Frag Out! Magazine
Issue link: https://fragout.uberflip.com/i/1064315
I f you were to explain the idea of CSAR – confused time and again with SAR in public discussion – to an amateur, how would you describe personnel recovery from the point of view of an expert? In general, the idea of personnel recovery (PR) is very broad and encompasses several types of missions. If we're talking about SAR (Search and Rescue), we mean read- iness to take up a search and rescue mission on land and sea in time of peace. But if we're talking about operations carried out in a situation of combat, conflict, crisis or in an environment where we ex- pect some adverse impact, we have three types of operations to choose from: CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue), CR (Combat Recovery), and NAR (Non-Conventional Assisted Recovery). As for CSAR alone: it's usually a mission involving locating and identifying the need to provide aid to shot-down crew members or to special forces soldiers isolated in enemy territory. The condition to extract these soldiers is that they are familiar with CSAR pro- LIEUTENANT-COLONEL PIOTR GRONCZYŃSKI, PILOT, COMMANDER OF THE 2ND CSAR HELICOPTER SQUADRON AT THE 56TH AIR BASE AS INTERVIEWED BY BARTEK BERA cedures, meaning that they are properly trained and equipped, so that they are able to work with the extraction forces as expected and act as required in the system of recovery. I mean the ability to make use of the available means of signaling and communication according to procedures and in line with the EPA (Evasion Plan of Action) adopted before the mission. They need to be able to indicate their position in an encrypted manner and "authenticate" themselves in an appropriate way. Such a level of skill is found only among SERE C (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Level C) trained soldiers, which means that both the extraction forces and the soldiers who have to be rescued must be proficient in these procedures in a CSAR mission. Such a level of training makes it possible to keep such a mission undercover, ensures mutual predictability of actions, and facilitates the mission itself, minimizing the potential risk. CR (Combat Recovery) is a mission carried out in an area where we can come across enemy forces or actions, but the employed recovery forces are not familiarized with CSAR procedures, the CSAR IN POLAND IS A RELATIVELY YOUNG BUT DYNAMICALLY DEVELOPING FIELD OF MILITARY ACTIVITY. NO WONDER. AFTER ALL, PILOTS OR COMMANDOS KNOWING THAT THERE ARE PEOPLE READY TO THEIR AID AND TAKE THEM HOME FIND SUCH A CERTAINTY INVALUABLE, WHICH ALSO HAS A GOOD IMPACT ON THEIR MORALE. www.fragoutmag.com