Rescue teams in Iran are reportedly conducting an intense and perilous search for a second U.S. crew member after a pilot was recovered following a downed F-15 fighter aircraft, according to CBS News. The pilot’s successful recovery. If confirmed. Would mark the latest in a long history of U.S. combat search-and-rescue (CSAR) missions over decades.

What is Combat Search and Rescue?

Combat search and rescue missions are among the most complex and time-sensitive operations conducted by U.S. and allied militaries. These missions are specifically designed to find, aid, and potentially rescue personnel in need, such as downed pilots or isolated troops, in hostile or contested environments.

Unlike conventional search-and-rescue efforts, which can occur during humanitarian operations or after natural disasters, CSAR missions are typically carried out in areas where enemy forces may be present. In some cases. These operations may occur deep within enemy territory, as reported in the current search in Iran.

CSAR missions are often conducted by helicopters, with refueling aircraft providing support and other military aircraft on standby to conduct strikes and patrol the area. According to a former commander of a pararescue jumpers squadron, a rescue operation like the one currently underway in Iran would involve at least 24 pararescue jumpers searching the area in Black Hawk helicopters.

The Challenges of the Rescue Mission

The former commander told CBS News that the rescue team would be prepared to jump from planes if needed and would prioritize contacting the missing crew member upon landing. Once located. The pararescue jumpers would provide medical aid if necessary, evade enemy forces, and reach a location where they can be safely extracted.

The former commander described the mission as ‘harrowing and massively dangerous,’ adding that it is ‘what they train to do, all over the world.’ They also referred to the pararescue jumpers as ‘the Swiss Army knives of the Air Force.’

Verified video from Iran showed U.S. military helicopters and at least one refueling aircraft operating in the Khuzestan province. The missions are extremely time-sensitive, as enemy forces are likely to be deployed in the same area to locate the U.S. personnel that the CSAR teams are trying to rescue.

Jonathan Hackett, a former U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations specialist, told the BBC’s World Tonight program that a rescue team’s priority would be to look for signs of life. He explained that teams would work backwards from the last known location of the missing person and fan out based on the speed they could move in the difficult terrain.

The History of CSAR Missions

Combat search and rescue missions have a long history dating back to World War One, where pilots conducted impromptu landings in France to rescue downed colleagues. The U.S. military’s pararescue units trace their lineage to a 1943 mission in which two combat surgeons parachuted into then-Burma to help wounded soldiers.

The world’s first helicopter rescue took place in 1944, when a U.S. lieutenant rescued four soldiers behind Japanese lines — this event also marked the first operational use of a helicopter in combat. Formal search-and-rescue units were first established in the U.S. after World War Two, but modern CSAR operations began during the Vietnam War.

One notable mission. Known as Bat 21. Led to the loss of several aircraft and multiple U.S. casualties while attempting to recover the pilot of an aircraft shot down behind North Vietnamese lines. The war required a vast expansion of CSAR missions, increasing their scope and complexity — the experience helped the military refine tactics and procedures that have formed the foundation of rescue operations since.

The U.S. Air Force’s pararescue teams have a primary responsibility for finding and rescuing military personnel. This work is primarily conducted by pararescue jumpers, part of the military’s broader special-operations community. Their official motto is ‘These Things We Do, That Others May Live,’ and their work is considered part of a broader promise to U.S. service members that they will not be left behind.

These personnel are highly trained as both combatants and paramedics, going through one of the hardest selection and training pipelines in the U.S. military. The process, which takes approximately two years, includes parachute and dive training, basic underwater demolition, survival, resistance, and escape training, as well as a full civilian paramedic course.

They also receive specialized courses in battlefield medicine, complex recovery operations, and weapons. On the ground, these teams are led by specialized Combat Rescue Officers, responsible for planning, coordinating, and executing the recovery missions.

In recent years, pararescue teams have been deployed extensively in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, conducting thousands of missions to rescue U.S. and allied troops that were wounded or required extraction. In 2005, air force pararescue teams were involved in recovering a U.S. Navy Seal who was wounded and seeking shelter in an Afghan village after his team was ambushed and its other three members killed.

Missions to recover downed U.S. pilots have been rare in recent decades. In 1999, the pilot of an F-117 stealth fighter shot down over Serbia was found and recovered by pararescuemen. In a highly publicized incident in Bosnia in 1995, U.S. pilot Scott O’Grady was rescued in a joint air force and Marine Corps CSAR mission after being shot down and evading capture for six days.