Putting the "Guardian" Back in the Sky

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Isolda Reyes | Spc. Matthew Morales, attack helicopter repairer and crew member with D Troop, 4th Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Calvary Regiment cleans and inspects the servo rods of the AH-64E during its 500-hour phase maintenance on April 29. The 500-hour phase maintenance of the helicopter is where a crew systematically takes apart specific sections of the Apache to clean, inspect, repair or replace parts of the AH-64E. (U.S. Army photo by Staff. Sgt. Isolda Reyes, 29th Combat Aviation Brigade, Public Affairs)  

CAMP TAJI, IRAQ

05.06.2017

Story by Staff Sgt. Isolda Reyes 

29th Combat Aviation Brigade

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – A skeleton of what appears to be a helicopter sits under a tent, as parts of it sit on various tables with a team of Soldiers deeply engaged as they handle them. Cleaning, inspecting, repairing or replacing any defective parts echo as a cadence as each team describes their specific roles in the 500-hour phase maintenance of the AH-64E helicopter, also known as the Apache Guardian.

Soldiers of D Troop, 4th Reconnaissance Squadron, 6th Cavalry Regiment work together here, April 29, 2017, as they systematically take apart, clean and inspect various sections of their Apache attack helicopter, their ninth overall, during routine maintenance, which is required after it has flown over 500 manned hours.

Delta Troop, 4-6 Cavalry is a vital part of the recently arrived 29th Combat Aviation Brigade and is comprised of various aviation support personnel whose sole purpose is to comb through the entire aircraft piece by piece and get it back to baseline and mission ready.

“D Troop is made up of a team of Soldiers with several military occupational specialties, they are made up of crew chiefs and maintainers, powertrain, electrical, avionic system, power plant and aircraft structural repairers along with a quality control non-commissioned officer in charge and officer in charge, a phase maintenance NCOIC and test pilot,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Joseph Atkinson, D Troop’s test pilot.

“Aside from the normal maintenance markers, changing hoses and routine replacements, the individual teams are responsible for researching any faults that may not be part of the phase maintenance but is needed to keep the aircraft in good working order,” added Atkinson.

These Soldiers have been working together for months prior to the deployment, through the deployment of the 77th CAB and now has transitioned to support the 29th CAB.

“It takes a great deal of teamwork to make this happen,” said Staff Sgt. Aaron Dunn, a quality control and technical inspector NCO, “We have teams consisting of E1s-E5s working together - we check everything, we take our role very seriously, so if it passes all of us, then it’s good to go.”

“We are responsible for regenerating combat power for the guys on the ground,” said Staff Sgt. Johnathan Hudson, phase maintenance NCOIC. “We recently added a day and night shift to decrease the time it takes to get the aircraft back in the air and supporting those guys on the ground.”

“It takes a lot of coordination between day and night shift,” said Spc. Matthew Morales, an attack helicopter repairer with D troop, "we can have as many as four people working on the same part, that requires detailed documentation and back-checking every detail before we move forward to putting that part back on the helicopter.”

The AH-64E was nicknamed “The Guardian” on Jan. 14, 2013 by Gina Gill, a Logistics Management Specialist from the Aviation and Missile Command Logistics Center. Gill wrote, "the Apache is not just deadly, it brings fear to our enemies and security to the Soldiers it protects. I work avionics and radar and that helps with guarding and seeing where the threats are. That's how I came up with the Guardian."

Fortunately for the 29th CAB, the technical expertise and experience of Soldiers from D Troop, 4-6 CAV allows these guardians to stay in the sky.

• Date Taken: 05.06.2017
• Date Posted: 05.17.2017 07:18
• Story ID: 234110
• Location: CAMP TAJI, IQ