Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Whitney Houston | Chief Warrant Officers 3 Blake Hardison and Donnie Anderson, both natives of Jackson,...... read more read more
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KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Heat waves danced off the asphalt of the busy runway at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. OH-58D Kiowa Warrior pilots hovered and maneuvered their helicopters like dragonflies through left and right turns on their approach to the forward arming and refueling point.
The pilots, who serve with 1st Air Cavalry Squadron, 230th Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee National Guard, give uncanny, science-fiction-like life to this agile helicopter, as well as provide an invaluable asset to the fight in Regional Command-South.
“What we do is support the ground commander by either providing convoy security, route security or air reconnaissance, which really develops the situation for the ground element,” said Capt. Brendan Ballert, a native of Knoxville, Tennessee, who serves with Task Force Raptor as commander of the 1st Cavalry Squadron, 230th Cavalry Regiment, Tennessee National Guard. “We give them that oversight of the battlefield and communicate with them by giving them real-time situational updates.”
The 1st of the 230th as they sometimes call themselves, runs 24-hour operations that help keep the threat level down through close fire air support on KAF, and for any ground element that goes out on mission The Kiowa has special features that facilitate that force protection mission.
“The Kiowa is a two-man reconnaissance helicopter that is very maneuverable. We fly with the doors off and it has a mass mounted site on top that helps us fire all of our weapons systems during both night and day times. It gives us a 360-degree view of the area so if we have to engage the enemy, it makes it very easy,” Ballert said.
Speaking fondly of the Kiowa, Staff Sgt. Bean, a Clinton, Tennessee, native who also serves with the 1/230th reminisced about times when he was serving on the ground during three of his four deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, where the Kiowas often made him feel safe on the ground.
“It gives the ground guys a lot more comfort that they’re safe. I was a ground guy for a long time, and I know the comfort that it provides,” he said. “It deters a lot; convoys and patrols are a lot less likely to receive small arms fire because the enemy can be found and destroyed a lot quicker.”
Cavalry Soldiers hold an important place in history when it comes to reconnaissance; they are the eyes and ears of the commander on the battlefield. The 1/230th holds true to old cavalry traditions and wears their mission, as they do their Stetson hats and spurs, with pride.
“Cav is something different. We’re a troop not a company. We’re a squadron, not a battalion. You can see how proud the Cav is in Hollywood movies … and it sets us apart. We’re that true person that does reconnaissance and scout operations. We wear our mission proudly,” Ballert said.
Other than being a cavalry unit, something else makes the 1/230th stand out even more: The Kiowa airframe is unique to the Tennessee Guard.
“We are the only OH-58D Kiowa Warrior National Guard unit across the U.S.,” Ballert said. “We have 30 helicopters, 15 of which are out here supporting deployed operations.”
There is, however, a possibility that the unit’s beloved helicopter may be replaced as the Army looks to either upgrade or decommission the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.
“The Army is looking to retire the Kiowa, which makes the situation kind of strange for us. We’re in the process of figuring out what that means for our squadron,” Ballert said. “We’re anxiously sitting in limbo to see what comes down the pipeline for us. One good thing, if we do get new airframes, is we’ll have our aviators trained in multiple aircrafts.”
The debate on whether or not the Kiowa will be decommissioned simmers in the back of the Soldiers’ minds as they tackle the more immediate challenge in theater of availability of parts to fix the aircraft.
“We have an airframe that they’re trying to get rid of, so it’s increasingly hard to get parts for it,” Bean said, “so to mitigate that we rebuild what we can, and if something’s really broken, we pass it up the chain and they see what they can do to get the part from the states.”
Ballert explained that he and his Soldiers know that the decision about the Kiowa’s fate won’t be finalized until their tour is over, and until that day, the 1/230th will push forward with their mission and continue to adapt to whatever comes their way, keeping their Kiowas in the air.
| Date Taken: | 07.30.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 07.30.2014 12:31 |
| Story ID: | 137715 |
| Location: | KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF |
| Hometown: | CLINTON, TN, US |
| Hometown: | JACKSON, TN, US |
| Hometown: | KNOXVILLE, TN, US |
| Web Views: | 1,535 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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