However, the Sikorsky HH-3Es were developed to rescue downed pilots often behind enemy lines.
Former U.S. Army aviator Will Dabbs takes a look at the Air Forces Green Angels.
By then, the Air Force was tiring of the machines and had little further need of them.
The HH-3E Jolly Green Giant came to personify the Vietnam-era CSAR mission. This helicopter is part of the U.S. Air Force 71st Air Rescue Squadron. Image: U.S.A.F.
It also included a built-in coffee pot.
I was an Army pilot.
Army aircraft never had coffee pots.
An HH-3 Jolly Green Giant helicopter assigned to the California Air National Guard lowers a rescue line during a 1977 rescue mission exercise off the coast. Image: NARA
That was an Air Force aviation thing.
Sikorsky first designated this aircraft the S-61 Sea King.
The U.S. Coast Guard called the Sikorsky S-61 the Pelican.
A “downed pilot” runs toward an HH-3 Jolly Green Giant helicopter during a search and rescue operation as part of CALFEX ’90, a combined arms live-fire exercise. Image: MSgt.Ed Boyce/U.S.A.F.
The Air Force referred to the machine as the Jolly Green Giant.
aircrews shot down over hostile territory during the war in Vietnam, the HH-3E was a big green angel.
Origin Story
Sikorsky developed the turbine-powered S-61 in 1957 to replace thepiston-driven H-34.
The Sikorsky S-61’s boat-like hull was sealed for water operations. Here, a Coast Guard version of the helicopter rescues passengers from a burning boat.
The original mission was antisubmarine duties for the U.S. Navy.
The fully-amphibious Sea King was subsequently submitted to the Marine Corps as an assault and utility aircraft.
The Marines eventually selected the twin-rotor Boeing BV-107 that became the CH-46 Sea Knight.
The capacity for air-to-air refueling made the HH-3E’s endurance limited only by its crew and maintenance requirements. Image: NARA
The Jarheads I flew with back in the day called these aircraft Phrogs for some reason.
Maximum speed was listed as 143 knots, or 164 miles per hour.
Maximum hauling capacity was 28 passengers or 6,500 pounds.
A view of an HH-3 Jolly Green Giant helicopter from the 106th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group as it lands to pick up a survivor during Sentry Castle ’81, a search and rescue exercise. Image: NARA
Operational Experience
I have a friend I met as a patient through my medical clinic.
He lives right down the road from me.
He doesnt look much different from any other typical retiree.
Senior Airman Dennis Pickering and Lt. James Agee Jr. are hoisted aboard an HH-3 helicopter during a Team Spirit ’84 search-and-rescue exercise. Image: NARA
However, during the Vietnam War, he earned the Silver Star as a Jolly Green Giant pilot.
His sole professional raison detre was to save lives in the face of enemy fire.
The aft ramp made ingress and egress fast.
A U.S. Air Force HH-3 helicopter crewman fires a mini-gun during rescue patrol over South Vietnam in October 1968. Image: NARA
Rescue and recovery squadrons of the USAF HH-3Es were used extensively in Vietnam.
Their air-to-air refueling capability allowed these machines to range anywhere in the Southeast Asia theater.
HH-3E aircraft also took part in the attempt to rescue U.S. POWs from Son Tay in 1970.
The 3rd Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Group was tasked with rescuing pilots downed in Vietnam and the South China Sea. The photo was taken in January 1967. Image: NARA
Such rarefied stuff asAC-130 Spectre gunshipswere frequently utilized as well.
However, 3,883 Allied lives were saved by all rescue and recovery operations.
That record speaks for itself.
The Sikorsky HH-3Es were optimized for rescue missions over both land and water. Image: NARA
The HH-3E pulled CSAR support during Operation Desert Storm and was eventually fully retired in 1995.
This uniquely challenging mission of United States air rescue is supported by MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft today.
Ruminations
Nobody does war like Uncle Sam.
Combat Search and Rescue packages in Vietnam typically included both HH-3E helicopters and A-1 Skyraider propeller-driven ground attack aircraft. Image: NARA
Our weapons are without technological peer, while our combat training sets the world standard.
Most of that is because, as a nation, we are really, really rich.
However, it also reflects a certain unique ethos.
A crew member armed with a rifle stands guard in front of an HH-3 Jolly Green helicopter during Exercise SOLID SHIELD ’85. Image: MSgt.Frank J. Garzelnick/U.S.A.F.
In the Vietnam War, this meant the HH-3E Jolly Green Giant.
The HH-3E Jolly Green Giant was a high-tech life-saving war machine.
A Jolly Green Giant rescue helicopter hovers above the ocean during a space shuttle rescue and recovery exercise on December 15, 1980. Image: NARA
