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LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Though helicopter pilots often reap the glories associated with flight, the laurels of praise should fall not only round the heads of these great stalwarts, but also with the crew chiefs who stand and sit behind them on a daily basis. You may ask any member of Company B, 4th Aviation Battalion, 3rd Infantry Division, at Forward Operating Base Shank to find that for every hour a UH-60 Blackhawk pilot logs in the air, a Black Hawk mechanic logs a corresponding hour and then some.
"The average flight is about five hours; for every five hours of flight, there's about six to seven hours of maintenance you have to do," said U.S. Army Sgt. Daniel P. Davis, a Los Angeles native and Black Hawk mechanic deployed with Bravo Company.
"You work every day. There are days that are slow, but it's a good job to actually have. It's one of the under-appreciated jobs, but it has great benefits, because one of the things you get to do is you get to fly," Davis continued.
"Our pilots can't see anywhere behind them, so that's why we have to go with them-- to make sure they don't crash into anything. We sit there and keep security for the aircraft, so that's one of the benefits you get ... you actually get to see the world," Davis said.
Black Hawk mechanics, also referred to as 15 Tangos, live in two worlds. The world up above and the world down below, where they often get their hands dirty.
"Fifteen Tangos are more hands-on; that's why I chose it. I love getting hands-on with stuff, getting dirty, wrenching, that kind of stuff. It's why I chose to transition to it," said U.S. Army Spc. Brian J. Wattenschaidt, a Delaware, Ohio, native.
After living in the world of flight operations communicating with 15 Tangos, Wattenschaidt has decided to change his job and train to become a 15 Tango after this deployment, and is already receiving on-the-job training.
"You get to be that much closer to the experience flying. That's what I live for. I like action; I want to see it with my eyes," he said. "I don't want to just hear it."
The action entails a great deal more than getting one's hands dirty.
"Make sure that the bird, the Black Hawk, is ready to go. Make sure that you don't have any broken parts; that there's nothing on the aircraft that's broken that would cause you to crash. Just go over the aircraft," said U.S. Army Spc. Shawn H. Whitney, a Black Hawk mechanic of Glen Burnie, Md.
"Keeping these things flyable is our main mission. We're out here supporting the other troops, if these things can't fly other guys can't do there missions," said Davis.
The timeliness associated with travelling "as the crow flies" is not lost on members of the Black Hawk crew.
"Getting from base to base on a convoy would take you hours; this takes you ten minutes, twenty minutes at the most ... we get cargo faster, we get mail faster," said Davis. "On Christmas Day I did a mission where we brought food to the other troops, and if it was on a convoy it might not have made it to them in time. This way we had hot chow to them in 30 minutes."
Without the timely and effectual maintenance these Tangos supply, and the security they provide in flight, Black Hawks may not be a viable mean of transportation.
"You wouldn't have a whole lot of Blackhawks," said Whitney. "If my [Military Occupational Speciality] disappeared, and say for instance they brought in civilians, and they had civilian maintenance ... you wouldn't have those extra four sets of eyes in the back looking for bad guys or clearing the aircraft and making sure it doesn't get dinged up.
"A lot of people just see us whenever we fly. They think the whole 15 Tango thing is nothing but hanging out the window and letting the wind hit your face," said Smiley. "They don't see all the maintenance we do; it takes a lot of work keeping these things in the air. It's just a lot of long hours."
Underappreciated or otherwise, these Tangos love what they do.
"I love what I do. I love working on helicopters. I love flying. I love being able to leave the fob. When you are up in the air, you see things from a different perspective ... aviation is an unexplored area. Everything we do is on the ground. As technology comes along, we're going to be up in the air more often," said Davis.
In any case, these Tangos will be around for some time. Even the advent of bigger and faster planes and the like can't stifle the necessity of a Black Hawk, according to the Tangos.
"You can't put a bunch of people into a jet to fly around; you've got to put them in a helicopter," said Davis. "You can't get a C-130 into this base; the only way into this base is by helicopter, and I wanted to be apart of it.
"Now that I'm in, I don't want to leave," he added.
| Date Taken: | 03.03.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 03.03.2010 16:51 |
| Story ID: | 46112 |
| Location: |
| Web Views: | 260 |
| Downloads: | 233 |
This work, Black Hawk Crew Chiefs Wrenching, Watching, by SGT Daniel Haun, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
