Ravens provide 'eye in the sky' for 2HBCT units

Photo By Master Sgt. Duff E. Mcfadden | Pvt. Seth Norman, 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry (left), and Sgt. Adam Minkler, 26th Brigade Support Battalion, perform pre-flight checks on the AeroVironment EQ11 "Raven" Unmanned Aerial Vehicle during recent training at Contingency Operating Site Marez in Mosul, Iraq. Norman, an Alvarado, Texas, resident, and Minkler, a Buffalo, N.Y., resident are deployed as part of the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division.  

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, IRAQ

06.04.2010

Story by Master Sgt. Duff E. Mcfadden 

2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Public Affairs

CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, Iraq – While Israel ushered in the age of the unmanned aerial vehicle during its 1982 war with Lebanon, now, almost 30 years later, these aircraft are continuing to prove their value in the airspace and battlefields of Iraq.

At a cost of approximately $35,000 per plane, it's often more cost effective to send out a remote-controlled aircraft, then a squad of Soldiers for a reconnaissance mission. Most recently, the military recognized more than one million flight hours flown by Army unmanned aircraft systems.

For the past two weeks, Soldiers of the 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, have been learning the ins and outs of the RQ-11 Raven aircraft during training at Contingency Operating Site Marez in Mosul, Iraq.

Each of the battalions within the 2HBCT has at least one Raven UAV system; therefore, the class was comprised of students throughout the brigade, including the 26th Brigade Support Battalion; 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery; and 1st Battalion, 36th Infantry.

The Raven is a radio-controlled, 4.2 pound, unmanned aerial vehicle, with a 55-inch wing span. While a typical flight can last 60 to 90 minutes, it has a surveillance range of 10 kilometers. It's used for a wide variety of missions, ranging from surveillance to base security.

While it doesn't carry any kind of weapons system, it does have plenty of cameras with front and side views and a zoom of 1.288mm, it also has a night vision camera.

"We can send this aircraft out, instead of a Soldier for surveillance. That way, you can have eyes on the target even before you go in there," said Staff Sgt. Ryan Haws, Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 29th Infantry, of Fort Benning, Ga.

"They're just now getting really knowledgeable with the system. When we first got started, they didn't know anything about the laptops, or how things worked. Now, they can pretty much deploy it themselves."

Since April, his training team has been bouncing from base to base providing Raven aerial training for U.S. Soldiers. To date, Haws estimates they've trained more than 60 Soldiers.

Once the course is completed and the students are certified, each Soldier will have registered approximately 5.2 hours of flight time on the pint-sized UAV.

"Flying it is pretty cool, actually. To see how the Raven actually flies and what it can do up there, is pretty amazing," said Spc. Chris Johnson, a member of B Battery, 1st Battalion, 9th Field Artillery, and a Bensalem, Pa., native.

"We usually fly our Raven at night, so I haven't been able to observe our unit using it.

There are two other people in my battery who are qualified. Since we fly it on a regular basis, I'll probably get a chance to fly it. The coolest part, though, is knowing we'll able to use this as a resource.

"What you can see from the air is pretty cool," he said.

The first part of the training involved only powerpoint slides in a classroom setting.

Soldiers went over the life of the batteries, the audio visual system and the GPS. They also learned how far it could fly, the different camera views, how to zoom in and out, and how to go from the front to the side camera.

The second week was more of a "hands-on" experience for the Spartan flyers. They learned how to put the aircraft together, how to work the controls and how to launch it. Each Soldier was given three to five attempts to properly hand-launch the aircraft.

"During our first flights, they showed us what to do. We learned emergency procedures if something goes wrong, we learned how to follow and keep up with a vehicle and how to slow down, or speed up. We would also fly out to certain distances and certain heights," said Johnson.

"Our trainer has been awesome. He's very knowledgeable and he's been very good with the hands-on portion of our training. As far as the training goes, I wouldn't change anything about this course at all," he said.

• Date Taken: 06.04.2010
• Date Posted: 06.04.2010 05:27
• Story ID: 50829
• Location: CONTINGENCY OPERATING SITE MAREZ, IQ