KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, NM. -- The 58th Special Operations Wing gave a bittersweet send-off to HH-60G tail number 92-26468 today, the last HH-60G in the 58 SOW fleet. The departure marked the final step in the program’s transition to the HH-60W Jolly Green II, which first arrived at Kirtland Air Force Base in December 2020. The event also culminates an 18-year aircraft re-capitalization effort for the 58 SOW that began with the arrival of the CV-22 Osprey on 20 March 2006.
The roots of the HH-60G’s service at Kirtland AFB, and the Pave Hawk program’s history, date to 20 February 1981, when Military Airlift Command issued Statement of Operational Need 02-81, identifying a requirement for new helicopters to augment special operations and personnel recovery forces, as a replacement for the H-3 Jolly Green Giant. MAC chose to acquire and reconfigure a collection of UH-60As from the US Army for what eventually became the Combat Helicopter Modernization Program. This went through several variants to include the HH-60A/D Night Hawk, before MAC updated the program and re-named it the MH-60G Pave Hawk by 1988, to reflect the similarity of its operational systems to the MH-53J Pave Low.
Through 1988, the 58 SOW’s then-mission predecessor, the 1550th Combat Crew Training Wing, crafted a training syllabus. They used the curriculum of the MH-53 courses as a model, consisting of academic instruction, static trainer procedures, and up to 36 sorties per student. The initial pilot and flight engineer instructor cadre received transition training at Fort Rucker (now Fort Novosel), Alabama from July to December 1988. The first initial qualification students—all pilots—followed in the spring of 1989. The first flight engineers began initial qualification training in 1990.
The first HH-60s at Kirtland AFB, tail numbers 81-23643 and 81-23646, arrived in 1990 as well. These were former UH-60As that underwent conversion to the MH-60G configuration, possessing stronger engines and transmission systems. They were joined shortly thereafter by UH-60Ls that became the base model for full HH-60G conversions. These aircraft all became designated as HH-60Gs by 1995.
Kirtland’s HH-60Gs have been involved in assisting civilian authorities in several local search and rescue missions. The first save performed by an HH-60G aircrew took place on 11 January 1991, with the rescue of Navy Seaman Mark Garcia, who had suffered injuries in a fall while hiking in the Sandia Mountains. Altogether, the HH-60G fleet participated in 40 local search and rescue missions, and have been credited with 23 saves.
The final HH-60G initial qualification graduate, 1 Lt Trey Pulliam, completed training earlier this year on 11 July. In total, the HH-60G program graduated over 1,773 pilots, 525 flight engineers, 377 aerial gunners, and 678 Special Missions Aviators. Another 6,518 HH-60G crew members completing refresher training on the 58 SOW’s simulator assets. Graduates have served all over the world and in numerous conflicts in that time, reflecting the intensive, high-quality training conducted by the 58 SOW’s dedicated instructors, and creating a legacy of excellence that will long be remembered in the history of the US Air Force.