The BEST episodes of Inside Combat Rescue

Every episode of Inside Combat Rescue ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Inside Combat Rescue!

For the first time ever, camera crews embed on a deployment to Afghanistan with the U.S. Air Force’s elite rescue team, Pararescuemen or PJs, as they fly day and night, in any weather, to save those in peril on the battlefield.

Last Updated: 4/11/2024Network: National GeographicStatus: Ended
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In the Crossfire
star
8.19
80 votes

#1 - In the Crossfire

Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 3/11/2013

The team medevacs two Afghan allies who have been shot in a firefight. When one of the guns on their chopper breaks in midair, the men must change their tactics to land safely. With the threat of improvised explosive devices at the landing zone slowing down the process, the men are feeling the pressure to get their allies back to safety. Back at base, each man must deal with the stressors of the job in his own way.

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Coming Home
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8.17
78 votes

#2 - Coming Home

Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 3/25/2013

As their deployment draws to a close, the 38th Rescue Squadron PJs count down the days until they can return home. But when two suicide bombers detonate a bomb near the city of Kandahar, injuring dozens of civilians, the PJs are reminded that they are a long way from home. Later, the team takes to the air to rescue a U.S. serviceman who has lost three limbs and is quickly losing blood.

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Whatever It Takes
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8.11
114 votes

#3 - Whatever It Takes

Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 2/25/2013

With heartfelt goodbyes, the men of the 38th Rescue Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Ga., leave their loved ones behind, bound for a war zone half a world away — Afghanistan. A 22-year-old rookie is put to the test when a soldier is gravely injured with a gunshot wound to the chest, and clinging to life. Back at base, an expecting father on his third deployment awaits word from his wife of the gender of their first child…but just as the news comes in, he gets pulled away on a rescue mission.

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Visions of War
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7.96
118 votes

#4 - Visions of War

Season 1 - Episode 1 - Aired 2/18/2013

It's their most dangerous mission yet; the PJs take on enemy fire while rescuing two American soldiers from an active battle zone in the heart of Kandahar City. Surrounded by gunshots and explosions, pilots fly in fast and low to evade Taliban gunners and possible rocket launchers. Once on the ground, rescuers race against time to reach the injured men and evacuate them to the nearest hospital before they bleed out.

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Fog of War
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7.87
106 votes

#5 - Fog of War

Season 1 - Episode 5 - Aired 3/18/2013

Go inside an elite Air Force paracrescue unit as they deploy to Afghanistan. One PJ, Chris, is eager to prove himself and save lives.

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Into the Fire
star
7.41
81 votes

#6 - Into the Fire

Season 1 - Episode 3 - Aired 3/4/2013

They call it the “golden hour,” the critical window of time in which PJs strive to complete a rescue and offer the injured their best chance of survival. The PJs can't land in an area littered with enemy mines until a full sweep of the zone confirms that it's safe to land and this setback jeopardizes the life of an Afghan soldier with a severed leg. On another call, frustration mounts when defensive jamming techniques block radio communications, complicating the rescue of several U.S. soldiers.

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