Joint Personnel Recovery Center / Baghdad Patch

Joint Personnel Recovery Center / Baghdad  Patch

Joint Personnel Recovery Center (Fmr. Joint Search and Rescue Center)

The recovery of U.S. military forces isolated behind enemy lines is critical for morale, protection of assets, and operational security. Throughout the history of personnel recovery, time spent on the ground by a survivor / evader has been the most critical factor in determining whether they were rescued or captured. In conflicts ranging from Vietnam to Kosovo, the magic number has roughly been one hour. The majority of the isolated personnel recovered were rescued within this time frame, those who had to evade for longer than this magic hour were much less likely to be rescued.

The United States Air Force has done many things to decrease this time on the ground and maximize the chances for survivor rescue. Tactics have been adapted and improved and technological developments have helped to minimize the search time. The largest remaining obstacle to a streamlined execution timeline lies with the command and control functions that reside at the air operations center. The Joint Personnel Recovery Center formerly known as Joint Search and Rescue Center, has the responsibility to recommend rescue courses of action and ultimately execution of any rescue mission to the air component commander. This process can amazingly take more time than any other phase of combat rescue. The time from shootdown event to mission execution will be reduced by streamlining JPRC functionality and using the rescue squadron tactical operations center as a command and control asset in the execution flow. The manning of the JPRC can then be changed appropriately and allow for the selection of more qualified personnel to run the operations.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the critical items key to successful rescues throughout the short history of combat search and rescue. It will cover the techniques that have been implemented and technology utilized to increase the chances of success and finally make recommendations that allow the command and control structure to function more efficiently making Air Force rescue efforts more effective.

This will be possible by assigning the tasks of the Air Force PRCC to the rescue TOC within theater which will provide more expertise within the coordination cell. It will also allow for reduced manning with the JPRC and free up that manning to concentrate on overarching joint issues to help make PR more effective for all the branches in theater. Adjusting the manning requirements and time constraints for the positions will make them more attractive and easier to fill and will free up more knowledgeable personnel to be brought in and man its functions.

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