Photo By Sgt. 1st Class James McGuire | Spec. Devin West hauls a sling set to the missile pod he will soon hook up to a Black...... read more read more
LOVELL, Wyoming - Going to pick up a six pack is usually an easy task. But, if that six pack is made up of High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) missile pods, it gets a little more complicated.
That’s why units like the Wyoming Army National Guard’s 920th Forward Support Company and C Company, 5th Battalion Aviation Regiment (CMED) practice together to ensure they are good at it if the need to airlift pods arises. Recently the two units trained together near Lovell, Wyoming.
“As a sustainment unit, we need to be able to sling pods,” said 920th Company Commander Capt. Daniel Marshall. “The big thing is understanding how to hook up the rigs and making sure we have communication with the bird. These new helicopters haven’t been used much for this.”
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Bryan Herget, a pilot with CMED said the training benefit is simple.
“Practice. Practice makes perfect,” he said. “It’s something different for us too, other than cement blocks and water buckets. We can pick up just about anything that needs to be moved in an expedited manner or moved into tight areas with no roads. Or, if you need it in a hurry—we can get it there.”
Staff Sgt. Christopher Cozzens went to an air assault school to get qualified to inspect sling loads to ensure they are safe and effective. He said slinging loads to helicopters in theater is very common.
He estimated the empty missile pods weigh about 1,200 pounds; Black Hawks, he said can carry close to 20,000 pounds.
Chief Warrant Officer 3 Derek Fisbeck gave safety briefings to the ground crews prior to hooking up the loads to his helicopter. He stressed the importance of landing zone preparation and being aware of where the aircraft can approach from and exit to. Wind speeds and direction, power lines, and dust, he explained, should all be taken into consideration prior to slinging.
“I’d call this light dust,” he said of the desert terrain. “We got heavy dust in Afghanistan that would cause brown out conditions.”
The helicopter’s crew chief, Sgt. Kort Riker, works closest with the ground crew. He went over hand and arm signals for the approach and gave a firm warning to the people who would be attaching the hook rig to the aircraft.
“When the hookers hook, make sure you brace yourself. It gets windy as hell under there.”
Fisbeck also stressed the importance of not making contact with the helicopter, even if it is just inches from the hooker’s head, as static electricity buildup could give a person a big shock.
With all the moving parts, rest assured they will be slinging a quality job.
| Date Taken: | 07.01.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.08.2014 11:25 |
| Story ID: | 135511 |
| Location: | LOVELL, WY, US |
| Web Views: | 145 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Charlie Med and 920th FSC sling around the desert, by SFC James McGuire, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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