Photo By Rick Emert | Apache pilots from the 1st "Attack" Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air...... read more read more
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By Sgt. 1st Class Rick Emert
1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division Public Affairs
CAMP TAJI, Iraq – The AH-64D Apache is an imposing, lethal weapon that rarely leaves terrorist activity unpunished. But, for a couple of 3rd Infantry Division pilots who were forced to land in Baghdad recently, an Apache from 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division that landed near their downed helicopter was a beacon in what – moments before – had been a flurry of enemy small arms fire.
The two-seat Apache would become their ride out of the hot zone.
The daring rescue on July 2 involved a "spur ride," a rarely used but established rescue procedure in which Soldiers are strapped onto the wings of the Apache and taken to safety.
"There's a handful of people who have done (a combat spur ride)," said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Allan Davison, an Apache pilot from 1st Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment.
Davison was pilot in command of the lead Apache. He and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Micah Johnson landed near where the downed pilots had taken cover from small arms fire and loaded the pilots on their aircraft. Their wingman aircraft, with pilot-in-command Chief Warrant Officer 3 Troy Moseley and copilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Seung Choi, provided security from the air. All four Apache pilots are from Company A, 1st "Attack" Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment.
"(Mosely and I) were stationed in Germany together, and on our first gunneries as warrant officers we went to Hungary for a month," Davison said. "We both got the chance to ride on the outside of an Apache like that. It's something we train for. I don't think a lot of people have done it, but everybody knows if you go down, you're going to hop on. It's a standard brief."
The Apache crews had no way of knowing they would make that elite group a little bigger when they set off on a reconnaissance mission that morning.
They initially heard through radio communication that an aircraft was taking on small arms fire. The Apache crews immediately headed to the location, Davison said.
While they were en route to the area, an announcement over the radio said that the aircraft, an OH-58 Kiowa from Task Force Marne, was down.
Based on what they had seen of forced landings in early 2007, the Apache pilots knew the outlook for the Kiowa pilots was grim.
They arrived to the general area where the aircraft had gone down and assisted three Kiowa crews in searching for the downed helicopter.
One of the Kiowa pilots said over the radio that he had spotted the aircraft on the ground.
It was burning.
"He said, 'Hey, we got a grid,'" Davison said. "He gave it to our team. We headed over there and found the 58. It was on its side; the nose was burning."
Meanwhile, one of the Kiowa crews had landed and checked the wreckage.
The pilots were gone.
"Their helmets were there, but they weren't there," Davison said. "Our immediate response was, well that's good – but, they're not there. Are they evading, or did they get picked up by the enemy? That kind of sat heavy with us."
The Apache crews began looking for vehicles that may have had the downed pilots inside.
"There was a major hardball road right to the east of the aircraft," Davison said. "Micah (Johnson, who was air mission commander for the Apache team) said we would head out that way, searching the vehicles to see if they got picked up by the bad guys."
About three minutes later came another radio message from one of the Kiowa crews.
"We got another call from (the Kiowa crews) saying, 'The pilots, we found them, they're alive. They're by the crash site," Davison said.
The Kiowa crews requested that the Apache team pick up the pilots, because the Apaches are more capable of conducting such a mission, Davison said.
"We landed at the site and waited about 25 seconds but saw no pilots," Davison said. "We couldn't stay there forever."
As the Apache started to lift off the ground, one of the Kiowa pilots said the downed pilots were on the other side of the aircraft, taking cover in a nearby canal.
"I picked up, went to our left and, sure enough, there they were," Davison said. "I set down about 20 meters to their west."
Not only were the pilots alive, they were able to run to the Apache.
"They looked pretty good – kind of shaken up, beat up a little bit, but they were running fine and moving OK," Davison said. "(Johnson) hopped out and helped one of the pilots to the left side of the aircraft and helped the other pilot into the front seat of our aircraft."
For a second, Johnson wasn't sure if the men running toward them were the pilots or not.
