Flying with 2 decades of experience - Senior warrant officers share wisdom with younger pilots

Photo By Staff Sgt. Brandon Little | Chief Warrant Officer 4 Curtis Bell, the Task Force XII safety officer and a UH-60 Black Hawk pilots, address Soldiers attending his award ceremony.  

TAJI, IRAQ

06.23.2008

Story by Sgt. Brandon Little 

Multi-National Division Baghdad

By Sgt. Brandon Little
Task Force XII

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – More than 20 years ago, the Nintendo was considered the most advanced gaming system ever and two of Miami's most popular television detectives were making speedboat chases, and wearing a t-shirt with a blazer, part of routine police work.

This was also around the time when Chief Warrant Officer 4 Guy Cash, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Dennis Seymour, Chief Warrant Officer 4 Keith Langewisch and Chief Warrant Officer 4 Curtis Bell began their Army careers.

Since then, these Task Force XII aviators have seen more changes throughout the Army and aviation than you can shake a stick, or a cane, at; and in the process they've become some of the most knowledgeable and highly respected aviators in the task force.

"It was kind of hard to accept the idea that I was a senior warrant officer and that my opinion carried as much weight with the commander as it does," said Langewisch, the Task Force XII brigade aviation maintenance officer and an AH-64D Apache Longbow pilot.

"Being a senior warrant in Task Force XII is pretty exciting because there's a lot of responsibility and it's a good opportunity to help lead the brigade," said Bell, the Task Force XII safety officer and a UH-60 Black Hawk pilot.

It has taken these aviators many years of hard work and dedication to their craft to reach this level of knowledge and experience.

"A lot has changed in Army aviation since I joined 26 years ago," said Cash, the Task Force XII standardization officer who will be promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 5 in July. "Back then, aviation wasn't even its own branch; I had to join under transportation."

In addition to seeing a couple of uniform changes, these veterans of aviation also got to see everything from the helicopters to flight school evolve.

"Back when I went to flight school you were a candidate until you finished flight school and there was always somebody watching over you to make sure you were doing things the right way," said Langewisch, who has been an aviator for 23 years. "Now they receive (the rank of) warrant officer after six weeks of the entry course, which is something we fought for years to have done."

They also learned different flying techniques and adjusted to changes in the way pilots must fly.

"At first pilots were taught to fly high but during Vietnam, which I wasn't in, they were taught to fly low," said Cash, who hails from Jacksonville, Fla. "I also learned flying at night in the dark because back then we didn't have (night vision) goggles."

In those days, the senior warrants were usually Vietnam veterans and they preferred to use a few unorthodox methods to groom the younger warrant officers.

"At that time it was common to have jobs such as the fridge officer (keeping the refrigerator stocked), trashcan officer or something like that in conjunction with your flight duties and other additional duties," said Bell, who hails from Maryville, Tenn., and has more than 25 years of military service. "These were character tests, not necessarily hazing, to see your dedication to your job; so I approached it with a positive attitude and decided to be the best darn fridge officer in the Army."

As the years have progressed, so has the breed of young Soldiers who choose to become pilots, said Langewisch, a native of New Franklin, Mo.

"They're part of a generation that knows a lot about computers and video games; so operating these technologically advanced aircraft seems second nature to them," he said.

Every now and then these senior warrants make time to get together for a meal and talk about the "good old days." The cohesion they have can be seen whenever they talk about which one of them is the better pilot or how much the Army and aviation have changed over the years.

Even though these four pilots have more than 100 years of combined military experience, they all say their love of aviation is what keeps them hanging around.

"I love what I do, and I always knew I wanted to be in aviation ever since I was a kid," said Bell. "Almost all of the younger pilots respond positively to the advice I give them, but you definitely have to lead by example; just because you have a little grey hair doesn't mean you're an expert."

• Date Taken: 06.23.2008
• Date Posted: 06.24.2008 07:47
• Story ID: 20795
• Location: TAJI, IQ