Idaho Army National Guard conducts two search and rescues in back-to-back days
On Sept. 23, a UH-60M Black Hawk crew assisted with the search and rescue of a lost individual in Idaho County. On the following day, a different crew assisted with the rescue of a hiker in the Owyhee Mountains.
“Our Soldiers train for missions all over the world, but there's no more immediate way to see the value of that training than when they're called upon to help an Idahoan in trouble,” said Brig. Gen. Eric Orcutt, commander of the Idaho Army National Guard. “These crews bring an incredible level of skill and professionalism to some of the most difficult environments in our state, and they continue to demonstrate why the Idaho National Guard is such an important part of Idaho's emergency-response capability.”
Flight crews assisted Tuesday and Wednesday with the search for a lost individual near Riggins in the vicinity of Kelly Mountain who had last been seen since Sunday.
Idaho County officials and volunteers located the man Wednesday in the Looking Glass Creek drainage west of Kelly Mountain and notified the Idaho Army National Guard’s flight operations desk that the man had been found. However, due to limited communication in the remote mountainous area, the flight crew was unaware he had been located and continued their search.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Arlin Knight, the mission’s pilot in command, said he could see a search party volunteer waving down the crew in a thick wooded area. Knight said the area looked too dense to land a helicopter and that a hoist helicopter would be needed to conduct the rescue. The Black Hawk was not equipped with a hoist or other rescue equipment because the crew's mission was to search as large an area as possible. Leaving the additional equipment behind reduced the aircraft's weight and gave the crew more time to remain on station.
Knight said the crew decided to make a pass over the sight in an attempt to find somewhere to land. The crew attempted to land in a confined area close to the patient, but was only able to get one wheel on the ground due to the slope and did not feel it was a safe landing space. The crew identified a second landing place, which required close coordination between the helicopter’s two crew chiefs and the pilots.
“Landing in a place like that, it all depends on the crew chiefs to communicate to the pilot so that you’re clear of the trees,” said Knight. “You have to come down just right in a confined area.”
After landing, Knight said the crew was running short on time due to fuel and that the two crew chiefs, Staff Sgt. Dakota Miller and Sgt. Robert Watkins, traversed approximately 500 meters to reach the patient and those who found him.
Miller said that when they reached the patient, he was loaded on a soft litter. Miller told a deputy on scene that they could transport the man if they could get him to the helicopter.
Miller, Watkins, the deputy, and three volunteers then carried the man to the helicopter using a two-foot wide game trial over logs and rocks and down and back up a ravine to reach the Black Hawk.
“We really thought there was no way to get in there without a hoist, but we found a way in,” said Knight. “The real shout out goes to Miller and Watkin, who conducted three confined landing zones after flying for six hours and then they went and got this guy and carried him back over to the helicopter in all their flight gear.”
The Black Hawk crew then transported the man to the 394 Road, which required a third confined landing. The patient was reunited with his family and transported to the McCall Hospital for civilian care.
“We had already made the decision we weren’t going to be able to get to him,” said Miller. “The entire time we were landing the helicopter, we were thinking anything we do from here was icing on the cake. It was really cool to go further than we thought we could.”
The Idaho County Sherriff’s Office, the Idaho Civil Air Patrol and the Idaho county Search and Rescue K9 unit assisted with the search.
The next day, Sept. 24, a separate crew assisted the Owyhee County Sheriff’s Office, the Grand View Fire Department and the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit with the rescue of a 21-year-old male who was stranded clinging to a cliff several hundred feet above the ground in Purjue Canyon near Grand View.
He was unable to climb up or down and utilized voice-to-text to contact his family and to call 911.
The Idaho Army National Guard flight crew flew members of the Idaho Mountain Search and Rescue Unit technical rescue team to the top of the cliff. The team built a two-tension rope system at the top of the cliff using a rock as an anchor and lowered a rescuer to the man utilizing an “unsupported pick-off” technique.
While the man clung to the rock face, the rescuer fitted him with a harness and both were then lowered to the ground. The man was not injured.
The search and rescue missions were the 12th and 13th successful missions for the Idaho Army National Guard in 2026. The Idaho Army National Guard also conducted three successful rescue missions between Sept. 16-20.
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