Photo By Sgt. Jonathan Thibault | Col. Lori Robinson, commander, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division,...... read more read more
FORT CARSON, Colo. – Laughter rang throughout 4th Combat Aviation Brigade’s hangars as aviation Vietnam Veterans and CAB Soldiers traded deployment stories during a 192nd Assault Helicopter Company reunion tour at Butts Army Airfield on Fort Carson, Colo., Sept. 11, 2015.
Col. Lori Robinson, commander, 4th CAB, 4th Infantry Division, and four Soldiers from the CAB exchanged wartime experiences with 192nd AHC veterans during a tour and discussion forum.
“Most of the Veterans that I’ve talked to have been crew chiefs,” said Sgt. Daniel Bishop, UH-60 Black Hawk crew chief, 3rd Assault Helicopter Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, 4th CAB. “We talked about the similarities and differences of what we do now and what they had to do back then. We talked about how a lot of the missions are the same in regards to the good times and the bad times. The conversations were great.”
Army Chief Warrant Officer 4 (Retired) Darell Koenig, 192nd AHC Vietnam veterans, said it was great finale to their reunion to be able to talk with the aviation Soldiers at Fort Carson.
“We wanted to see the differences between aircraft and missions from 1970s to now,” said Koenig. “Another great addition to our visit was the nostalgia that the majority of our pilots, crew chiefs and aircraft mechanics felt having been stationed at Fort Carson in the past. This was like a homecoming for a lot of them.”
Koenig said there haven’t been a lot of Vietnam Veteran reunions over the years and this visit was an opportunity that they wouldn’t want to miss.
“Since Vietnam, most of us tried to raise Families and build careers, and others continued to serve, which kept all of us busy over the years,” said Koenig. “This was a great opportunity for us to get together, reminisce and share the camaraderie that we feel meeting with each other with the Soldiers of the CAB.”
Capt. Cristin Browne, commander, Company B, 3-4 AHB, 4th CAB, said hearing the wartime stores of the Vietnam Veterans showed how 60 years of things that aviators do hasn’t really changed much.
“A lot of the commonalities are the same, such as our relationships with our copilots, crew chiefs and door gunners,” said Browne. “The greatest benefit that I got out of the stories was finding out that these pilots had more than 30,000 flight hours of experience and they were still learning things every time they flew just as our pilots do every time they fly.”
| Date Taken: | 09.11.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 10.04.2015 20:08 |
| Story ID: | 178054 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 176 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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