Rescue Squadrons at Hill AFB during the 1970s

  • Published
  • 75th Air Base Wing History Office

Editor's note: This feature is part of a Hill Air Force Base 80th anniversary series. These articles will feature the base’s historical innovations and achievements, and will highlight mission platforms that have been operated and supported throughout the decades.

Following the departure of the 1550th Aircrew Training and Test Wing in the mid-1970s, three rescue helicopter units operated consecutively at Hill AFB throughout the remainder of the decade.

On March 1, 1975, Detachment 10 of the 37th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron activated at the installation, equipped with two single-engine Bell UH-1P Iroquois helicopters. The 1550th ATTW transferred the two UH-1P helicopters to Det. 10, 37th ARRS as the unit stood up, prior to the 1550th's relocation from Hill AFB to Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, in March 1976.

Consisting of four pilots and 10 maintenance personnel, the 37th ARRS’s Det. 10 primarily supported the Hill Air Force Range (now the Utah Test and Training Range or UTTR). It also provided limited emergency rescue capability to the Intermountain Area, if so directed by the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Scott AFB, Illinois.

The 37th ARRS, headquartered at F. E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, deactivated its Det. 10 on July 1, 1976. This did not, however, end the helicopter rescue and recovery mission at Hill AFB. Concurrently with the deactivation of the 37th ARRS’s Det. 10, the 41st Rescue and Weather Reconnaissance Wing (RWRW) activated its Detachment 4 at the installation.

When the 41st RWRW, headquartered at McClellan AFB, California, activated its Det. 4 at Hill AFB in July 1976, the rescue and recovery mission increased from fourteen to fifty personnel (including four pararescuemen). Additionally, four twin-engine UH-1N Iroquois transferred to the detachment, replacing the two UH-1P aircraft Det. 10, 37th ARRS had operated with.

The upgrade in aircraft offered significant capability improvements. Advantages gained with the “N” model included improved night and overwater flight capabilities. It could also fly higher, faster, and farther while hauling more people or cargo. Finally, the newer variant was equipped with armor plating, self-sealing fuel tanks, and special radio equipment, making the aircraft more combat ready than the older variant.

After two years of operating at Hill AFB and conducting numerous life-saving missions in the Intermountain Region, the 41st RWRW’s Det. 4 departed Hill AFB. In its place came Detachment 4 of the 40th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron (ARRS). Originally activated in 1968 at Udorn Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand, the 40th ARRS deactivated on 31 January 1976 at Korat Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand.

On July 1, 1978, the 40th ARRS headquarters, together with its Det. 4, activated at Hill AFB. In addition to Det. 4, the squadron also managed the light lift rescue operations of its Det. 5 (Edwards AFB, California), Det. 6 (Holloman AFB, New Mexico), Det. 22 (Mountain Home AFB, Idaho), and Det. 24 (Fairchild AFB, Washington). This highly decorated unit operated at Hill AFB through the end of 1987. Like the rescue squadrons before it, the 40th ARRS contributed to the saving of many lives in the Intermountain Region. With the deactivation of the 40th ARRS the 12-year rescue mission came to a close at Hill AFB.