Photo By Warrant Officer Patrik Orcutt | Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hatfield, an observer coach/trainer with the Adler's team,...... read more read more
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GARMISCH, German- Adler and Falcon teams from Hohenfels conduct the first aviation refueling operation in over 40 years at Sheridan Barracks, April 14.
Sheridan Barracks is home to the Edelweiss lodge in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, next to the German-Austrian-Border. Due to the current travel restrictions in place from the global effort to stop the spread of COVID-19, the lodge has closed its doors to its regular guests. With that being said, it has opened its helipad to a new kind of visitor.
Over the past month, the Joint Multinational Readiness Center’s Falcon Aviation Team has been supporting the COVID-19 response task force in Garmisch. The Falcons have been flying personnel from Hohenfels training area down to Garmisch biweekly via rotary winged aircraft.
Typically the Edelweiss helipad is used for VIP personnel visiting the area. Due to the increasing number of flights being conducted during COVID-19, the helipad has become a regular landing zone for the aviation team.
With all these flights happening, a golden opportunity emerged for the Adler team to conduct training.
“We are performing a refueling operation for the aviation missions that are coming down from Hohenfels for resupply,” said Sgt. 1st Class Michael Hatfield, an observer coach/trainer on the Adler team. “As OCTs we are the ones that evaluate, teach, coach and mentor rotational units that come to Hohenfels. Now we are performing hands-on refueling operations within our MOS versus sitting back and observing.”
Unlike trucks, helicopters require more attention to detail when it comes to refueling.
“When refueling aviation, it's so imperative that you get everything right because if any incident happens with the aircraft, the first place they check during an investigation is the fuel,” said Hatfield. “You have to make sure you do your monthly tests, your daily aqua-glow tests and make sure the fuel you issue out to these helicopters is within the correct specifications.”
Conducting daily Aqua-glow tests is imperative when working with aircraft.
“Aqua-glow is a daily test that we do to test how much water is in the fuel. The Army standard is 10 parts per million but our standard is two parts per million when working with aircraft,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jeffrey Melendez, Adler team. “Making sure that the fuel is free of water because when they get up to high altitudes the water begins to freeze.”
For many of the staff at Garmisch, this is the first time they have seen this kind of operation take place at Sheridan Barracks.
“This is the first refueling since I have been here, and I have been here for 15 years. We have never had this happen before,” said Wolfgang Pauls-Polch, the Garmisch Base Fire Chief. “In a normal case the helicopters fly out to Landsberg, but they are fueling here right now.”
Not only is this a change of pace and good hands-on tradings for the teams, but its also a reward for some.
“This is the rewarding side of our Job,” said Melendez."When you get a mission and your refueling tanks or Aircraft you feel rewarded, you're contributing to the success of the mission.”
| Date Taken: | 04.17.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.20.2020 12:35 |
| Story ID: | 367650 |
| Location: | GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 340 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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