Photo By Staff Sgt. April Campbell | Spc. Paul Nickens, a native of Cameron, N.C., and a UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter crew...... read more read more
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FORT CARSON, Colo. - “Back five. Left two. Down Three.” The words spoken by Spc. Kathleen Wolf into her flight-helmet headset were simple but crucial.
Leaning out from her gunner seat to the left side of the aircraft, Wolf, a door gunner, was acting as the eyes for the UH-60M Black Hawk helicopter pilot conducting a two-wheeled pinnacle landing on a ridge line in the Rocky Mountains just west of Fort Carson, Colo.
For Wolf, and the other door gunners and crew chiefs with 2nd Aviation Assault Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, the High Altitude Mountain Environmental Training at Fort Carson, is a chance to train as a crucial member of the flight crew for their deployment to eastern Afghanistan.
“The pilots are listening for our input because they can’t physically see what’s behind the cockpit,” said Wolf, of Tiffin, Ohio.
Even though they do not have controls in the back, the pilots rely on the rear crew members to make the call when an attempted landing or maneuver will not work.
“When we are uncomfortable with a landing or see that there is not enough space or a wheel won’t grab, we can say 'go around' three consecutive times and the pilots will know that we need to fly around and try again or not land in that location,” Wolf added.
Staff Sgt. Kristopher Cameron, a crew chief and the standardization instructor for 2-82 AASLT and Task Force Corsair, sat opposite Wolf on the right side of the aircraft giving similar guidance to the pilot for his right wheel. With experience flying in high altitude and mountainous environments, he has been using the training opportunity to ensure the Black Hawk door gunners and crew chiefs are comfortable with their responsibilities in an environment far different from Fort Bragg.
Without any mountains around, at Fort Bragg the pilots and crew must practice pinnacle landings on a much smaller hill with fewer obstacles.
“Mother Nature doesn’t always give us flat land. It’s totally different than what we’re used to, so you have to make sure that the crew members are comfortable and competent in this environment,” said Cameron, of Arvada, Colo.
For any landing, takeoff or turn, these two crew members are looking out into the pilots’ blind spots clearing the land and the airspace around the aircraft of any obstacles.
“Some of the places the pilots are landing the Black Hawks in are very tight with as little as three feet of clearance around the blades,” said Spc. Paul Nickens, a crew chief with TF Corsair.
While neither the crew chiefs nor the door gunners are flying with weapons and scanning for enemy forces during their training at Fort Carson, when the crew members deploy to Afghanistan, they will combine what they have learned during HAMET with what they learned during the aerial gunnery range in February.
“We will secure the aircraft against any natural obstacles or enemy forces,” Wolf said.
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 06.19.2011 16:18 |
| Story ID: | 72379 |
| Location: | FORT CARSON, COLORADO, US |
| Web Views: | 263 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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