Courtesy Photo | A CH-47 Chinook carries an AH-64 Apache from the flight line via slilng-load after...... read more read more
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On an overcast day in late March, the hard thump of rotor blades beating down the air accompanied by the high-pitched whine of twin Lycoming turboshaft engines accompanied the normal din at the Peoria International Airport in Peoria, Illinois. It was the unmistakable sound of two CH-47 Chinook helicopters on approach to the Army Aviation Support Facility across the tarmac from the airport.
As the two helicopters made their way to the ground and taxied back to the facility, a fire engine waited on the ramp, ready to douse the lead Chinook with a deluge from its water cannon. As the blades ceased their rotation and the engines wound down, a smiling Jason Rassi, chief warrant officer 4 and Chinook pilot with B Co. 2nd Battalion, 238th Aviation Regiment, could be seen from his side window. This was Jason’s “fini flight,” a time-honored tradition among aviators taking their final flight before retirement.
Jason began his career as a 67U Chinook mechanic 25 years ago to help pay for college at the University of Illinois in their aviation program.
“The Guard was an opportunity to help pay for school,” he said. “Not only did I get some good experience, but through the G.I. Bill and the Illinois National Guard Grant, I really didn’t have to pay for my flight training hours out of pocket.”
After a short stint as a Chinook mechanic, the opportunity presented itself for Rassi to become a pilot. With a little prodding and direction from his squad leader, Rassi finished his application packet over a drill weekend and was accepted to the Army’s flight program at Fort Rucker, Alabama.
“We were standing in formation and the command team was asking if anyone wanted to be a pilot. I raised my hand with about five other guys from the unit,” said Jason. “After my (staff sergeant) sat me down and made me finish the application, I was one of the only ones to actually go to flight school.”
Jason said he had one annual training as a mechanic, then he was off to flight school. When he returned to the unit for the next AT, he was driving, or rather, flying a Chinook. He said that most pilots refer to flying a Chinook as driving.
“There are many names that we affectionately call each other, but bus driver and hooker for the Chinook are typical,” said Jason. “I always thought of it as more of a Cadillac; it may not look cool, but it handles like a dream and has more power than people give it credit for.”
He also said other aviators have nicknames too, like gun bunny for Apache pilots and hawk driver for Blackhawk pilots. He said they are all terms of endearment, but some are more appropriate than others.
Over his 25-year career, Jason said he has many fond memories and too many stories to tell. He deployed four times, first to Iraq, then three times to Afghanistan. Jason also flew many missions at home during domestic operations, most recently, he flew a Chinook to California to assist in the wildfire fights in 2020.
“I’ve got too many memories to pick one favorite, from all of the domestic missions like South Dakota in 2011 to the wildfires in California to the deployments overseas,” he said. “The Guard’s given me so many opportunities I wouldn’t have had otherwise.”
He said 2011 was one of the biggest years for aviation support fort domestic operations.
“It seems 2011 was the year of the floods; I think that’s the year we had t-shirts made that said ‘flooding sucks’,” he said. “We had the flooding here at home on the Mississippi and Ohio, then we had support to South Dakota, and later in the year support to Vermont in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene.”
Jason said all of the domestic operations were very rewarding, but recalled the support to Vermont for Hurricane Irene being memorable because of how remote some of the impacted people were and how quickly they made things happen.
“You’d see these people out stranded and we’d drop pallets of water and food and everything else off, and it would look like a mess because we’re dropping it and just going and going,” he said. “But we’d come back an hour and a half or so later and everything’s gone and the pallets are all stacked to be burned and they’re ready for more.”
Jason said he thinks the most rewarding part of his career was being an instructor pilot.
“As an instructor pilot watching guys coming out of flight school and growing was one of the most rewarding things,” he said. “These guys come out of flight school knowing how to fly, but watching them go from being new pilots to PCs [pilots in command] flying under night vision, was rewarding.”
Over 25 years, Jason said he has many stories, but one of his favorites came from a deployment to Afghanistan when his crew carried an AH-64 Apache for repairs at another airfield.
