by Senior Airman Jarrod Grammel
23d Wing Public Affairs
2/8/2013 - MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- During
an episode of "Inside Combat Rescue" that premiered at Moody Air Force
Base, Ga., Feb. 7, viewers saw the chilling sight of pararescuemen
loading an amputee into a helicopter.
"Inside Combat Rescue" is a National Geographic series that shows a
realistic and gritty look at what goes on during a deployment for Air
Force rescue units. The series is scheduled to air on TV for the first
time Feb. 18 and continue Mondays at 10 p.m.
"Our biggest goal was to make something that they could look back on and
be proud of," said Jared McGilliard, "Inside Combat Rescue" series
producer. "I hope it creates conversations about this war. The series
shows the consequences and humanities of this war."
One of the Airmen featured in the series was U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt.
Trevor Clark, 38th Rescue Squadron pararescueman. He said that the
series looks really good and is happy with how everything is being
portrayed.
"It's an honor to be a part of this," he said. "It feels good to know
this is going to do good things for our unit, this base and the Air
Force as a whole. It's something that's never really been done before."
While capturing the lives of the pararescuemen and their teams, one of
the film crew's biggest goals was to stay out of the rescue team's way.
McGilliard said the film crew began to integrate with the unit, so there
was an expectation of where to be and when.
"It was important to stay out of their way," said McGilliard. "We had to ensure we would never be a detriment to the mission."
The main way the film crew accomplished this was with the use of mounted
cameras. With limited space on the helicopters, there was little if any
room for a cameraman. The film crew stayed on the main base, filming
every moment up to take off and immediately after the helicopter landed.
To ensure they captured everything, even when they couldn't be onboard,
the film crew used more than 50 mounted cameras for every mission. They
mounted cameras on everything from the outside of the helicopters to the
helmets of the pararescuemen, aerial gunners and pilots.
"The mounted cameras made it accessible like never before," said
McGilliard. "It's about the guys, as seen through their perspective.
It's authentic and hard to watch. If the audience isn't uncomfortable
watching it, then it wouldn't be authentic.
"It's character driven," he added. "It's about these guys and their war."
Clark agreed with McGilliard on the use of these mounted cameras. He
said the film crews were never in their way, and the mounted cameras
give a unique perspective.
"I think the way they set up the cameras in the helicopters and having
our helmet cams being able to really show the audience what goes on,
hasn't really been done before," said Clark. "It's a really cool
perspective, and I think people are going to see stuff they would never
get to see otherwise."
This was McGilliards goal, and he said the footage came out even better
than expected. He said it was an honor to work on the project and that
it was humbling to work with the rescue teams.
"They are an elite unit, and I don't think there is anyone more deserving of being a role model than these guys."
McGilliard and Clark both agreed that the mission and the series were a
team effort. Although the focus of the series is on the pararescuemen,
Clark said they couldn't do their job without the maintainers, pilots,
flight engineers and many other units and people.
As far as the series goes, McGilliard said that it wasn't just National
Geographic and the pararescuemen working on it. He said there are a lot
of people who should be proud of the series.
Monday, February 11, 2013
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