Pararescue Jumper

Learn what it takes to become a pararescue jumper in the U.S. military.

This title introduces readers to Pararescue Jumpers. Engaging text exploresthe Pararescue Jumpers's history, key missions, role in the US military, major accomplishments, required training, weapons, gear, technology, and other fascinating information. Qualifications needed to become a Pararescue Jumper, training such as the Pararescue Physical Ability and Stamina Test and the Pipeline, the life of a Pararescue Jumper, andcutting-edge technology and weapons are covered.Sidebars, infographics, action photos, maps, and a glossary enhance readers' understanding of this topic. Additional features include a table of contents, an index, a timeline and extreme facts.Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Checkerboard Library is an imprint of Abdo Publishing, a division of ABDO.

From award-winning journalist and combat veteran Michael Hirsh comes the thrilling inside story of the Air Force’s pararescue operations in Afghanistan. The first journalist to be embedded with an Air Force combat unit in the War on Terrorism, Hirsh flew from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, with the 71st Rescue Squadron to their expeditionary headquarters at a secret location in Central Asia. Unparalleled access to the PJs, as well as to the courageous men and women who fly them where they have to go, often under enemy fire, allowed Hirsh to uncover incredible stories of courage.

"'That others may live' is a mantra that defines the fearless men of Alaska's 212th Pararescue Unit, the PJs, one of the most elite military forces on the planet. Whether they are rescuing citizens injured and freezing in the Alaskan wilderness or saving wounded Rangers and SEALS in blazing firefights at war, the PJs are some of the least known and most highly trained of America's warriors. Never Quit is the true story of how Jimmy Settle, an Alaskan shoe store clerk, became a Special Forces operator and war hero"--Provided by publisher.

Since the earliest days of the earliest wars, there have been those Who would place themselves in harms way to save the lives of both comrades and total strangers. None of them, however, have been as dedicated to saving others pararescue jumpers. In the mid 1960s, airmen Joe Garvy and Lee Davis have entered training, along with many other recruits, to become pararescue jumpers. Being a PJ will mean constantly putting themselves into life-or-death situations in the jungles of Vietnam—and that’s assuming they can even make it through the training. This novel follows a group of young men as they make the journey into the career field of pararescue. During this all-consuming time, they discover how far they can push themselves as they complete eighteen months of training and become members of the pararescue brotherhood. They graduate from training dedicated to the simple creed: these things we do that others may live.

An impressive group of young men have successfully completed what has been described as the most difficult military training program in existenceAir Force Pararescue. Now theyre ready to don the maroon beret and receive their orders. In the jungles of Vietnam and all around the world, theyll use their training to the utmost and strive to live by their creed: These things we do that others may live. Seven young men make up Pararescue Class 66-November, and their newly formed bonds of kinship will help carry them through missions that test the limits of their training and their skills. Only time will reveal their successes and failuresand the future that awaits them as specialists working to save the lives of others. This novel tells the story of seven Pararescue Specialists in the 1960s and 70s as they use their training to save the lives of others.

“A fabulous read, filled with heroism, history, and hi-jinks, as author William F. Sine recounts his life as an Air Force Pararescue Jumper” (Readers’ Favorite). US Air Force Pararescue is the most skillful and capable rescue force in the world, taking on some of the most dangerous rescue missions imaginable. PJs (short for para-jumpers), are members of an elite unit whose commando skills are so wide-reaching they often seem like something out of science fiction. They routinely tackle perilous operations that are beyond the capabilities of other rescue organizations, and sometimes dare the seemingly impossible. Since their inception in 1947, PJs have saved more than thirty thousand lives. They can pluck near-frozen climbers off jagged mountaintops and recover shot-down jet pilots stranded deep in hostile territory. In the dead of night, the PJs parachute into ominous, black, twenty-foot-tall waves to save distressed seamen, and they brave the cruelest and most desolate deserts to recover victims. US Air Force pararescuemen have played a prominent role in every armed conflict since the Korean War, rescuing thousands of soldiers from behind enemy lines. Guardian Angel provides a rare glimpse at a PJ’s mind-blowing adventures. You follow Sgt. Sine’s trek across exotic lands and share his encounters with mysterious cultures. Learn what it takes to lower from a helicopter onto the slippery decks of storm-tossed ships to rescue dying sailors. Feel what it’s like to be caught in the middle of a bomb blast so powerful that it tears high-rise buildings in half, and flattens armored vehicles hundreds of yards away. Soar high above towering jungle trees and experience the danger of swinging on a slim cable below a helicopter, while performing a mid-air rescue of a pilot, dangling from his chute a hundred feet above a mountain slope. Go to war in Afghanistan and parachute onto a nocturnal battlefield, surrounded by land mines, to help a mortally wounded soldier. This is a deadly serious business: When things go wrong, they can go terribly wrong. Aircraft crash into mountainsides, killing all onboard, while some PJs live through horrendous helicopter crashes only to struggle with freezing temperatures, snapped limbs and torn flesh in a desperate fight for survival. This book presents true stories of uncommon courage told from the perspective of the actual men in the arena. PJs belong to an exclusive brotherhood and forge unbreakable bonds of loyalty, commitment, and sacrifice. They do these things for their country, to protect their brothers in arms, and to honor their motto: “That Others May Live.”

“That Others May Live” is a mantra that defines the fearless men of Alaska’s 212th Pararescue Unit, the PJs, one of the most elite military forces on the planet. Whether they are rescuing citizens injured and freezing in the Alaskan wilderness or saving wounded Rangers and SEALS in blazing firefights at war, the PJs are the least known and most highly trained of America’s warriors. Never Quit is the true story of how Jimmy Settle, an Alaskan shoe store clerk, became a Special Forces Operator and war hero. After being shot in the head during a dangerous high mountain operation in the rugged Watapur Valley in Afghanistan, Jimmy returns to battle with his teammates for a heroic rescue, the bullet fragments stitched over and still in his skull. In a cross between a suicide rescue mission and an against-all-odds mountain battle, his team of PJs risk their lives again in an epic firefight. When his helicopter is hit and begins leaking fuel, Jimmy finds himself in the worst possible position as a rescue specialist—forced to leave members from his own team behind. Jimmy will have to risk everything to get back into the battle and bring back his brothers. From death-defying Alaskan wilderness training, wild rescues, and vicious battles against the Taliban and Al Qaeda, this is an explosive special operations memoir unlike any that has come before, and the true story of a man from humble beginnings who became an American hero.