CCTs and PJs in Costa Rica
Within the Air Force are several communities that operate within the Special Operations sphere, to include Combat Controllers and Pararescuemen (better known as “PJs”). Combat Controllers are highly specialized warriors who get attached to special operations teams like SEALs, Delta, Special Forces, and Marine Raiders. They have communications with air assets and call down munitions from aircraft to aid in missions. PJs are a breed of warriors who work closely with Combat Controllers – sharing much of the same training but specializing in rescue missions in hostile or unreachable areas.
In February, Freedom Alliance hosted four men serving in these communities to participate in the Offshore Experience program in Costa Rica where they enjoyed adventurous activities balanced with structured group discussion about carrying the burdens of war.
Kyle H. served 18 years in the Air Force as a Combat Controller and has served with decorated units completing seven combat deployments to Afghanistan and the Horn of Africa. Brian served 10 years as a Combat Controller and continues to serve in the Oregon Air National Guard where he is in his 18th year of service. He has completed six deployments on active duty and four as a civilian contractor.
David B. served 27 years in the Air Force as a PJ and deployed multiple times to include both combat deployments in Afghanistan and non-wartime missions in Lebanon and Libya. Jake G. has served in the Air Force for 21 years and is nearing retirement. He has deployed to Bulgaria, Bosnia, Romania, Cyprus and Israel, as well as to theaters of war in both Afghanistan and Iraq.
Freedom Alliance supporter Mike Winget offered to take the group for their first outing in Costa Rica. We boarded his 74’ Hatteras “Kari Marie” for a ride across the Gulf of Nicoya to the Curu National Wildlife Refuge – a private farm on the Nicoya Peninsula of northwestern Costa Rica that protects threatened wildlife species and tropical dry forests. Along the way, we spotted three humpback whales spouting water as we approached the peninsula.
The group hiked through the park trails and saw much of the wildlife including howler monkeys, coatis, deer, pigs and other mammals. The mangroves were at low tide, exposing the complex root systems. Towards the end of the hike, we were greeted by the squawks of several scarlet macaws – the colorful red parrots that frequent the beaches and coastal areas of Costa Rica. After the hike, Mike treated the men to lunch and some down time paddleboarding and swimming around the tranquil cove.
When we arrived back at Los Sueños Resort and Marina, we gathered in the condos for the instructional period and framework of our group discussions – a model Dr Edward Tick, psychotherapist and author, helped Freedom Alliance to create. As the sun set, we dined at Al Fresco’s Beach Club restaurant with our supporter John McLean.
The next morning, the men’s excitement was apparent as we entered the marina at Los Sueños. The marina is home to some of the top billfishing yachts in the world, including the 61’ Paul Mann custom sportfisher “Grand Slam”, owned by Wallis Higginbotham. Wallis is a top competitor in billfish tournaments and startied competing at Los Sueños in 2020 where he heard about Freedom Alliance. He hosted two days of fishing for one of our groups in December that year. A month later, they took first place during Leg 1 of the 2021 Los Sueños Triple Crown.
Wallis and his captains Dave Grubbs and Jeff Crabtree greeted the men as they boarded Grand Slam for their first of two days of fishing. Deckhands Parker Plott and Jack Hendrix prepped the tackle and coached the troops who hoped to catch their first billfish. Not one of the Airmen had landed a sailfish or marlin before this trip.
Captain Grubbs started the day taking us out of Herradura Bay to the fishing grounds, about 45 miles southwest. Just a couple minutes after putting the lines in, we caught double! Both David and Brian successfully reeled in their sailfish to be released as the boat. Then an aggressive marlin came into the spread and it was on! Jake was the next up and he fought the fish for close to 30 minutes. It was 9:30am and we had three fish already! Kyle was next up and again, a marlin came speeding into the wake of the boat. Any day with two blue marlin is a good day! Kyle fought it hard and released the marlin after bringing it to the boat.
