Photo By Spc. Kelly Widner | U.S. Army aviation Soldiers assigned to the North Carolina National Guard’s...... read more read more
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MORRISVILLE, N.C. – Soldiers assigned to Detachment 1, Bravo Company, 2nd Battalion, 151st Aviation Regiment, conducted a flight and ground movement from their unit in Morrisville, North Carolina, to the North Carolina Western Justice Academy in Edneyville, North Carolina, for a weeklong training event June 1, 2015.
The unit is composed of approximately forty-three Soldiers. This training event allowed the new crew chiefs the ability to practice with the hoist system, which is used to rescue people from situations on the ground, in confined areas or in the open water.
“Our goal is to spread knowledge in order to have multiple crew chiefs and pilots, who are capable of executing the mission without relying on certain people to be specialized in certain areas,” said Sgt. Josh Johner, a crew chief and aircraft mechanic with the 2-151st.
Another advantage of this training event is to further prepare the unit’s Soldiers for their upcoming mission along the U.S. and Mexican border beginning in October 2015. This mission won’t be the first time the unit has supported the efforts along the southern border. The unit previously has supported the Department of Homeland Security’s mission throughout Texas.
“Our primary mission is to go in at night and scan for people crossing the border illegally and accepting missions from the border control to scan for suspects in inaccessible places,” said Johner, “The system we provide to them is a huge force multiplier because we can fly at night and see what they can’t see from the ground.”
In addition to the border control mission, the 2-151st also partners with local and state fire fighters and emergency medical services to provide helicopter pilots, crew chiefs and aircraft needed to conduct rescue missions for a program called the North Carolina Helicopter and Aquatic Rescue Team (NCHART).
“We end up with strategically placed people throughout the state who are trained as rescue technicians. They go down the line, perform the rescue, assess the situation and bring the person back up into the aircraft,” said Johner.
The NCHART program is divided into two different regions. The Eastern part of the state is supported by the LUH-72 Lakota helicopters, and the Western part of the state is supported by the UH-60 Black Hawks.
“The NCHART program is an opportunity to save a life. It is such an unexplainable feeling to save someone from a life-threatening situation when they only have one hope left … you,” said Johner.
The Army Aviation Soldiers complete their training event June 6.
| Date Taken: | 06.03.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2015 10:42 |
| Story ID: | 167286 |
| Location: | MORRISVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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