Air Force
106th Rescue Wing gets its first Jolly Green helicopter
Stars and Stripes
June 23, 2024
Airmen from the 106th Rescue Wing are on hand for the arrival of the Wing’s first HH-60W Jolly Green II combat search and rescue helicopterat Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base, Westhampton Beach, N.Y., June 20, 2024. (Sarah McKernan/U.S. Air National Guard)
A new era has begun for the 106th Rescue Wing: The HH-60W Jolly Green II search and rescue helicopter has arrived.
The Wing accepted its first Jolly Green landed last week at the Francis S. Gabreski Air National Guard Base in Westhampton Beach, N.Y., the base said in a news release. It is the first step in the transition from the HH-60G Pave Hawk, according to Col. Shawn Fitzgerald, the 106th Rescue Wing commander.
“We are very excited all around, and I am so happy to be a part of it and see it happen,” Fitzgerald said.
The crew that delivered the aircraft from Moody Air Force Base in Georgia included two HH-60W instructor pilots, a special missions aviator and two HH-60 crew chiefs from the 106th Rescue Wing.
Maintainers from the 106th have already begun their qualifications training, and the first two air crew members are currently at training receiving their qualifications, said Lt. Col. Matthew Forbes, the 101st Rescue Squadron commander.
The next-generation Jolly Green II, based on the HH-60M Black Hawk frame, comes with a larger fuel capacity for longer range and better threat detection and countermeasures, according to the Air Force. It can carry two pilots, two gunners, two paramedics and two litters; the fuselage can be mounted on either side with .50-caliber and 7.62 mm machine guns, according to a September 2021 report on the Air Force Technology website.
The aircraft is also equipped with over-the-horizon tactical data receivers that enable the helicopter to receive near real-time mission and threat update information, enhancing mission effectiveness.
The Air Force announced the Pave Hawk’s retirement in 2010 and began development of the Jolly Green II in June 2014 with a $1.2 billion contract to Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin, according to Air Force Technology.
The Air Force began phasing out the Pave Hawks in 2022, and the Jolly Green II made its first operational flight that September when one flew a patient from Valdosta, Ga., to Tampa, Fla.
The name Jolly Green II pays homage to the Sikorsky HH-3E, nicknamed the “Jolly Green Giant” due to its size and color, which set the precedent for current Air Force combat rescue crews, according to the service.
The 106th Rescue Wing is home to a special warfare squadron with pararescuemen and combat rescue officers, specializing in rescue and recovery, and deploys for domestic and overseas operations.