"Eye in the sky" protects Raider Soldiers

Courtesy Photo | Soldiers from Company A, 1-3 Brigade Troops Battalion, load the Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle onto the launch, Dec. 10, at Camp Taqaddam, Iraq.  

IRAQ

12.18.2007

Story by Spc. Ricardo Branch 

1st Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

By Spc. Ricardo Branch
1st Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division

CAMP TAQADDA, Iraq – Soldiers of the 1st Brigade Combat Team watch as the desert speeds past their view screen in the brigade headquarters from live video feed courtesy of the Shadow Unmanned Aerial Vehicle.

The "eye in the sky" is provided by a team of Soldiers from Company A, 1-3 Brigade Troops Battalion, out of nearby Camp Taqadda. They watch the battlefield with the unmanned aerial vehicles that launch every day.

"We give Soldiers a real-time view of the battlefield," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Christopher Hoo, watching the monitor of UAV video. "The video from the sky can be relayed down to the maneuver battalions, so they can view it before they travel into an unknown area."

Hoo, 36, from Palm Bay, Fla., and his team are relatively new but have quickly adapted to the environment of Iraq.

"All the UAV pilots go through extensive training in their advanced individual training and at Fort Stewart," he said. "Most of the missions in Iraq they have trained for back home, and if not, they pick it up quickly."

The Shadow UAV, a 300 pound aircraft, is controlled by a five-man team of Soldiers who fly missions around Ramadi, the surrounding rural areas and as far north as Lake Thar-Thar.

"We run all sorts of missions for the Soldiers on the ground," said Spc. Jonathan Laborde, a UAV operator with Co. A. "From searching for improvised explosive device emplacers, insurgent forces and anything that can threaten ground forces."

Laborde, 22, from Marksville, La., said the Shadow and other UAVs have been used extensively in his last deployment and current tour to provide real-time imagery during operations.

"The UAV is a vital tool for commanders out here because it gives them a battlefield view during missions," he said.

Catching insurgents before they can harm U.S. forces is what the UAV team says is the biggest reward of their job.

"We were flying out in an area between Fallujah and Ramadi and spotted an IED emplacement team," he said. "We reported it to brigade, who called in air assets to stop them before they could set it off. You never know if in a day or a week that the bomb found could have went off and killed or injured somebody."

The UAV may look like a complicated system to operate but the pilots say it's actually much easier.

"Controlling the UAV is like a video game except it is real life," Laborde said. "It's a lot simpler to fly than anyone expects. It's long, tedious work followed by moments of quick reaction."

He said that after the shadow is launched from its pad, the operator flies the aircraft via remote from inside a control room.

If the engine fails, a parachute can be deployed that flips the $700,000 plane upside down to protect the equipment as it lands.

For Benjamin Stafford, another UAV operator, joining the Army created an opportunity to try something interesting. He may not be a pilot but he enjoys his job regardless.

"I wanted to look into aviation," he said. "I wanted to fly a rotary aircraft but my vision wasn't good enough. I heard then from my recruiter that enlisted can fly unmanned crafts so I wanted to try it."

Stafford, 27, from Auburn, Ind., said they do anything that a unit calls them to do. No matter the time of day, they can have a UAV up within an hour.

"We operate day and night here," he said. "For us this work may be long hours but it's worth it in the end if we help save lives. Even though the area has died down a lot, we're watching all the time."

• Date Taken: 12.18.2007
• Date Posted: 12.18.2007 12:46
• Story ID: 14809
• Location: IQ