WESTHAMPTON BEACH -- The New York Air National Guard announced the recent completion of training for members of the New York Air National Guard at F.S. Gabreski Airport.

2nd Lt. Michael Griepsma, Gouverneur, completed the Initial Flight Screening course at Pueblo City, Colo.

The 106th Rescue Wing operates HH-60 Pavehawk rescue helicopters and HC-130 Hercules search and rescue aircraft from its base in Westhampton Beach on eastern Long Island. The wing's wartime mission is to rescue American and Allied personnel lost behind enemy lines, and members of the wing have been deploying regularly to Afghanistan to support military operations there. The wing's pararescue jumpers are trained to drop behind enemy lines to secure friendly troops, or into the ocean to rescue crewmen from a sinking ship.

The wing has a peacetime mission of providing search and rescue in the North Atlantic when requested by the United States Coast Guard and also deploys regularly to provide rescue capability in support of Space Shuttle launches. The wing's efforts to rescue a yacht crew in a storm at sea are portrayed in the movie "A Perfect Storm" and in 1998 the wing made the longest over-water rescue in history.

"That Others May Live" is the motto of the Air Force Rescue community.

For more information about the 106th Rescue Wing, visit www.106rqw.ang.af.mil.

For more information about the New York National Guard, visit www.dmna.ny.gov.