt. Victoria Snow may be a pilot with the 33rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, assigned to the 451st Air Expeditionary Group here. Flying the Pave Hawk may be a normal a part of her exciting life.
“Getting to travel out and fly a 22,000-pound machine a day is amazing,” Snow said. “And then you pile the mission on top of that, … what we get to try to to is beyond anything you'll neutralize any other job.”
The 33rd ERQS has two missions here: personnel recovery and casualty evacuation. Personnel recovery, previously referred to as combat search and rescue, requires the aircrew to fly the Pave Hawk with combat rescue officers and pararescuemen behind enemy lines to rescue isolated personnel, like downed aircrew.
The 33rd ERQS is additionally tasked with evacuating injured ground troops within the “golden hour.” From mission notification to returning the evacuees back to the on-base hospital, an hour is that the civil time limit that provides them the simplest chance of survival.
‘It’s an enormous Responsibility’
“It’s an enormous responsibility, but it’s why everybody gets into this mission set,” Snow said. “‘That Others May Live’ is our motto that pushes us and pushes our mission.”
The HH-60 crew is formed from a pilot, co-pilot and two flight engineers who also are gunners. They work with the 308th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, whose combat rescue officers and pararescuemen also fly the missions to render lifesaving aid and perform the extraction.
“The community is one massive family. I grew up with two older brothers, so now it’s like having tons of older brothers,” Snow said.
With five years within the Air Force and on her third deployment with the 33rd ERQS, Snow said that she has not faced adversity being a lady during a male-dominated career field.
“I want to mention that it’s just luck that I haven’t had any challenges, but i feel I’d chalk it up to progress,” Snow said. “The women that i used to be lucky enough to possess precede me paved the way.”
Women are flying helicopters within the U.S. military for quite 40 years. Yet, of the 12,504 pilots within the Air Force, only 728 are female. The numbers aren't overwhelming Snow.
“We have a female squadron commander, who at any time can tell me to execute the mission. and that i would begin to the aircraft as a female pilot and be launched out thereon mission by a female crew chief and no-one would blink an eye fixed ,” Snow said. “It’s incredible.”
Professional Aviators
“This team is formed from highly trained, professional aviators,” said Air Force Maj. Margaret McCord, commander of the 33rd ERQS. “The bonds that form within these crews supersede any gender or race bias.”
Snow reflected on her time as a young cadet in ROTC and on what she would tell young females who want to pursue a career within the military, within the Air Force or aviation.
“You’re getting to have tons of individuals throughout your life that are getting to tell you that you simply can’t do something,” she said. “The biggest thing to recollect isn't to let yourself be the one telling you that.”
Focused on completing the mission at hand, Snow flew the nighttime training mission outside the wire together with her crew skillfully and successfully.
like any crew that flies into combat together, success and sometimes lives depend upon each member’s ability to perform under incredible pressure, McCord said.
“Anything to try to to with the mission is simply one huge adrenaline rush,” Snow said. “When you’re out there it’s this crazy feeling of confidence, knowing that you simply have the power to require this machine and execute a mission with it. And, that you simply have a whole crew of individuals backing you up while you’re doing it.”
Upon her return from deployment, Snow’s next assignment are going to be at Fort Rucker, Alabama, to Teach flying the TH-1H Huey II to subsequent generation of rotary-wing aviators.
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