Golden Hour

As dust kicks up from the rotor wash of an HH-60G Pave Hawk, Senior Airman Clint Lentz, pararescueman with the 129th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, prepares for the landing June 26, 2009, Hemland Province, Afghanistan. Airman Lentz and the rest of the crew are responding to a Medevac request to aid personnel conducting combat operations further down range. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)

Golden Hour

British Fire and Rescue personnel carry a wounded Afghan National Army Soldier off an HH-60G Pave Hawk so he he can be tranferred to a hospital June 26, 2009, Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)

Flight Engineer

U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. Brock Woodward, flight engineer with the 129th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, provides security during combat operations June 23, 2009, Hemland Province, Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)

Flight Engineer

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. James Patterson, flight engineer with the 129th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron, performes a preflight inspection of a HH-60G Pave Hawk, June 23, 2009, Camp Bastion, Afghanistan. (U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)

Flight Engineers

U.S. Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawks refuel after conducting combat operations in Hemland Province, Afghanistan, June 23. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shawn Weismiller)

Air Force rescue teams enhance Army medical evacuation mission

KANDAHAR AIR BASE, Afghanistan -- Master Sgt. William St. Clair updates maintenance records on an HH-60 Pave Hawk before a flight at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan Aug. 15. Sergeant St. Clair is a crew chief on the Pave Hawk and has more than three decades of experience in working on Air Force helicopters. The aircraft, as well as the crews who fly and maintain it are assigned to the 305th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Keith Brown)