Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Robert Jordan | Two soldiers from the North Carolina National Guard’s 130th Attack Reconnaissance...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT A.P. HILL, Va. - More than 300 soldiers of the North Carolina National Guard's 130th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion were visited by NCNG senior leaders at the unit's annual training here, March 20.
The leaders observed the aviators as they executed aerial gunnery qualification and unit ground crews maintained, repaired and refueled twelve AH-64 Apache helicopters.
"It is great to see training," said Army Brig. Gen. James C. Ernst, NCNG assistant adjutant general of maneuver.
The leaders toured the flight line, a small clearing among the pine and hardwood forests along the rolling hills at the training facility.
Battalion soldiers moved like a NASCAR pit crew about the aircraft; attaching refueling lines, loading 30-millimeter cannon rounds and sliding 41-inch-long rockets into launch tubes and quickly returning the aircraft back into the fight.
"I got a better understanding of what they do," said Ernst.
Command staff planned operations as other experts ran the control tower looming several stories high above the field. Maintenance soldiers worked out of a series of truck trailers serving as storage and repair facilities.
Ernst and other leaders walked along the well-worn red mud paths as the spoke with soldiers and thanked them for their service to state and nation.
The aviation soldiers worked together in all of their different skill sets in order to keep the aircraft and air crews going. Their actions were a good example of how units perform autonomously through hard work, unit self sustainment and a dedication to help each other complete the mission.
"Leaders come where soldiers train so we can find out what we can do for them," said 449th Theater Aviation Brigade Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Hamm.
Hamm is the senior enlisted soldier in the 449th, the higher headquarters of the 130th ARB.
Editors and producers: To see more pictures of the 130th ARB in action at Fort A.P. Hill, visit our Flickr site at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ncngpao/sets/72157633042737346/with/8573097235/
For any questions, please contact the North Carolina National Guard Public Affairs Office at pao@ng.army.mil or by phone at 919-664-6242.
For more NCNG news, visit our website: www.nc.ngb.army.mil/.
To become a Facebook fan of the NCNG, please visit www.facebook.com/NCnationalguard or follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/NCnationalguard.
To view additional pictures from this and other events, visit www.flickr.com/photos/ncngpao.
| Date Taken: | 03.20.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2013 15:18 |
| Story ID: | 104132 |
| Location: | FORT A.P. HILL, VA, US |
| Web Views: | 100 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, NC National Guard leaders visit Aviators at annual training, by SFC Robert Jordan, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT