摘要：PERSONNEL RECOVERY (PR) has improved dramatically in the last 15 years.1 At every level of the Department of Defense, PR is a priority mission, a fact reflecting the high value that American warriors place on their fellow soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines. Each service has devoted personnel, thought, and resources to this critical mission area in order to improve the joint force’s overall capability and interoperability. Especially in the years since Operation Desert Storm, the military has purchased better radios, as well as more sophisticated surveillance and reconnaissance equipment, and has improved training—all with an eye toward carrying out “one of the highest priorities of the Department of Defense.”2 The success of this approach has saved lives in battlefields since the war with Iraq in 1991—from the high-profile rescues of downed F-117 and F-16 pilots over Serbia, to the less renowned but more numerous missions in Afghanistan, and to such notable successes as the recovery of Pfc Jessica Lynch during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Despite this enviable track record, we still have an obliga tion to look to the future and develop new methods for tomorrow’s battlefield, which may require even more PR.
