Motto "It could be worse, it could be raining."
in Turkey to find, protect and rescue any U.S. or coalition pilots who have to eject over Iraq or Syria.
Among those airmen is a Guardian Angel Weapons System, which includes pararescue airmen, combat rescue officers and survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists, who specialize in retrieving downed pilots or isolated troops -- often in the middle of a battle, said Kris Gault, a spokeswoman for U.S. Air Forces in Europe.
They will have several HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters and HC-130s to carry out rescue operations, if needed, Gault said in an email.
Diyarbakir Air Base is in southern Turkey about 100 miles from the border with Syria. The base is about 346 miles east of Incirlik Air Base, where U.S. F-16s from Aviano Air Base, Italy, have been launching airstrikes against the Islamic State since August.
In February, the commander of the 57th Rescue Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, told Air Force Times how the Guardian Angels operate.
"We can't always count on the survivor that's out there -- the isolated personnel -- to be able to come to us, whether they are stuck in the aircraft that has crashed, whether their parachute is hung up in a tree, whether they are down at the bottom of a ravine or collapsed in a structure or floating out in the middle of the ocean," said Maj. Patrick Gruber. "We have rescue specialists -- specific airmen -- who are trained to go into those specific environments and recover those personnel -- and then medically treat them and get them out and return them with honor."
In another development, Russia began launching airstrikes in Syria, but the U.S. and Russia disagree over whether the attacks were against the Islamic State or other opposition groups.
The New York Times reported that the Russian aircraft attacked areas in Homs where the Free Syrian Army operates. The Russian embassy in Washington, D.C., did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On Wednesday morning, a Russian official told personnel at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad that Russian aircraft were about to fly combat missions over Syria, and he requested that U.S. aircraft avoid Syrian airspace during those missions, State Department spokesman John Kirby said in a statement.
"The US-led coalition will continue to fly missions over Iraq and Syria as planned and in support of our international mission to degrade and destroy ISIL [the Islamic State in Syria and the Levant]," Kirby said.
If any Russian pilots get shot down, they are on their own.
"The U.S. is currently only authorized to rescue downed pilots from the coalition," said Navy Cmdr. Elissa Smith, a Defense Department spokeswoman."
Godspeed.