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        Site RegistrationU.S. Air Force LogoAir Force

        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders   Guardian AngelMission
Guardian Angel is uniquely designed and dedicated to conduct Personnel Recovery across the full range of military operations and during all phases of joint, coalition, and combined operations. Its most fundamental mission tasks are: 1) to prepare personnel who may be isolated or become missing while participating in U.S. government sanctioned military activities (or missions in uncertain or hostile environments), 2) to conduct recovery operations during peacetime and war, and 3) to lead reintegration operations after a recovery. Guardian Angel may be visualized as the ground element of the USAF Rescue triad, and commonly functions in conjunction with USAF HH-60 helicopters and HC-130 aircraft. When tasked separate from the triad, Guardian Angel may work autonomously or be integrated with joint or coalition forces, including: Special Operations Forces, vertical lift, airdrop, command and control, resupply, close air support, and ground mobility assets.Features
Guardian Angel delivers military and civilian leaders eight foundational capabilities across the Personnel Recovery continuum: 1) preparation of potential isolated personnel; 2) completion of Personnel Recovery mission planning; 3) insertion of recovery forces; 4) tactical movement to an objective area; 5) execution of actions on the objective (tactical, technical, and medical problem resolution); 6) extraction of recovery forces, friendly forces, and isolated personnel; 7) reintegration of isolated personnel (conducting debriefings and providing the support necessary to return the isolated personnel to their pre-isolation status); and 8) adaptation and application of lessons learned following any operations. All missions may be characterized by time constraints, uncertainty, high operational risk, and changing conditions. Guardian Angel responds to these challenges and can deliver these eight capabilities anytime and anywhere.Background
Guardian Angel is comprised of Combat Rescue Officers, Pararescuemen, Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) Specialists and uniquely trained support personnel dedicated to the Air Force core function of Personnel Recovery. Together, these warriors are the soul of a non-aircraft, equipment-based, human weapon system.
The elite warriors that comprise Guardian Angel have conducted over 12,000 lifesaving, combat rescue missions since September 11th, 2001. Additionally, because of their unique capabilities, they have been called upon to lead the rescue of over 5000 civilians worldwide during catastrophic natural disasters and other humanitarian responses over that same period. They've trained over 200,000 Department of Defense Personnel in SERE techniques and conducted over 240 reintegrations.General Characteristcs
The desired Guardian Angel operational effect is to quickly return friendly forces to duty while denying adversaries a source of intelligence and political exploitation. The effect is achieved across the range of military operations. As such, Guardian Angel may engage in Combat Search and Rescue operations in a contested military environment, participate in Building Partnership Capacity and Irregular Warfare before conventional hostilities begin, and conduct humanitarian operations in support of our allies during peacetime. Non-combat responsibilities are met by applying strategic intent and the universal desire to conduct operations that mitigate human suffering and save human lives.For additional information, please reference the following fact sheets: Combat Rescue Officer, Pararescue, SERE, HH-60, and HC-130.
   MORE FACT SHEETS
        Aircraft
        AC-130J Ghostrider
                    
                    AC-130J Ghostrider
                
                AC-130W Stinger II
                    
                    AC-130W Stinger II
                
                C-32
                    
                    C-32
                
                CV22
                    
                    CV-22 Osprey
                
                C-40C
                    
                    C-40B/C
                
                A U.S. Air Force C-37 taxis after landing
                    
                    C-37A/B
                
                C-130 Hercules
                    
                    C-130 Hercules
        RSS
    
    Major Commands
        Air Force Special Operations Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Special Operations Command
                
                Air Force Global Strike Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Global Strike Command
                
                Air Combat Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Combat Command
                
                Air Force Materiel Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Force Materiel Command
                
                Air Education and Training Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Education and Training Command
                
                Air Mobility Command Rotator
                    
                    Air Mobility Command
        RSS
    
    Weapons
        The Air Force Distributed Common Ground System (AF DCGS), also referred to as the AN/GSQ-272 SENTINEL weapon system, is the Air Force’s primary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) collection, processing, exploitation, analysis and dissemination (CPAD) system. 
(U.S. Air Force photo)
                    
                    Air Force Distributed Common Ground System
                
                LGM-30G Minuteman III
                    
                    LGM-30G Minuteman III
                
                Sniper Pod
                    
                    Sniper Pod
                
                LITENING ADVANCE TARGETING
                    
                    LITENING ADVANCE TARGETING
                
                Guardian Angel
                
                Massive Ordnance Penetrator
                
                The AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod contains synthetic aperture radar that provides detailed maps for surveillance, coordinate generation and bomb impact assessment purposes.  It will be operational on the F-15E Strike Eagle aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo)
                    
                    AN/ASQ-236 Radar Pod
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