Red Flag 23-1 Combat Search and Rescue
Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. — While reporting on a feature story about the future of Air Force combat search and rescue, I rode aboard an HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter as its crew and attached Pararescue Jumpers practiced picking up a downed pilot during the large-scale exercise Red Flag 23-1 in February, 2023. The experience proved vital for the feature because it gave me a first-hand view of what search and rescue crews risk to accomplish their dangerous mission.