When it comes to the U.S. Armed Forces’ elite Special Operations units, plenty of folks have heard of the Army’s Delta Force, Special Forces (Green Berets), Rangers, and the Navy SEALs. And a fair number have also heard of the U.S. Marine Corps Recon, Force Recon, and Marine Raiders.   

But far fewer people are aware that even the kinder, gentler United States Air Force (USAF) Tactical Air Control Party (TACP), Special Reconnaissance (SR), and our current topic at hand: the Pararescuemen AKA Pararescue Jumpers (PJs).  

Job Description and Mission  

USAF PJs hold the unique distinction of being the only U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) specialty specifically trained and equipped to conduct conventional or unconventional rescue operations, i.e. personnel recovery and combat search-and-rescue (CSAR). Though there are just over 500 Pararescuemen Air Force-wide, they’ve performed thousands of combat rescue missions for both military and civilian personnel in their illustrious history.  

As per the Pararescue Creed, “It is my duty as a Pararescueman to save lives and aid the injured.  I will be prepared at all times to perform my assigned duties quickly and efficiently. Placing these duties before personal desires and comforts. These things I do, That Others May Live.”  

Those final four words of the Creed also comprise the PJ motto.   

Where It Began  

Air Force Pararescuemen trace their roots back to May 29, 1946, sixteen months before the USAF was officially established as a separate and independent branch of service when the U.S. Army Air Force formed the Air Rescue Service (ARS). Fast-forward to July 1, 1947, and the Pararescue teams were officially authorized. The pararescue flash was implemented in 1952, and the distinct maroon beret was authorized by HQ USAF in 1966.   

The PJs went on to serve with distinction in a host of far-flung conflicts of the Cold War, from the Korean War to the Vietnam War to Grenada to Panama to the 1991 Persian Gulf War AKA Operation Desert Storm.   

Especially noteworthy was then-Airman 1st Class (A1C) William Hart Pitsenbarger, posthumously awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions during the Vietnam War. On December 8, 2000, he was upgraded to the Medal of Honor, as dramatized in the deeply moving 2019 film The Last Full Measure. “Pits,” as he was affectionately known, also received a posthumous promotion to Staff Sergeant (SSgt).   

USAF PJs After the Cold War  

Air Force PJs and their CCT comrade-in-arms finally started receiving a little bit of publicity thanks to their heroic actions in Operation Gothic Serpent, the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, particularly due to Mark Bowden’s bestselling 1999 nonfiction book Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War. Therein, Technical Sergeant (TSgt) Tim Wilkinson became the first recipient of the Air Force Cross since the Vietnam War, and Master Sergeant (MSgt) Scott Fales, recipient of the Silver Star for his heroic actions in that same harrowing firefight.  

After the 9/11 attacks and the resultant Global War on Terror (GWOT), the ops tempo for PJs grew even more intense. Out of the 11 Air Force Crosses awarded for action in Afghanistan since 2001, three were awarded to PJs (the other eight went to CCTs). All-in-all, twelve of the twenty-two Air Force Crosses ever awarded to enlisted airmen have been won by PJs.   

Weapons of USAF Pararescue  

• Beretta M9 9×19mm pistol  

• M4 5.56×45mm carbine  

• MK12 Special Purpose Rifle 5.56x45mm  

So, You Wanna Be a PJ?  

Well, HOOYAH to ya! But it sure as hell ain’t gonna be easy.  

Here’s the pipeline you have to conquer if you want to earn the PJ’s prestigious maroon beret. NOTE: In case there’s any confusion, Air Force CCTs wear a beret in a different shade of red, namely scarlet. 

• USAF Basic Military Training (BMT); seven and a half weeks  

• Special Warfare Candidate Course (SWCC); seven weeks  

• Special Warfare Assessment and Selection Course: four weeks  

• Special Warfare Pre-Dive Course: four weeks  

• Special Warfare Combat Dive Course: five weeks  

• Airborne School: five weeks  

• Military Free-Fall Course: four weeks  

• Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Training: three weeks  

• Modernized Pararescue Provider Program (MP3): thirty-nine weeks  

• Pararescue Apprentice Course: twenty-two weeks  

Just to get your proverbial foot in the door as a PJ prospect, here are the bare minimum standards for the AFSPECWAR Initial Fitness Test (IFT):  

• Pullups – eight 

• Situps – fifty 

• Pushups – fourty 

• 1.5-Mile Run – 10:20  

• Two 25-meter Underwater Swims  

• 500-meter Surface Swim – 12:30  

Again, these are bare minimums; to sufficiently impress the instructor cadre and be taken seriously as a candidate, you’ll need to exceed those minimum standards by a considerable margin. The pipeline has a washout rate of ninety to ninety-five percent.   

I wasn’t a PJ during my own Air Force career, but not for lack of trying. During my first weekend at BMT, I did the PJ/CCT tryout just for the hell of it.  

Alas, I couldn't hold my breath underwater long enough for the twenty-five-meter swim. Ergo, I didn’t get to wear the maroon beret, but I was still proud to earn the blue beret of a USAF Security Forces troop.   

HOOYAH, USAF PJs!  

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch , The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).  

Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.