Tucson, Arizona. (November 21, 2024): When America’s warfighters are injured on the front lines, their life depends on a swift, effective evacuation by a team of highly skilled special operators. These personnel recoveries are led by a very special breed… the Combat Rescue Officer. In the photo by Senior Airman Devlin Bishop, Combat Rescue Officer candidates perform flutter kicks on the edge of a pool as part of an extremely rigorous screening process that only a select few will pass.

A Combat Rescue Officer (CRO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Air Force who specializes in training, equipping, and developing rescue personnel while deploying directly into combat as team leaders. They are responsible for organizing and strategizing recovery operations and providing the insights and skills that are essential for rescue missions to succeed.

The selection process for CROs begins at Officer Training School at Maxwell AFB, Alabama and includes leadership reaction courses to assess problem-solving capabilities, moral courage, and ability to make difficult decisions. Performance data from these courses is used to determine which cadets are eligible to continue in the training process. 

If selected, candidates ship off to Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington for advanced training including three mile running sessions, 1,500 meter swims, and rucksack marches up to six miles. The goal of the second phase is to place the candidates under extreme fatigue and constant stress to see how they think and act under circumstances that are similar to the real-world battlefront.

For troops wounded in battle, the daring and skill of CROs and their rescue teams often means the difference between life and death.