Re: Rescuing Downed US Troops

Date: January 24, 2004

"Harrison native instrumental in rescuing downed U.S. troops

By Jennifer Bails VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH

Hundreds of American troops who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan owe their lives, at least in part, to Lt. Col. Keith "Sully" Sullivan.

As the director of the U.S. Central Command Joint Search and Rescue Center, or JSRC, on Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia, Sullivan supervised all emergency rescue operations for conflicts after Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on America. He is a native of Harrison Township, Allegheny County.

His team was responsible for making sure that any soldiers who were downed or stranded in enemy territory during the two wars made it home safely.

This was no small task in a combat zone that spanned almost 7 million square miles, from the vast deserts of the Middle East to the rugged mountains of southern Asia.

Yet under Sullivan's leadership, the JSRC coordinated 600 missions and rescued more than 800 American soldiers -- among them Pfc. Jessica Lynch, the first prisoner of war to be liberated successfully since World War II.

Lynch and seven other members of the Army's 507th Maintenance Company were ambushed by Iraqi forces last March near Nasiriyah and later snatched from their captors by Special Forces in a rescue organized by the JSRC.

"I keep telling our guys that our measurement is not how many people we've picked up, but how many we've left behind," said Sullivan, a 1980 graduate of Highlands High School. "And so far, we haven't left anyone behind."

Sullivan recently was recognized for his "dogged determination and superior leadership" by the Air Rescue Association, a nationwide group of more than 3,500 active and retired military personnel dedicated to keeping alive the spirit of air rescue.

Last month, the association announced that it awarded Sullivan the greatest honor in his field -- the 2003 Richard T. Kight Award -- for his efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Known as the "father of air rescue," the late Brig. Gen. Kight developed in the 1940s many of the tactics and equipment still used in present-day recovery efforts. Kight also coined the rescue motto: "These things we do that others may live."

Sullivan is the first person to be bestowed with the annual Kight Award twice. He also received the honor 10 years ago for missions he flew as a rescue pilot over Iceland.

"It's the one and only award that the Air Rescue Association gives out," said the group's spokesman, John Holm. "It really speaks highly of your hometown boy."

Sullivan, 42, is the son of Tom and Marty Sullivan, originally from Harrison Township. He is married to his high school sweetheart, the former Debbie Svitek, whose parents, Richard and Lillian, still live in Brackenridge, Allegheny County. The couple and their three teenage children live near Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

Sullivan said he wanted to be a helicopter pilot since the ninth grade and went straight to the U.S. Air Force Academy after high school.

The last two years have been a challenge for the career soldier, who regularly works 18- to 20-hour days and has spent only a few months at home.

Sullivan is very humble about his accomplishments, emphasizing the teamwork and technology involved in making sure that stranded soldiers are rescued.

"I want to say it's like a dance, but it's more like a mob scene," said Sullivan, likening the wartime atmosphere in the JSRC to the computer nerve centers depicted in fantasy movies such as "War Games."

The center uses data from satellites, hand-held radios and other intelligence sources to try to locate and coordinate missions to recover downed soldiers. Missions can last from minutes to days and involve hundreds of people in different branches of the military.

"You are in absolute fear that you are going to mess up and make a decision that ends up killing somebody," Sullivan said. "Your professionalism is the only thing that keeps you fighting through."

It also is the job of the JSRC to make sure that rescued soldiers receive the medical, physical and psychological assistance they need upon return -- a process called repatriation.

Sullivan said Pfc. Lynch was especially "broken up" after her capture and highly publicized recovery.

"I've exchanged a couple of notes with Miss Jessica, and she signed a couple of books for us," Sullivan said. "My section was the one responsible for developing intelligence for where she was and facilitating her liberation, so she's very close to our hearts."

Lynch's story has been the subject of ongoing debate about whether the military overdramatized her rescue and spread false stories that she went down shooting in the Iraqi ambush.

Sullivan was reluctant to weigh in on this controversy.

"I know a little bit too much," he said.

But Sullivan did have words of praise for Lynch and for the Special Forces troops who rescued her.

"She has certainly met the enemy and returned with honor," Sullivan said. "I think the U.S. official history is pretty clear on that."

Sullivan hopes to be able to spend some time with his family in the coming months, he said. And he has been speaking with military leaders about how to use the lessons of Iraq and Afghanistan to try to improve air rescue procedures.

"But sometimes unless you do something wrong, it's hard to make changes," Sullivan said. "And we did a lot of things right."

Jennifer Bails can be reached at jbails@tribweb.com or (724) 226-4679.
© 2004 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co."