Photo By Sgt. Roland Hale | Chief Warrant Officer 2 Adam Garner, an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter pilot from 1st...... read more read more
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AL ASAD, Iraq – The phrase "strength in numbers" means nothing to a handful of aviators at Camp Al Asad, Iraq.
While flying what's considered the world's most advanced military helicopters, these aviators need nothing more than their wingman and a trusty ground crew to take the fight to the enemy.
An assault helicopter company and scout reconnaissance troop from Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, along with a medical evacuation company from 101st Airborne Division currently form a small element of Task Force Saber, which is tasked with providing hasty and reliable air support to the Anbar province.
"We're here to broaden the coverage of the brigade," said Capt. Wes Ogden, an OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopter pilot and the officer in charge of the task force operations section at Al Asad. "They put us out here so we can react quickly."
Task Force Saber is part of Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division: the companies on Al Asad are an even smaller detachment of the task force.
The Army has four basic types of aircraft, or what aviators call airframes; transport, heavy lift, attack and reconnaissance. Normally, a battalion will specialize in one of those airframes. Comparable to a small battalion, Task Force Saber is able to provide rapid response to many situations because it has two, said Ogden; transport and attack.
"Being able to work between airframes, with both the UH-60 [Black Hawk] and the OH-58, it broadens the base of our operations," said Ogden.
However, due to the diversity of their missions, the companies that make up this element of Task Force Saber are inherently different, which has presented challenges that leaders had to be overcome in order to create an effective force.
"The different ways we plan and execute missions had to change. The Black Hawks, for example, require [several] hours to prepare for missions, which is a lot more than we're used to with the Kiowas," said Ogden.
"Being away from [Camp] Taji, we've got more responsibility and also we've got the ability to be more creative and come up with new ideas and implement those," said Ogden.
The diversity of the task force internal structure, paired with the creative capability of its command, is paying off – most recently with a call-for-fire exercise conducted with field artillerymen from 1st Advise and Assist Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division, and the Iraqi Army.
The task force does have some drawbacks, however. The distance that allows these aviators such flexibility also sometimes stresses their operations.
"We've had a couple of issues with maintenance on aircraft because we didn't have the pieces they have at Taji," Ogden said.
Even so, he said, the task force is regularly supplied and supported by the rest of their brigade.
| Date Taken: | 05.29.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 05.29.2010 04:42 |
| Story ID: | 50486 |
| Location: | AL ASAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 253 |
| Downloads: | 164 |
This work, The Saber's tip: A look at Task Force Saber at Al Asad, by SGT Roland Hale, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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