These wrenches don't stop turning

Photo By Spc. Richard Vogt | Sgt. Ray Parker, crewchief with 1/207th Aviation, Alaska Army National Guard, is serving in northern Iraq. Parker is half-eskimo and has never been to a place as hot as Iraq.  

TAL AFAR, IRAQ

05.10.2006

Courtesy Story

345th Public Affairs Detachment

TALL AFAR, Iraq - Operations never cease in Iraq. Day and night, things are happening and people are moving. These operations are successful only because of the maintenance people who keep the machinery operational in this dusty environment.

At Forward Operating Base Sykes, members of Company G, 1st Ballalion., 26th Aviation Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard keep aircrafts airborne. They do not do it alone. The unit is augmented with National Guard Soldiers from Puerto Rico, Alaska, and Maine in addition to active-duty Soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division.

"Our motto is every aircraft, every mission, every day," said Chief Warrant Officer Benjamin Herning, platoon leader, Co. B, 1st Bn., 207th Aviation. Herning is a native of Chugiak, Alaska.

According to Herning, the unit did not have the manpower necessary to complete the mission when they arrived in Iraq. What they needed was a group of mechanics to perform unit-level maintenance on the helicopters the Army uses. Their only option was to build a crew from the ground up. Immediately.

"I've got some really good platoon sergeants and squad leaders that [perform] a major miracle every day keeping everything going," Herning said. "We've flown as much as any other UH-60 company in theater per month."

They have logged 700 flight hours each month in the first four months of their deployment, and are on-track to break records for total flight time in theater.

"That's one of the highest utilization rates of Blackhawks since we've been here," he said. The unit flies dignitaries, assault missions, and logistics flights, carrying passengers and cargo.

"You have to stay ahead of everything, regardless of what the pace is," Herning said. "You have to pick up your pace to stay ahead. There's no other way around it."

According to Herning the team works 12-hour shifts around the clock to keep up with demand. Luckily, the unit seems undaunted by the task.

"I just love the aviation world, everything about it," said Spc. Nelson Roldan, aircraft mechanic. Roldan is from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. He said that the difficult part of the job is that he has to be away from his family.

"Separation issues are the toughest part," he said. "You can deal with it because you have a pretty good group of people here that help you out and give you support. It's been a tough eight months but we're doing pretty good." Roldan is a civilian mechanic in Puerto Rico.

"I work on Black Hawks, doing basic inspections, maintenance," said Spc. Alex Barnes, aircraft mechanic. Barnes is from Eagle River, Alaska. "It's not really that hard. Every once in a while you'll get one or two things that are kind of odd, like a generator that took all day to get off. It's under a bunch of stuff that we normally don't have to take off. But mostly it's the same old stuff we do everyday."

Everyday chores include checking fluids, washing the helicopters, and performing diagnostic checks. A problem can crop up at any time. One day, a helicopter suddenly got a bullet hole in its side.

"I like the night shift," said Spc. Miguel Rosario a mechanic from Levittown, Puerto Rico. "It's cooler." He stressed the importance of the job, saying that a mechanic always had to do a perfect job.

"It's a 20 million dollar aircraft, plus the people inside," Rosario said. "It's a lot of responsibility." Still, he has fun with it.

"I enjoy flying a lot," he said.

Spc. Brané Blackstock, Co. G, 1st Bn. 26th Avn, an aircraft electrician from Middletown, Conn., is known to others as a 'spark tracer" because he has to trace problems along miles of wiring in order to troubleshoot a problem.

"Most problems are solved in under 24 hours but it can take two or three days to fix a problem," Blackstock said.

According to Blackstock dust was a big problem for the helicopters. He also hinted that dust was not the only thing that piled up around the maintenance area. Paperwork is also a part of the job.

"It may take an hour to fix a problem but the paperwork may take two hours," he said. Blackstock repairs everything up to and including the sensitive navigation systems in Apache helicopters.

"It's my baby," said Sgt. Ray Parker, crew chief, Co. B, 1st 207th Avn., standing next to a Black Hawk helicopter. "I love aviation, I love flying." As crew chief, Parker serves as "a third set of eyes" for the pilots. He also serves as door gunner while the aircraft is in flight.

Parker's idea of camaraderie involved talking Blackstock into eating some whale blubber. Parker is half Eskimo, and he imported a slice of Alaska to Iraq. Parker was raised in rural Alaska and grew up hunting and fishing.

• Date Taken: 05.10.2006
• Date Posted: 05.10.2006 08:52
• Story ID: 6329
• Location: TAL AFAR, IQ