Rescue Story #3

Robert L. LaPointe, SMSgt, USAF-retired, a combat veteran of Vietnam and Desert Storm commenced his military service in 1969. He began training to gain his pararescue qualifications immediately after basic training.......

Upon completing this rigorous training, he soon found himself assigned to the 37th ARRS, DaNang AB RVN. During two tours in Vietnam, he flew more than four hundred combat hours as an HH-53 Jolly Green Giant helicopter crewmember and performed combat rescue duties that resulted in saving of over 100 lives. Sergeant LaPointe remained in Pararescue until his retirement in 1995. During his career he supported NASA’s Apollo, Skylab and space shuttle programs. Apollo and Skylab astronaut rescue training often required he parachute into the North Atlantic at night, in the winter. For numerous space shuttle launches he was the senior Pararescue team leader at the trans-Atlantic abort sites in Europe and Africa. SMSgt LaPointe is an expert mountaineer who led the first USAF team to ascend North America’s tallest peak, Mt. McKinley. He has climbed to the top of this peak 3 times and conducted many rescue missions on Mt. McKinley. Sergeant LaPointe was NCOIC at the USAF Pararescue School combat operations phase and the USAF Military Freefall course. Military courses he graduated include: U.S. Army Airborne, Military Freefall parachutist, Jumpmaster, Special Forces SCUBA, Ranger Mountain, USMC Basic Combat Skills, USAF Pararescue, Pararescue Advanced Casualty Care, Pararescue Advanced Combat Skills, Pararescue Boat Master, Flight and Ground Instructor, Pararescue Flight Evaluator, Basic Survival, Arctic Survival, Jungle Survival, Pararescue Team Leader and DLI Korean language. Sergeant LaPointe has flown as a crewmember on the following aircraft: HH-43, HH-3, HH-53, HH-60, and HC-130. He accumulated 2,494 flight hours and slightly over 1,600 military parachute jumps. He has been assigned to both conventional rescue and special operations PJ teams. He was the Commander Det 2 1730 Pararescue Squadron for over two years. He served as a Pararescue Staff NCO at HQ ARRS and HQ 23 AF. His decorations include two Distinguished Flying Crosses, five Meritorious Service Medals, twelve Air Medals, Aerial Achievement Medal, five Air Force Commendation Medals, five Air Force Achievement Medals, two Air Force Presidential Unit Citations, five Air Force Outstanding Unit Citation with V, Air Force Combat Readiness Medal, eight Air Force Good Conduct Medals, Outstanding Airman of the Year Ribbon with 1 star, National Defense Service Medal with 1 star, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with 1 star, Vietnam Service Medal with 4 stars, Southwest Asia Service Medal with 1 star, Humanitarian Service Medal, Air Force Overseas Short Tour Ribbon with 7 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Overseas Long XE "Long" Tour Ribbon, Air Force Longevity Service Award with 4 oak leaf clusters, AF NCO PME Graduate Ribbon with 2 oak leak clusters, Air Force Small Arms Expert Marksman w star, Air Force Training Ribbon, Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross w palm, Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Vietnamese Presidential Unit Citation. PCS assignments included: Eglin AFB Florida, Kwang Ju AB Korea, Kunsan AB Korea, DaNang AB Vietnam, Loring AB Maine, Osan AB Korea, Elmendorf AFB Alaska, Kirtland AFB New Mexico, Scott AFB Illinois, and Patrick AFB Florida.

After his retirement from the USAF he got a job in Alaska as a commercial pilot and flight instructor. Robert returned to school in 1995 and attended the University of Alaska until 1999. His major was history. He worked for the Alaska Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Services from 1999 until October 2003; first in the emergency plans section and then as the Alaska State Emergency Response Commission coordinator. Within OHS&ES he has worked on counter-terrorism, weapons of mass destruction issues, and State emergency operations plans. He resigned his position with State government in October 2003 to provide more time to maintaining his health and writing air rescue history books.

Bob presently resides in the Philippines where he moved to in October 2003. In September 2006, he married the former Wendie Malaki. He published his first book, "PJs in Vietnam - The Story of Air Rescue in Vietnam as Seen Through the Eyes of Pararescuemen" in 2001. This work is being published in two volumes. Volume 1 covers up to the Tet Offensive in 1968. Volume two will cover the rest of the war. Bob is presently working on a revision of his second book "All for One" (released in 2006) and completion of volume two of PJs in Vietnam - The Story of Air Rescue in Vietnam as Seen Through the Eyes of Pararescuemen. Once volume two is completed, it will be merged with volume one into a single book. This consolidated work on the history of air rescue in Vietnam will be donated to the Air University Press. Bob's books are available from his website at www.pjsinnam.com

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