Crack paramedics from the US Navy base immortalised in the Hollywood film The Perfect Storm helped deliver two stricken sailors to Bermuda on Tuesday.

The parajumpers from 106 Rescue Wing of the Air Force National Guard in Westhampton Beach, New York, parachuted from 3,500 feet into the sea on Monday afternoon.

Then, equipped with wet suits, scuba diving equipment and medical cases, they found their rolled up dinghy which had been tossed from the C130 plane, inflated it and made their way to tanker which contained sailors Paul Custance and Bengt Liberg.

They are part of an elite Navy force which is trained to rescue stricken military personnel under the water or on top of a mountain, anywhere on earth.

The Navy has put them through rigorous training so they can pick up a downed pilot anywhere in any part of the world.

There are just 500 parajumpers throughout the US and they are trained to parachute, scuba dive and mountaineer.

On Monday's mission 300 miles east of Bermuda, the three man team, spent 45 minutes from jumping from the aircraft into the water to reaching the tanker Crusader to treat Mr. Custance, 41.

Parachute rescues into the ocean are rare for the 106 Rescue Wing, based at Gabreski Airport, 75 miles east of New York, and team members are always eager to take part.

For Loius Muscarella and Brian Mosher, it was the first time they had carried out a jump rescue in real life.

Speaking at Ordnance Island, St. George's, yesterday, after delivering the sailors onto dry land, Mr. Muscarella told The Royal Gazette : "A jump mission is very, very rare in your career.

"So when you get them there is always a lot of competition to get to do the rescue because everyone wants to do a job you have trained so hard for.

"So I was very fortunate to get it. It was my first rescue in three years, so I felt good about it. Everything went very smoothly.'' When the three boarded the Crusader from their small inflatable, they gave insulin to Mr. Custance, a diabetic from Surrey in England.

"The patient was a little bit unstable at first, a bit tired and hypoglycemic. We gave him insulin and he bounced back and we monitored his sugar level all night.'' Mr. Muscarella, 22, has trained for two years to be a qualified parajumper. He said the training school has a 90 percent drop out rate and competition is extremely tough.

"There are only 500 of us across the US, so its very much an elite. We train in mountain climbing, jumping and scuba diving and we are supposed to get down to a pilot anywhere in the world.'' The unit was put under the international spotlight in June last year with the release of The Perfect Storm , about a rescue mission involving the 106 Rescue Wing in 1991.