Special Tactics Airmen rescue an injured mountain climber

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Russ Jackson
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. --  A program under development has already proven beneficial in saving lives. Two Special Tactics Airmen from Joint Base Lewis-McChord rescued an injured climber from Mount Rainier, May 28, 2014.

2nd Lt. Ryan McQuillan, a special tactics officer, and Master Sgt. Kim Brewer, a tactical air control party member, both with the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron, were able to put into action the alert rescue capability program the two men have been developing for the last year.

At 8 a.m, the 22nd STS was contacted by the Army Reserve's 214th General Support Aviation Battalion at Joint Base Lewis-McChord about an injured mountain climber who was in need of an evacuation that would require her to be hoisted up to a Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopter.

Although, more likely to be an Air Force pararescue mission, and as Air Force special tactics works to increase its pararescue capability throughout its squadrons, McQuillan and Brewer recognized the geographical need in the Pacific Northwest for the alert mountaineering program and received approval from Air Force special tactics leadership to build it.

A prior enlisted combat controller, a career field traditionally not trained in high angle rescue, McQuillan is an avid rock climber and has sought out operational opportunities to learn and train with special tactics pararescue teams.

Brewer, as well, is an expert mountain climber who has summited Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams numerous times each.

Together, they were the right combination for such a specific rescue attempt.

The CH-47 flew the men to Disappointment Cleaver on Mount Rainier where the injured climber and her group were waiting. The steep grade of the mountain made it too dangerous for the Airmen to hoist down at that point, so they were flown 500 feet higher up the mountain where they were able to start the evacuation.

"Brewer went down the hoist first and secured himself to the mountain with his ice axe," McQuillan said. "Since the angle was so steep he had to pound in a picket and anchor in before releasing from the hoist.

"When I hit the ground, we roped up, came up with a quick plan and then broke down our anchors. It was a quick 500 foot down climb to say the least."

Once they reached the patient, McQuillan checked her vitals while Brewer began building anchors for them to tie into before breaking from their ropes. The patient was alert enough for McQuillan to assist her onto the hoist, allowing her to ascend to the helicopter alone.

As soon as they hoisted the patient off the mountain, small bands of clouds began passing through their location giving them clear visibility, then no visibility, repeatedly.

Brewer spoke to the helicopter pilots about their hoist extraction, planning to send up one at a time. Since the weather was rapidly getting worse, the pilot wanted them to climb 500 feet back up the mountain.

McQuillan and Brewer squashed that idea immediately.

"We asked the pilot if he was 100 percent sure he could hoist both of us off the mountain before the weather got too bad," said McQuillan. "He wasn't and since there was no way we were going to leave only one guy up there we made the call to climb down together with the hope to extract at Camp Muir."

Once the helicopter departed the mountain, the Airmen linked up with the Mount Rainier guide who had been with the patient. The three climbers made their way past Disappointment Cleaver, the most dangerous and tactical section of the route, and eventually to Camp Muir. There, they were able to rest, eat and get some water, which they would need, as the weather was still too bad for the helicopter to evacuate them from the mountain.

That only left one option for McQuillan and Brewer.

They had to climb the rest of the way down Mount Rainier to the Paradise visitor center, alone, in high winds, snow, freezing rain and visibility of less than 20 feet.

"Since we were on our own, we took our time going down and did one long halt to check the map and global positioning system," McQuillan said.

After the strenuous trek in the extreme conditions and about six hours after their initial drop in, the Airmen arrived safely at the Paradise visitor center.

They were met by a National Park Service officer who drove the men to Kautz Heli-base where they were finally able to link up with the helicopter and fly back to JBLM.

Supporting Air Force Special Operations Command's continued commitment to meet the needs of today's global fight, Air Force Special Tactics' 24th Special Operations Wing recently inactivated its 10th Combat Weather Squadron and began reassigning those special operations weathermen to its special tactics squadrons.

Each of the geographically separated squadrons could potentially house all four career fields that make up special tactics - combat control, pararescue, special operations weather and tactical air control party.

With their elite avalanche training and weather observation skills, SOWTs will play an invaluable part to McQuillan's alert rescue program.

At the conclusion of the rescue, McQuillan and Brewer were relieved to be safely off the mountain but they were happier to be able to help someone in need of aid.

"It was a good feeling to be able to help out a fellow climber who had gotten injured on the mountain," Brewer said.

"It's definitely a good feeling to be part of something like this," said McQuillan. "We established a good relationship with the National Park Service, we're creating a good capability within our squadron, and we're helping out the local community as well."