“On my last deployment we had an Apache taxi into a tower on the ground. Luckily, nobody was seriously injured, but they had to move it out,” said Jason. “We ended up sling-loading it out. The night before they stripped the Chinook down to the lightest it could be and still fly. Before the sun came up the next day, we flew out and got it all hooked up. Then, just as the sun was coming up, we flew it back under the Chinook.”
Jason has a photo in his new office of the Chinook carrying the Apache off the flight line.
“I’ve got a photo of it hanging in my new office,” he said with a bit of a giggle. “One of the bosses at the new job hates it - he was a former Apache pilot.”
During his career, Jason flew and worked with a many people. Lt. Col. Jason Celletti, a Blackhawk pilot and the Illinois Army National Guard State Aviation Officer, is one of those that worked with him.
“What can I say?” said Celletti. “Jason is a professional - one of those guys that always does what needs to be done. I’m super happy for Jason and his family, but it’s a little sad knowing we’ll have a big gap to fill.”
Celletti said Jason’s expertise and deployment experience are something that can’t be measured in the way it translated to training new pilots.
“I’m sure Jason talked about some of his mentors, but those were the old CW5s that the pilots looked up to. When they left, Jason stepped in and filled that role,” said Celletti. “Jason became that warrant everyone looked up to. He was always the one that was doing the hard work, staying late. He also had four combat rotations. That’s experience that can’t be measured and is hard to replace.”
Celletti said that experience also made Jason a perfect instructor pilot and leader.
“He’s someone that’s always stepped up and the guys around him notice,” said Celletti. “He’s always been there to step up and pass along his knowledge and he always showed the new kids what right looked like.”
Celletti has worked with Jason for the better part of 15 years and the two have developed a relationship that led to some firsts in Illinois Army National Guard aviation.
“Every time a mission popped up, Jason would take it and roll with it” said Celletti. “He was the main reason we were able to pull off the helocast training with the 106th Cavalry back in 2015 or 2016.”
Helocasting is an insertion technique developed by Airborne troops where personnel step off the aircraft's ramp at a low altitude and low speed directly into the water below.
Celletti said the two sat down in a room and figured out how to get it done when everyone was saying it couldn’t be.
“Jason went to work digging through the regulations and found the way forward,” said Celletti. “I asked him what equipment he needed, and he said ‘nothing, I just have to fly 10 feet above the water at five knots,’ and we did our first ever helocast from the Chinooks at Camp Ripley.”
Celletti said it’s going to be tough to fill that gap of experience that Jason leaves behind, but the aviation community is a tight-knit family and those that leave are always popping in and out.
“It’s going to be tough, but Jason set so many people up for success behind him, that we’ll be able to find someone to step up,” said Celletti. “It’s bittersweet, but he’s not far if we ever need him, he’s right across the ramp in Peoria.”
Jason said he’s not done flying. He was offered a position with OSF Life Flight in Peoria, Illinois, as a pilot and to serve as their safety officer. He said the timing of the offer was a major factor in his decision to retire from the Guard.
“The opportunity came along and I couldn’t pass it up,” he said. “The timing worked out. I felt like after four deployments and all of the domestic operations, it was my time. It helped that the unit wasn’t up for a deployment, so I didn’t feel like I was leaving my aviation family high and dry.”
Jason said he’s grateful for all of the opportunities the Guard has provided and that he looks forward to new opportunities with OSF Life Flight and to spending more time with the family.
“I’ve had a great career with the Guard. I’m grateful for all of the opportunities I was provided,” said Jason. “The experiences that I’ve had and the training, all put me where I am now.”
| Date Taken: | 04.21.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 04.21.2021 14:35 |
| Story ID: | 394367 |
| Location: | PEORIA, ILLINOIS, US |
| Hometown: | PEORIA, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 196 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, A Life in the Clouds: Chief Warrant Office 4 Jason Rassi retires after 25 years of service, by SFC Bryan Spreitzer, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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