One day in Iraq: Kiowa pilot - Finding caches and protecting infantry all in a days work for Kiowa pilots

Photo By Command Sgt. Maj. Ryan Matson | An OH-58D Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopter from 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, lands on Forward Operating Base Warrior near Kirkuk, Iraq. Chief Warrant Officer Stoner has flown Kiowas for eight years.  

03.14.2006

Story by Staff Sgt. Ryan Matson 

101st Combat Aviation Brigade

Sgt. Ryan Matson 101st Combat Aviation Brigade

They say an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

In the case of Chief Warrant Officer Four Brian Stoner, a Kiowa pilot with 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, a weapons cache found can translate into countless lives of American Soldiers saved.

No one will ever know how many lives were saved as a result of a cache Stoner helped find on Dec. 15.

"Those things are hard to find for us, it's kind of like a needle in a haystack," Stoner said about the find. "When we're able to stop it, and the ground guys are able to act on it, it's just one less IED that can go off on our guys. That's a big bonus."

Stoner was flying lead (meaning he was flying first in a team of two Kiowa helicopters) with Maj. Thomas O'Connor, the squadron's executive officer, as part of a Scout Weapons Team on a night mission in the Hawijah area. The elections had just ended and Stoner decided to check out an area to the North where previous known enemy activity had occurred. That's when he spotted something suspicious through the aircraft's Thermal Imaging System, which is able to detect a person's body heat.

"As we came up on an open field, we identified six personnel in the field and as soon as we came upon them they dispersed," Stoner said. "Within the course of the next few hours, we came across where they had been digging."

The men in the field fled in separate ways, many hiding in irrigation ditches to avoid the helicopters. Stoner watched over the entire area and watched as two of the individuals fled to a small building, and in the meantime, contacted infantry forces on the ground and directed them to the area, where the two suspects were questioned and detained. Stoner also directed the ground troops to the area where he first spotted the six individuals, where they found what was at the time the largest cache of Improvised Explosive Device-making materials in that area of Iraq, consisting of more than 400 two-way radios, a significant amount of circuitry, detonating devices and other materials. Explosive Ordinance Detonation team members estimated the materials would have produced more than 80 IEDs. For these actions, Stoner was awarded the Air Medal.

"When you come up on something like that, you just look at it and there's a feeling that this just isn't right " whether it's a discoloration in the ground, turned up soil that's in the middle of an open field, a bag that's just laying in the wrong spot " you sort of start getting this apprehension like, well, what is it?" Stoner said. "You get the ground guys in there to look at it, and usually when that sixth sense is kicking in it's a pretty good chance you've found one. Then when the ground guys come up on it, they're very cautious and they'll confirm or deny it. When they confirm it and they tell us, "Yeah we got one!," it's a rush to find that stuff and shut it down."

Since 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, moved to Forward Operating Base Warrior in November, Stoner said the Kiowa pilots have found numerous caches.

"That was the first big one we had and we've had numerous ones since then," he said. "In fact in the last week we've had two really large finds and numerous other smaller ones."

The OH-58D is an armed helicopter specially designed for reconnaissance missions. Because it is small and maneuverable, it can fly low to the ground, enabling pilots to use their bare eyes to pick up suspicious activity, or the thermal imaging sensor and other reconnaissance devices at night. Because it is armed, it can also fly just overhead of ground infantry troops, providing them close security and additional firepower.

Stoner said he loves the aircraft and its maneuverability.

"I love this thing," Stoner said. "The mission's great, the aircraft is great. It's very nimble, especially in the altitudes and airspeeds we're operating in. We're down there with the infantry guys. It's a great relationship with the infantry guys. The aircraft itself is very reactive. When we're out their on a mission it can turn pretty quick. The Iraqis and the people we're dealing with on the ground realize that we're quick and that when we're there, we're pretty maneuverable and when the guys are trained like they are, it's pretty lethal. The guys can put enough rounds on target to do what they have to do."

The relationship with the infantry has become so strong that an infantry company from the 1st Brigade Combat Team has even been attached to the unit.

"They're part of the squadron, we're gonna do everything to support those guys when we're out there, they're one of our own," Stoner said. "The area that they're working is an important piece of ground, it's pretty laden with IEDs."

No matter how many caches Kiowas pilots spot, supporting infantry troops through providing aerial security to troops in convoys or other movements or responding to ground troops who have come into enemy contact will always be the prime mission, Stoner said.

"I love what we're doing here, the infantry guys are great - we really enjoy supporting those guys," he said.

When he's not saving lives by locating IEDs, Stoner works to keep pilots safe by serving as the squadron standardization pilot, meaning he ensures all pilots in the Cav are trained to task.

"I'm responsible for recording and setting up training plans to train all the aviators in the squadron to the standards that we have to train to," Stoner said.

"I make sure that everybody's on the same sheet of music as far as being able to execute the squadron's mission. I also do evaluations of the pilots as well as the training."

As a standardization pilot, Stoner, who went straight from high school to flight school 18 years ago, said he enjoys taking up some of the younger pilots. In a Kiowa, the pilot in the left seat runs the radio and other surveillance controls in the helicopter, while the pilot in the right seat flies the aircraft and shoots the weapons systems as necessary. The Kiowa can be armed with two rocket pods, or a rocket pod on one side of the aircraft and a .50 caliber machine gun on the other.

"Young guys like the right seat, we try to give them experience there," Stoner said.

Stoner, who hails from Norwalk, Ohio, had flown UH-1s for 10 years before he started flying Kiowas, and though he enjoys both helicopters, he said the Kiowa has become his favorite.

"I flew UH-1s up until 1997, and I've been flying Kiowas at Campbell since then," he said. "I like them both, but this one's a lot more fun - you get to shoot back."

• Date Taken: 03.14.2006
• Date Posted: 03.14.2006 13:43
• Story ID: 5717