GROTON, Conn. - Working together with the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade and an aviation contractor team from Illesheim, Germany, the TASMG Soldier’s mission focused on monitoring and offloading Blackhawk, Apache and Chinook helicopters from C-5 Galaxy aircraft, staging them and loading them on a naval vessel for transport back to the United States.
Throughout the months of December and January, the helicopters were flown in from Afghanistan and will be shipped to the Port of Jacksonville, Florida before being reassembled and flown to their home base at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
The sergeant in charge of the quality control for the operation, Sgt. 1st Class Reilly Grant, explained how for many of the Soldiers here, this was their first experience maneuvering the helicopters off the C-5.
“So far our mission is going really well. Our young guys are getting some great experience and have all been eager to work.”
Broken up into two work teams, the TASMG crew completed both day and night missions, including loading over 40 Blackhawks on a bulk carrier vessel docked at the port facility of the base located on the Gulf of Cadiz.
Because the flight missions constantly rotated, the Soldiers were prepared to work on short notice, leaving little room for error. Explaining how essential the joint effort involved in these missions was, Staff Sgt. Michael LaFountain said, “We’ve been working with a crew of six guys. Since the planes can come in at any time, we’ve been working 12-hour shifts. Communication has been key…it is essential to constantly monitor the aircraft when unloading. Our teamwork has been good.”
The NAVSTA is the largest American military community in Spain and houses US NAVY and US Marine Corps personnel. The US Army makes up a small contingent on the base and for the 1109th TASMG this marks their first trip to the base providing workload expansion and aviation assistance in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
| Date Taken: | 01.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 01.19.2016 11:14 |
| Story ID: | 186511 |
| Location: | GROTON, CONNECTICUT, US |
| Web Views: | 109 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 1109th TASMG execute Aircraft Operations in Spain, by SGT Jeanne Bujalski, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
