The White Falcon - 05.02.1993, Page 4

Aircrew provides show and tell for Icelanders at Akranes
Story and photos by
J02 Carlos Bongioanni
Editor's note: This exercise occurred before
the 56th ARS changed its name to 56th RQS.
The HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter circled
once, twice, three times before its crew
members spotted the object of their search.
Several hundred feet below, two arms waved
their welcome to the approaching aircraft.
By the time the helicopter landed on the
snow-covered field, a crowd of onlookers
had come running from every direction.
Five members of the 56th Air Rescue
Squadron (ARS) met with members from the
local chapter of the National Lifesaving As-
sociation of Iceland (NLAI) in the town of
Akranes on January 23. The NLAI has nearly
one hundred separate rescue teams through-
out Iceland and it often works together with
the 56th ARS when emergencies arise.
Capt. Mike Reynolds, a 56th ARS pilot,
explained the importance of the Akranes visit.
“Basically, the exercise serves a dual pur-
pose. We accomplish our training, while
strengthening our relationship with the Icelan-
ders. They see what our capabilities are and
become orientated to how we do business. In
case of a real emergency, they’ll know what
to do,” said Reynolds.
“Since we work together, these orienta-
tions are obviously very important to us,”
Capt. Dallin answers questions from an in-
quiring Akranes youngster.
said Kristjin Fridgeirsson,
of the NLAI Headquarters,
Reykjavik. “In the future, I
hope to establish some joint
activities. We’d like to have
a simulated casualty some-
where in the mountains and
give the ARS crew a rough
location of the casualty
victim and see if they can
bring him out.”
Although no elaborate
scenario was played out
during the Akranes visit, the
townspeople spent almost
two hours viewing the heli-
copter display.
One Icelander who had a
special fondness for the heli-
copter display is a former
member of the Akranes
NLAI. Berent Karl Haf-
steinsson lost the lower part
of his left leg in April after
a motorcycle accident. Al-
though it was an Icelandic
helicopter that rescued him,
he still recognized the im-
portance of the 56th ARS.
“The good thing about the
base’s rescue service is
they’ve got so much equip-
ment and are always ready,”
said Hafsteinsson.
Although the crew members from the 56th
ARS were busy answering questions and
giving hands-on demonstrations, they seemed
to enjoy all the attention, especially from the
younger crowd.
“I love kids,” said Sgt. Mike Ziegler, 56th
ARS Para-rescueman. “They’re the same
wherever you go, and they’re always fasci-
nated with what we show them. They always
want to put on our helmets, pull down the
visors and touch stuff that looks cool. If I
charged a dime for every kid who has tried on
my helmet, I’d be pretty well off,” added
Ziegler.
“This is a good community relations tool,”
said Sgt. Tim Payne, 56th ARS Flight Engi-
neer. “We’ll perform five or six of these
types of events a year, usually in the spring
and summer. We’ll get called out for actual
emergencies about 12 or 13 times a year.”
As the helicopter hovered above the ground,
Capt. Vic Dallin, 56th ARS co-pilot, smiled
as he shook his head and said, “It’s amazing
these people stick around so long in the cold
just to get blasted by a bunch of snow.”
Pavehawk.
With snow blowing in the faces of the
crowd, the helicopter left in pretty much the
same manner as it arrived. This time, how-
ever, there were many more arms waving
goodbye, as the helicopter made a few part-
ing circles around the town.
Editor's note: The Iceland Defense
Force works closely with the Govern-
ment of Iceland's Coast Guard
Agency concerning rescue services.
For continuity purposes, all requests
for helicopter rescue assistance from
the National Lifesaving Association
of Iceland or the many other private
rescue clubs and organizations are
made first to the Coast Guard. It
operates a helicopter and is char-
tered to provide assistance. How-
ever, sometimes it is not able to re-
spond either due to the location of the
incident or due to limitations of the
aircraft. It is at these times when the
56th Rescue Squadron helps when it
can, often with Icelanders associated
with NLAI or other organizations.
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