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Video by Senior Airman Haily Wireman

Special Tactics Pararescuemen train with Jaws of Life Pararescuemen from the Special Tactics Training Squadron

Air Force Special Operations Command

April 24, 2015 | 4:09

Special Tactics Pararescuemen train with Jaws of Life Pararescuemen from the Special Tactics Training Squadron, 24th Special Operations Wing, complete extrication training at Hurlburt Field, Fla., April 8, 2014. Special Tactics pararescuemen perform close quarters procedures to simulate navigating through a crashed aircraft or vehicle to reach the injured or trapped personnel. The “Jaws of Life” is the term used for a set of hydraulic tools used to cut away parts of a vehicle or aircraft in order to rescue people trapped inside. Special Tactics pararescueman train to go anywhere, anytime for personnel rescue often while embedded with a special operations team, such as Navy SEALs and Army Green Berets. Not only are they tactical experts for rescuing people and objects from life-threatening situations, such as mountainsides, earthquake wreckage or underwater shipwrecks, they are also certified battle paramedics, performing life-saving measures for special operations forces in all environments. Approximately forty percent of pararescuemen are within Air Force Special Operations Command.