Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army Sgt. Ronald F. Williams, center, a generator mechanic from Chicago, Ill.,...... read more read more
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By Spc. Gregory J. Argentieri
173rd ABCT Public Affairs
JALALABAD, Afghanistan- The Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Platoon of Bravo Company, 173rd Special Troops was recognized by the Aviation branch in a ceremony Oct. 16 at Forward Operating Base Fenty.
During the ceremony an Army certificate of achievement was awarded to the platoon for operating the Shadow UAV for 1,000 error-free hours.
The UAV platoon has flown the Shadow UAV more than 1,500 mission hours since arriving in country this past May. The UAV platoon is expecting the Shadow to fly 4,000 hours in this deployment alone.
"We've got battalion commanders sitting in their tactical operations centers, wherever their area of operation is, getting video from our aircraft flying overhead," said Army Sgt. John C. Fenter, standardization and UAV operator for the platoon out of Bamberg, Germany. "They can see nearly instantaneously what is happening in their area with their eyes."
The Shadow UAV is a small 375-pound, rapidly deployable, aircraft designed to be the commanders' "eyes in the sky." These complex systems include air vehicles with modular mission payloads, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, and communication equipment.
"The Shadow UAV is a highly effective system designed for tactical purposes," said the Texarkana, Texas, native. "My unit and our equipment are set up for the purpose to be able to jump with the brigade as it moves forward in a mobile war."
The Shadow UAV system has only been used in the Army for five years. The Shadows were utilized to fly operational missions during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003.
"With the Shadow system still being relatively new, the Army has had a lot of heartache keeping birds up," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Joseph G.Cuevas, from Pomona, Calif., UAV operator and platoon sergeant. "There has only been a few units to reach the 1,000-hour mark and beyond. So a 1,000 hours has become a really, really big deal in the Shadow community."
"The maintainers own the bird, and the operators borrow them to conduct their missions," continued Fenter. "This crew has had zero incidents due to maintenance, and has not put down a bird at all. We know their not going to give us a bad bird."
"Every 12 hours of flight, the Shadow receives a prop re-torque and a new spark plug," said Army Sgt. Ronald F. Williams, from Chicago, a generator mechanic. At the 24-hour mark, the Shadow receives a new air filter. Then after every 50 hours, we break the bird apart to do the engine mount nuts and fuel filter."
Williams, specifically, was chosen by Department of the Army to go to school for the Shadow UAV system because these systems run off of generators. He has received a special UAV designator for his training, and has been part of the platoon for a year.
"We do two types of missions; we do an intelligence gathering mission or an operational support mission," said Cuevas. "A good intelligence case just happened where we were given information from a source that individuals were spotted digging on the side of a road, trying to cover stuff up, including their footprints. It was very suspicious behavior, and was discovered to be an improvised explosive device.
"An operations support mission is when we have troops going 'outside the wire,' and the Shadow is airborne," added Cuevas. "The Shadow UAV is having a huge impact on this war."
Commanders using the Shadow get the biggest possible intelligence picture and one more tool to preserve lives, added Fenter.
| Date Taken: | 10.25.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 10.25.2007 15:38 |
| Story ID: | 13337 |
| Location: | JALALABAD, AF |
| Web Views: | 292 |
| Downloads: | 143 |
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