Marine Corps units from Air Station Beaufort joined members of the U.S. Navy, Naval Hospital Beaufort, Savannah Coast Guard and local responders on a first-ever search and rescue exercise with F-35 fighters July 27.
The exercise, which took place on the Beaufort River, paired pilots and first responders to train for potential real-life scenarios where a pilot would have to eject from their aircraft into water. It consisted of two pilots getting in the water at the same time and activating flares for identification by aircraft. Helicopters were then deployed by Coast Guard Air Station Savannah and Naval Station Norfolk Virginia to get their position and deploy rescue swimmers. Once the pilots were recovered, the helicopters brought them back to Naval Hospital Beaufort.
“It’s great to get exposed to this type of training because you can’t just replicate it in a pool,” Capt. Christopher Collins, the aviation safety officer for Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501, said. “We had the ability to work with two different types of helicopters, different rescue swimmers, and four different pilots. That’s important because you never know what unit is going to respond because you never know where a search and rescue may occur.”
Pilots from the United Kingdom were also on hand for the exercise to test the functionality of their gear.