Last Update: Thursday, April 16, 2026
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Site Mission: Provide Pararescue  History

What is USAF Pararescue This will take you to a short YouTube video not managed by the PJ Association. You will need to manually return to this website after viewing the video.

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Homepage for Pararescue History

Welcome to the Pararescue Associations Digital Historical Archive (PJADHA). Here you will find the history of USAF Pararescue from it's origins to present day.

This website offers an extensive history of the United States Air Force Pararescue. It covers the origins, evolution, and key events of this elite military force. It also provides information on the training, skills, and capabilities of Pararescue personnel. Pararescue has vital roles in both USAF Special Operations (AFSOF) and Conventional Search and Rescue Squadrons (AFRQS). In AFSOC PJs are assigned to Special Tactics Teams. On the conventional side of the Air Force, PJs are assigned to Rescue Squadrons (RQS).

The Pararescue career field is broken into two groups of men. The majority of the force are Pararescuemen. The leaders of the PJ's are the Combat Rescue Officers nicknamed CRO's (phonetically sounds like "crows". The PJs and CROs are required to meet the same standards to graduate from the CRO/PJ School. CRO's and PJ's are commonly both referred to as PJ's.

Air Force Pararescuemen, also known as PJs, are the only DoD elite combat forces specifically organized, trained, equipped, and postured to conduct full spectrum Personnel Recovery (PR) to include both conventional and unconventional combat rescue operations. These Battlefield Airmen are the most highly trained and versatile Personnel Recovery specialists in the world. Pararescue is the nation's force of choice to execute the most perilous, demanding, and extreme rescue missions anytime, anywhere across the globe. The 500+ PJs are assigned to Guardian Angel and Special Tactics Squadrons throughout the Active Duty, Guard, and Reserve Air Force components. They operate most often as independent teams but routinely serve alongside with other US and Allied Special Operations Forces.

Mission
To rescue, recover, and return American or Allied forces in times of danger or extreme duress. Whether shot down or isolated behind enemy lines; surrounded, engaged, wounded, or captured by the enemy; PJs will do whatever required to deny the enemy a victory and bring our warriors home to fight another day. "Leave no Airman, Marine, Soldier, or Sailor behind" is our nation's supreme promise and responsibility to our brave war fighters. The Air Force holds true to this moral imperative. Personnel Recovery is an Air Force Core Function; one of twelve functions the Air Force provides the nation. The PJs are the elite ground forces that provide our nation with the capability to execute this noble responsibility.

Capabilities
To execute the PR mission, Pararescue teams assault, secure, and dominate the rescue objective area utilizing any available DoD or Allied, air, land, or sea asset. Their qualifications and capabilities are extensive. All PJs are qualified experts in Advanced Weapons and Small Unit Tactics, Airborne and Military Free Fall, both High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) and High Altitude High Opening (HAHO) parachute operations, Combat Divers, High Angle/Confined Space Rescue operations, Small Boat/Vehicle Craft utilization, Rescue Swimmers, and Battlefield Trauma/Paramedics. All can fast rope/rappel/hoist from any vertical lift aircraft to both land and open ocean rescue objectives. All PJs can perform both static line and HALO jump operations utilizing boats, vehicles, or other equipment from any fixed wing aircraft. In addition, 1 in 12 personnel are tandem jump qualified and can HALO/HAHO both equipment and non-jump personnel into the objective area.

Recent History
Since 9/11 alone, these elite warriors have executed over 12,000 life saving, combat rescue missions. They've also eliminated and captured numerous enemy combatants during the execution of these missions. Additionally, because of their unique capabilities, they have been called upon to rescue over 5000 civilians worldwide during catastrophic natural disasters and other responses.

Decorations
PJs are the most highly decorated Air Force enlisted force. They've been awarded one Medal of Honor, 12 Air Force Crosses, over 105 Silver Stars and hundreds of other medals awarded for heroism or outstanding achievement during search and rescue missions.
 

No greater love has no one than this... (John 15:13)
19 PJs were killed in action during the Vietnam War. 16 PJs/CROs have been killed in action during the war on terrorism. 53 other PJs have been killed in the line of duty. This includes being killed during a rescue mission, training operations, and other accidents directly related to Pararescue operations. These men made the ultimate sacrifice living up to the PJ motto "That others may live."

It's source documents are from the PJ Association Digital Historical Archive (PJADHA). This historical archive consists of digitized Pararescue historical documents collected by the association over the past 70 years. As of January 2024, this collection consists of 134,841 files (175GB). Because of it's huge size, documents will be uploaded in small groups over a period of several months.

Like all history collections, it is not complete. That is where YOU come into improving our historical records. If you have documents that you would like to see added, then send them to our historian at historian@pjhistory.org  and they will be included in the PJADHA.