Combat search and rescue
![An HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopter comes in for a landing during a training exercise.](/Images/godic/202501/05/Pararescue.training_exercise0749.jpg")
![Richard Bell-Davies conducted the first combat S&R mission in his aircraft during the First World War.](/Images/godic/202501/05/Richard_Bell-Davies_VC_IWM_Q_694750749.jpg")
![A Sikorsky HH-53B refueling during the Vietnam War.](/Images/godic/202501/05/HC-130P_refueling_HH-53B_over_North_Vietnam0749.jpg")
![Pararescuemen return with a downed pilot from a successful rescue mission in southern Iraq (2003).](/Images/godic/202501/05/PJs_rescued_downed_pilot_during_OIF0749.jpg")
Combat search and rescue (CSAR) are search and rescue operations that are carried out during war that are within or near combat zones.
A CSAR mission may be carried out by a task force of helicopters, ground-attack aircraft, aerial refueling tankers and an airborne command post. The USAF HC-130, which was introduced in 1965, has served in the latter two roles.