A little while later, the captain, Wallis, and the mates were yelling that a sailfish was coming up on the teaser. David was handed the rod and began reeling in his second sail of the day. After some more time passed Kyle caught his second fish – a beautiful Pacific sail that had a free-swimming sailfish right next to it. The mates quickly tossed in another line but that one was tight-lipped and didn’t bite. The day consisted of five sailfish and two blue marlins released – fantastic!
The next day, we were back on Grand Slam, wearing hooded performance shirts made by the crew that sported the Freedom Alliance logo with the boat depicted on the back. Such a nice gift and shows how Wallis and his team really go the extra mile when hosting our groups.
Captain Jeff Crabtree took the helm and we began heading west to search for spinner dolphins. We found dolphins, but not the type that signify tuna in the area. However, the crew decided to give it a try and as soon as Wallis threw in a line, we had a mahi mahi hooked! Kyle was first up and brought in the colorful fish. As the lines were set back out, Wallis once again hooked another fish…but we didn’t see anything jump and couldn’t identify it until David reeled it in. It was a wahoo – one of the rare but extremely tasty fish in the area. In fact, it was the first time a Freedom Alliance group has caught a wahoo!
We continued to search for tuna after that, but didn’t have any luck, although we found spinner dolphins and tons of birds eating bait in one area. The good news is that we tried anyway and caught another mahi.
Later, as we were trolling, an energized blue marlin bit one of our lines and David was on it. The marlin gave us a show, grey-hounding out of the water. After the marlin, another mahi rapidly ate two of the baits, one right after the other, and we thought we had a double until it became apparent the two lines were hooked to the same fish. For a while though, both Combat Controllers were reeling the same fish and jokes were made about teamwork. Ultimately, Kyle’s line was the one that stayed tight until the fish was gaffed into the boat.
Afterwards, we took time to shoot a few photos with our meat fish – the mahi and wahoo – when another marlin came into the spread. It was fun chaos as we threw the fish back in the icebox and Brian got his shot at a marlin. This one was running away from us and so Captain Jeff backed down hard giving chase, as the engines spun up in reverse, water came pouring over the transom cooling off Brian as he maintained pressure on the fish. After a hard fight and recognizing that over the last two days each veteran scored a marlin, Brian got his fish to the boat for a safe release.
When the day was over, we had caught four mahi, a wahoo, and two blue marlin. After we docked the boat back in the marina, David brought out a gift for Wallis – a black shirt featuring the green feet icon of the pararescue community.
We were treated to dinner that night at a local restaurant on Herradura Beach by our supporter Andy Shapiro. Andy rallied some support from his friends who were visiting Costa Rica and so another handful of patriots welcomed the troops to break bread together. Andy gave his toast: “To you who have given so much and received so little, from us who have received so much but given little.” Among those that joined us were Butch Kross and George Apsley, who met us each morning to cover the remainder of our bill after the discount Los Sueños gives our group.
For their final day in Costa Rica, Jimmy Kitchell, owner of Costa Cat Cruises, donated a group tour to Isla Tortuga. The tour features a ride on his 55-ft catamaran to the paradise island of Tortuga where the staff of the Costa Cat attended to each guest, bringing drinks and serving lunch. The tour included a snorkeling activity in the morning and the men spent the rest of the day relaxing in the shade of palm trees and enjoying each other’s company.
For dinner that night, Wallis invited us into his stunning Montecielo condo at Los Sueños, which looks out over the entire resort. He hired a local sushi chef to come prepare a feast of sushi, sashimi, poke and more. It was a great cap to end the event: full stomachs, new friends, full hearts.
After returning home, Kyle wrote on Greatnonprofits.org: “This was the most incredible experience! I’ve heard about this organization from several friends that have had nothing but amazing things to say! Pepper was an incredible host for the four of us. This program was extremely successful with the mix of teamwork on the boat marlin fishing, or creating bonds following the workbook together. Thank you for putting this experience together and I hope that I can continue to support Freedom Alliance!”
