 Airmen from the 304th Rescue Squadron participated in maritime readiness training on the Columbia River during September. The 304th is a tenant unit at Portland Air National Guard Base and connected to the 943rd Rescue Group at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Arizona. Airmen of the 304th are skilled operators that conduct combat search and rescue operations in any location or climate. Today, the training seeks to familiarize airmen with boating and how to navigate through the water. The mission today was largely to get our PJs and our combat mission support personnel familiar with the maritime craft. The reason we need to be current on these craft is that that's one method that we can recover someone and get them out of a bad situation. So one of the things we practiced was writing the boat. If a wave broaches the boat, the colant flips it over, we need a way for the personnel to rewrite that boat and get it back under way. In terms of rescue operations, the training works to give airmen confidence in their craft so that when seconds matter, they can respond quickly. We bring a medical specialty along with the search and rescue package. So how we get to the patient is a factor. Maintaining a current and skillful operation of our recovery craft becomes part of how quickly and efficiently we can bring someone home from a bad situation. While not a part of the 142nd wing itself, the airmen of the 304th have found the Pacific Northwest to be a great place to live and train. I think just what we do here in the Pacific Northwest, you know, it's a great place to live and it's a great place to work and the environment is perfect for all the training that we do. We have the river, we have the mountain. And as part of our commitment to service, we've been out on missions with the National Park Service and local sheriff's search and rescue agencies. And so that's one thing that we really like doing and it feels like we're given back to the community as part of the Air Force Reserve. Reporting for the 142nd Wing, I'm Staff Sergeant Alexander Frank.