Ghost Trail

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Hal Sheridan had never jumped before — as a team leader. He notched dozens of jumps as a member of Air Force Combat Search and Rescue — CSAR — including many into hostile environments. This would be his first jump as a Combat Rescue Officer of the PJs — a retronym given to the Pararescue Jumpers Special Forces group in 1947.

Hal pondered his new responsibilities while driving an Air Force truck over the sweltering Saudi tarmac. The most critical of which weighed heavy on his mind… Being responsible for the lives of the men in his unit.

Hal backed the pickup to the open ramp of a Hercules HC-130 cargo aircraft. The Hercules was aptly named: A behemoth with four thundering propellers biting into the hot air, spewing dust and sand at Hal’s team near the ramp. The Herc was the most reliable means of dropping special operators into harm’s way for over three decades.

Hal and his team hoisted their gear from the back of the truck. Hal was six-feet-two and two-hundred pounds, with a rugged build and wind-burned face. The kind you get from a decade of riding motorcycles or jumping out of airplanes. In his case it happened to be both. Having served as a PJ for eight years, Hal was ready for more action and more responsibility. He took courses in his free time to fulfill the rigorous requirements of becoming CRO. At thirty, he seemed like a mother hen among the much younger PJs and enlisted men and women.

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