1st Air Cavalry Brigade troops ready helo for haul

Photo By Sgt. Maj. Nathan Hoskins | After being rigged up to be sling loaded, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from 2nd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, prepares to lift the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to be take from Camp Taji, Iraq to another forward operating base for repairs. After weeks of practice and dry runs, the aircraft is airlifted without incident. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Jacob Gieswein, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade)  

TAJI, IRAQ

05.15.2007

Story by Staff Sgt. Nathan Hoskins 

1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

By Spc. Nathan Hoskins
1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – When a Soldier gets injured on the battlefield and needs immediate medical attention, the unit calls in a medical evacuation helicopter to quickly transport them to a medical facility.

This is almost the exact same method used when one of 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division's helicopters is damaged and needs special attention.

When one of 3rd Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment's UH-60 Black Hawks was downed April 5, the repairs and parts needed were beyond what they had at Camp Taji. The aircraft needed to be transported to another forward operating base with the necessary equipment in order to be repaired, said New Orleans native Staff Sgt. Quang Nguyen, noncommissioned officer in charge of quality control for Company D, 3-227th.

Instead of hauling the aircraft on the back of a trailer to get it to another FOB for repairs – and putting more Soldiers out on the streets – it was sling-loaded underneath a CH-47 Chinook helicopter, Nguyen said.

When something is sling-loaded, it is hung by a system of ropes called the Unit Maintenance Aerial Recovery Kit, said Lynchburg, Va., native Chief Warrant Officer Donald Chambers, the aviation maintenance technician for Co. D.

"It's the fastest and most expedient way that we can move our aircraft out of an area faster without waiting for ground transportation," he said.

Having that expensive aerial asset hanging hundreds of feet off the ground, it is imperative that Soldiers be detail-oriented when rigging the lines up, said Chambers.

"(Paying attention to detail) is the difference between a successful airlift and a disastrous one," he said. "If the load is off center or it sways too much for the CH-47 to handle, they do have authorization to cut the load."

That is why Co. D's Soldiers go through a dry run before actually doing the real deal, said Nguyen.

"We'll normally start practicing a week before the actual mission just to get reacquainted with the equipment," he said.

Along with the dry run, before the aircraft can be lifted off the ground, all the rigging has to be checked by multiple people, including the air crew, to ensure a safe airlift, Nguyen added.

With 13,000 to 14,000 pounds hanging at the end of that braided rope, these missions are nothing to be lax about, he said. Once the aircraft is airborne and on its way to its new home, the team who hooked it up feels a sense of achievement.

"It's a weird feeling," Nguyen said. "It's a feeling of accomplishment to see it hanging there."

• Date Taken: 05.15.2007
• Date Posted: 05.15.2007 10:09
• Story ID: 10383
• Location: TAJI, IQ