943rd Rescue Group Public Affairs
3/10/2014 - DAVIS MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- A challenging, multi-day mission in the backcountry of Alaska tested the limits of one U.S. Air Force rescue team and provided the inspiration for a unique, nonfiction children's book.
During the summer of 2010, the Alaska Air National Guard was tasked to rescue a family after their plane crash-landed high on a remote Alaskan glacier during blizzard conditions.
An HH-60 Pave Hawk and an HC-130 Hercules quickly launched to provide assistance. Once overhead, they attempted to drop emergency supplies to the survivors below. Unfortunately, hurricane-force winds blew each of the bundles down the glacier and the packages disappeared into crevasses.
The Guardian Angel team on the Pave Hawk helicopter consisted of a Combat Rescue Officer, Maj. Jesse Peterson, and three Pararescuemen; Senior Master Sgt. Alan Lankford, Master Sgt. Christopher Uriarte and Tech. Sgt. Angel Santana. These Airmen, specially trained in rescue and recovery operations, knew the survivors needed assistance quickly. They volunteered to pack emergency supplies into sleds, land beneath the storm and ski upwards towards the family in distress.
"Initially, we estimated it would take six to eight hours to cover the four miles up to the crash site," said Peterson, now assigned to the 306th Rescue Squadron at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz.
It ended up taking the men nearly twenty-four hours of constant climbing to get there. Tied together for safety, they avoided crevasses in pitch black, whiteout conditions and overcame numerous challenges during their ascent.
Peterson, an experienced endurance athlete, compared it to "competing in two Ironman triathlons back-to-back. It was the most physically challenging event we had ever tackled, and most of the time we couldn't see past the tips of our skis."
During their climb, all available rescue assets from the 176th Wing were diverted to another challenging rescue mission; one that took the life of former Alaska Senator Ted Stevens. For that reason, an Army UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter was sent up the glacier to evacuate the family and PJ's.
"As it hovered about 100 meters from our location and tried to land, its rotor blades smacked the surface of the glacier and it fell out of the sky, rolling a few times before coming to a stop," said Peterson. "Amazingly, all three crew members were ok, and after a quick medical assessment we set up another tent for the Army personnel."
Once the weather improved slightly the next day, Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawks from the 210th Rescue Squadron were able to fly up to 8,500 foot elevation to pick up all eight of the survivors and the PJ's.
When the mission was over, Peterson looked forward to telling his daughter about the events that unfolded on the glacier. As a two year-old toddler, she enjoyed hearing about the adventure while falling asleep at night.
Two years later, Peterson was deployed to the Joint Personnel Recovery Center, which is an agency that oversees rescue and recovery operations of isolated service members.
"I had some time on my hands and decided to write the story down for her," he said. It started out as a make believe story about a rescue dog on a mission to save a family stranded high on a mountain."
As he began to share drafts of it with friends and family, everyone seemed more intrigued by the actual rescue mission.
"People encouraged me to tell the story as it is really happened," said Peterson. "I went back and changed it to reflect the actual mission as accurately as possible."
He finally found the perfect way to convey the team's mission to his young daughter; he would self-publish a nonfiction, illustrated storybook. The next step was to find a talented, reputable illustrator to bring his team's experience to life. After researching dozens of candidates, he settled on a very talented Italian artist named Manuela Soriani.
"As the book came together over the next year-and-a-half, one image at a time, I became more excited about sharing the story with kids, since very few children have heard any stories about the Air Force rescue community," he said.
As completion of the project neared, Peterson reached out to the "That Others May Live Foundation," a non-profit organization that provides tragedy assistance and resources to those involved in the U.S. Air Force Rescue community. Together, they came up with a lofty goal of raising $10,000 for the foundation through the sale of the book.
"In the months leading up to the holidays, we made $1000 for the foundation through the sale of approximately 200 books," said Peterson. "Everyone seemed to enjoy the unique, adolescent twist on the glacier rescue."
"It may take a few years, but I believe we will eventually reach our goal," he said. "Even if we don't come close, we know that the story has already opened the eyes of many youth to opportunities within the Air Force rescue community."
The civilian pilot of the downed aircraft, Mr. Don Erbey of Wasilla, Alaska, purchased 50 copies of the book and is in the process of disseminating them to middle schools and public libraries.
"A lot of people don't know that we exist," said Peterson. "What is a PJ? What is a CRO? What do SERE Specialists do? Answering questions like those and sharing adventurous stories from our rescue community with children is what has made this project worthwhile," said Peterson.
Guardian Angel is the Air Force's only non-aircraft, human based weapon system. Made up of Pararescuemen, Combat Rescue Officers, SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) Specialists and a combat support team, they specialize in conducting personnel recovery operations across the entire spectrum of military operations.
The children's book by Maj. Jesse Peterson called "Guardian Angel, Rescue on Glacier," is available online and can be found by doing a search for the title.
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