"It was hard at first to identify who they were," Johnson said. "They had been in water up to (their necks). When they were coming out, they looked like they had on a completely different uniform, because they were so drenched. (One of the pilots) ran up and said they were taking fire in the reed line before we got to the scene. They were taking fire while they were sitting in the reeds."
Although the pilots had taken small arms fire after the forced landing, the enemy was nowhere to be found after the two Apaches and three Kiowas made it to the site.
"When we showed up, any fire that was directed toward (the downed pilots) probably ceased, because there were five gun ships in the air," Moseley said. "(Insurgents) were not looking for a firefight then. They were looking to run and hide."
Johnson took one pilot to the left wing and helped him strap on to the wing. Then, without a second thought, he put the other pilot in his seat inside the aircraft.
"Honestly, I don't know why," Johnson said. "It looked like they were both in pretty good shape, but one of them kind of looked like he had been through enough, like he was a little shocked, as I would be, too. I told him to get in front."
This was not as simple as giving your buddy "shotgun" and climbing in the back seat. While it may sound like an adventure befitting an amusement park, the ride over Baghdad – where aircraft frequently come under small arms fire – was five to 10 minutes of abusive wind gusts and physical exertion.
"At about (130 miles per hour), it was really a pain," Johnson said. "I imagine it was probably worse for the (other pilot), because he didn't have a helmet or eye protection. I at least had my helmet and visor. I could tell when we were accelerating, because it started just to rip my head back, and I couldn't move it.
"I was holding on for dear life with my left hand. I had my rifle in my right hand. The sling had come off, so I couldn't sling it around me. I was just holding the rifle with my right hand, and holding onto the aircraft with my left hand, kind of sandwiched between where the engine is and where the wing starts."
The short ride to Baghdad International Airport felt much longer to Johnson, he said.
"I wouldn't want to go any further than we did, because you feel yourself holding on so tight," Johnson said. "Once you get down, all of your muscles are tense."
While the 1-227th Apache crews took the downed pilots to the airport, Apache crews from their sister battalion, the 4th "Guns" Battalion, 227th Aviation Regiment, provided security over the downed helicopter until Apache crews from the 3rd Inf. Div. arrived to take over.
The "Attack" Apache crews didn't hesitate to support their 3rd Inf. Div. comrades when they learned of the downed aircraft.
"I knew it was our responsibility (as lead aircraft) to go get those guys," Davison said. "Knowing that I had Troy and Seung out there covering us – it was just focused adrenaline – but at the time, I really wasn't worried about bad guys. I just wanted to get those guys out of there. That was my number one priority."
Not too long ago, the 1st Air Cavalry Brigade had been heavily involved in a massive search for three missing Soldiers. The last thing the Apache pilots wanted was for that to happen again – especially knowing how the enemy in Iraq treats its prisoners of war.
"The moment I heard the (Kiowa) was down, I knew right away we had to go down there and help," Choi said. "We had the capabilities; we had the skill and the determination to do something about the situation. My main concern was to find those two guys, because (insurgents) had already captured three Soldiers. I did not want these guys to disappear."
The Apache pilots said finding the two downed pilots alive was the greatest reward for their actions that day.
"We've seen a lot of aircraft shoot-downs," Johnson said. "Everyone that we've all probably seen, it's resulted in burning aircraft and black smoke and usually catastrophic loss of life. If not loss of life, then there have been serious injuries.
"As soon as the first 58 landed, those (pilots) were already gone. It was kind of a shock to us, and it kicked us off to say, 'Hey, we have got to find these guys, if they are out here.' Just to see those two alive, it was amazing. It was great. When we got to BIAP, (the pilot who rode on the left wing) got off. He said he was glad that we showed up – appreciative like I would be if someone came up if I was down on the ground."
They insist that their actions on July 2 were not extraordinary.
"Anybody else would have done it," Davison said. "We just happened to be there."
| Date Taken: | 07.09.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2007 08:08 |
| Story ID: | 11168 |
| Location: | TAJI, IQ |
| Web Views: | 1,945 |
| Downloads: | 292 |
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