By Kris Osborn, President, Center for Military Modernization
If a helicopter carrying Marines from ship-to-shore gets disabled by enemy fire…a carrier-jet pilot has to eject into the ocean due to aircraft damage or a small boat carrying small ops teams gets attacked and capsized …trained divers and rescue swimmers are prepared to drop into rough and dangerous seas under enemy fire to rescue injured and endangered servicemembers.
The possibility of needing to do this in any kind of maritime warfare engagement is quite high and entirely realistic … if not inevitable. Therefore, as part of its dual-carrier war preparations in the Pacific with the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force, the US Navy is practicing life-saving maneuvers in support of injured sailors, soldiers, airmen and marines through a series of combat-search and rescue operations. As part of the dual-carrier, multinational operation which the Navy calls Multi-Large Deck Event, sailors likely to be trained as divers or rescue swimmers are conducting rescue jumps from MH-60S Sea Hawk combat helicopters into rough seas below as part of an effort to replicate maritime warfare scenarios.
Published Navy information says the jumps are in support of this massive Multi-Large Deck Event involving the USS Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group, the USS Carl Vinson Carrier Strike Group and Japanese warships.
It would make sense that the Navy would want to sustain an ability to save and retrieve injured service members given that any engagement with a great power rival in the Pacific theater is certain to create casualties. Pilots could eject into the ocean if their aircraft was hit by hostile fire as they approach the carrier deck, helicopters transporting Marines in support of an amphibious operation could crash into the ocean or incoming enemy anti-ship missiles could hit surface ships, throwing hundreds of injured sailors into the ocean.
The possibility of these kinds of maritime warfare scenarios are extremely likely in the Pacific given its island areas, coastal regions and expansive waterways. Any amphibious warfare assault would be almost certain to generate severe levels of injured sailors and marines attempting to close with an enemy in a beach landing. These are likely the reasons why the Navy published a photo of rescue “sailors” from a Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron jumping from a Sea Hawk helicopter at what appears to be a high-distance above the surface.
Casualties would be a tragic and unwanted reality in the event of any great power confrontation in the Pacific, and speed of arrival and retrieval can often determine life or death outcomes … so having swimmers ready and willing to jump directly into ocean warfare is an essential part of being ready for maritime war.
Kris Osborn is President of Warrior Maven – Center for Military Modernization. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology. Osborn has also worked as an anchor and on-air military specialist at national TV networks. He has appeared as a guest military expert on Fox News, MSNBC, The Military Channel, and The History Channel. He also has a Masters Degree in Comparative Literature from Columbia University.
