Photojournalist visits mountain aviation unit
WHEELER-SACK AAF, N.Y. – He didn’t get to fly on one of the most popular helicopters currently in the U.S. military inventory, but that did not spoil his long-awaited time here.
Robert Burik, Princeton, NJ, has served as a freelance photojournalist and writer that has covered the U.S. Army for over 15 years. The type of books that Burik writes are photo-history books.
“These books emphasize the photo-history of a particular equipment or units,” Burik said.
Burik’s... read more
WHEELER-SACK AAF, N.Y. – He didn’t get to fly on one of the most popular helicopters currently in the U.S. military inventory, but that did not spoil his long-awaited time here.
Robert Burik, Princeton, NJ, has served as a freelance photojournalist and writer that has covered the U.S. Army for over 15 years. The type of books that Burik writes are photo-history books.
“These books emphasize the photo-history of a particular equipment or units,” Burik said.
Burik’s first book was about the 3rd Infantry Division’s (3ID) participation in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF 1) in 2005. Burik has also written books and articles about Army training centers and equipment such as tanks, markings, helicopters, and road vehicles.
Although not his main job, the Princeton native covers the Army as a passion. His work is geared towards scale modelers and military enthusiast. “This is not my full-time real job, I have regular, vanilla office job,” Burik said. “I do this as passion to get this information out there to the modeling world.”
While Burik is most well-known for his books, he also contributes his work to Army museums such as the Fort Stewart 3ID Museum in Fort Stewart, GA and the General George Patton Museum of Leadership in Fort Knox, KY.
“I helped museums out with their displays and have had a big project at Fort Stewart that involved scale models for OIF 1,” Burik said.
While Burik has covered the Army across the country, Burik had yet to visit the 10th Mountain Division in New York. Planning to write his new book about the UH-60 Blackhawk, Burik was determined to visit Wheeler-Sack Army Airfield, NY. He wanted to highlight the half century old helicopter so he could report on a variety of units training with the Blackhawk, he said. He had contacted the unit early last year, but he had to wait due to the unit’s deployment overseas and because of the novel Coronavirus.
Burik eventually visited the airfield in late October for an aerial gunnery and a second time in mid-November for an air assault training, both with Blackhawks. Burik expressed his enjoyment in his two visits and appreciated the hospitality that 10th CAB showed him.
Burik plans to return here to feature other Army aircraft, vehicles and the 10th CAB unit in his future books.
“You guys [have] the kind of equipment I want to cover, the Chinook and the Apache,” Burik said. “And the 10th [Mountain Division] is a frontline unit.”
Robert Burik’s book, UH-60 Blackhawk: The US Army’s Tactical Transport Helicopter, is expected to come out later this year. show less
