U.S. Army helicopter crew supports Tennessee Maneuvers 2016

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Daniel Gagnon | A Lacota UH-72 helicopter from Charlie Co. (-)2nd, 151st Aviation Group flies over a Tennessee Highway in support of the Tennessee Manuvers excercise June 22, 2016. (Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Daniel Gagnon)  

KNOXVILLE, TN, UNITED STATES

07.11.2016

Story by Staff Sgt. Daniel Gagnon 

134th Air Refueling Wing

The Tennessee National Guard recently conducted a statewide emergency training exercise known as the Tennessee Maneuvers 2016 exercise (TNMAN ’16). It was held at Memphis Air National Guard Base. During the exercise, a simulated 6.5 earthquake erupted June 20 at the New Madrid Seismic Zone. The earthquake was to effect Northeast Arkansas, West Tennessee, the boot heel of Missouri, Western Kentucky, and Southern Illinois and reaching into areas of Mississippi. It was to be the largest earthquake to hit the region since 1811. As a result, an estimated 87,500 people with injuries would require hospitalization and there were to be approximately 14,000 fatalities.
In a catastrophic earthquake of that magnitude, military convoys would transport injured victims, emergency supplies, and other essential emergency items to designated medical centers. It would be necessary to know the degree of damage to the emergency supply routes that span from Nashville to Memphis, including the 349 bridges along those routes.
In order to quickly collect information about passable routes and infrastructure damage over an immense span of highways, a Lakota UH-72 Helicopter from the 151st Aviation Group was selected for the job.
The Eurocopter UH-72 Lakota is a light utility, twin-engine helicopter with a single, four-bladed main rotor. The Lakota also has a Mission Equipment Package (MEP) that includes a TAC link system, which provides real time video to command posts revealing supply route damage information. If the route is damaged the convoy can be directed, via helicopter, to another safer, passable route to successfully reach a medical center.
During the exercise U.S. Army helicopter crew CW3 Sam Grinder, pilot, CW2 Sara Coddou, co-pilot, and Sgt. William Sanford, crew chief, all from Charlie Co., 151st Aviation Group, were tasked with the mission of flying ahead of FEMA teams and confirming that the route was clear for convoys.
“We did route recon for the most part, shooting video from the console in the back, seen by the pilot and downlinked to the base station receiver,” said Coddou. “Making sure the route is passable after natural disasters, storms, and earthquakes.”
The TAC link system is the helicopter equipment used to send the video image information from the aircraft to the ground units monitor as it is happening at that moment (realtime).
The Lakota is also used to do border patrol, and observation, search and rescue, and with a small alteration it can be used for Medevac, said Coddou. Mostly it’s used for looking at infrastructure.
The purpose of the exercise was to maintain a reassuring public awareness while constructing and sustaining the trust and confidence in the state’s military forces.
The Tennessee Army and Air National Guard brings unique skills and specialized experience to rapidly respond and provide stabilization during emergencies throughout our great state.

• Date Taken: 07.11.2016
• Date Posted: 07.11.2016 14:33
• Story ID: 203630
• Location: KNOXVILLE, TN, US