CAMP ROBERTS, Calif. - Weapon range control workers at Camp Roberts, Calif., make their way to two trucks in a parking lot, probably heading out for maintenance or to check out how marksmanship qualifications are going. They talk while loading equipment into the back of a pickup truck. No one else is around but little do they know that, 3000 feet above, they’re being watched very carefully.
There’s a buzzing in the air that sounds like a loud leaf blower engine. If the range workers were to look up, chances are they wouldn’t be able to see what is making the noise.
A few miles away, two soldiers sit in the back of a modified M1157 Humvee attached to a tent; monitoring multiple readouts and watching the activity at the range unfold on a small computer screen. Using small joysticks, they pilot a 368-pound Shadow 200 Unmanned Aerial Vehicle over the camps barren backcountry, taking a peek at the action on the ground.
If you happened to be at Camp Roberts during the first two weeks of September, chances are that at some point you may have wound up in the eye of a UAV. “Silent Guardians” from the California Army National Guard’s Bravo Company, 79th Brigade Special Troops Battalion spent their annual training launching, flying and recovering the Shadow on the outskirts of the training facility near McMillan airfield.
“This is new technology, the thing of the future,” said UAV operator, Spc. Rudy Rangel, while prepping the Shadow 200 for an afternoon launch.
The Shadow is mainly used for surveillance, reconnaissance and the general monitoring of battlefield activities. It can be equipped with weapon systems, but those kinds of missions are usually handled by larger UAVs. This UAV is a go-cart sized airplane with a 14-foot wingspan that can be pushed around like a shopping cart. Soldiers can man-handle the craft out onto a runway or into a maintenance tent.
As for the launch process, it gets strapped to a hydraulic catapult and slung into the air the same fashion as jet from an aircraft carrier.
“About 90 seconds after liftoff, nobody knows we’re here,” said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Daniel Shemenski, platoon officer in charge, about both the diminishing noise of the aircraft after takeoff and mobility of the Tactical Unmanned Aerial Vehicle System team.
The Shadow has a range of 125 km, or roughly 77 miles. It has a cruising speed of 60 knots and 105 knots dashing (hitting the afterburner in UAV terms). It can fly as high as 14,000 feet and fly for nearly 6 hours.
When it’s time to land, the UAV gently sets down on the runway. Once the craft touches the pavement, the engine automatically shuts off and a hook attached to the bottom of the craft t gets snagged by arrester cables, bringing it to a complete stop.
Unlike an aircraft carrier, the catapult of the Shadow can be dismantled and towed behind a truck in a matter of minutes.
Technical specifications aside, soldiers enjoy the job.
Rangel, a UAV repairer and originally a UH-60 Black Hawk mechanic, didn’t even know the specifications of the ground support system mechanic job he applied for three years ago. He got a phone call from an Army major one day and accepted the position. “Yeah, I’d like to do this,” he said after realizing what it was he’d be doing.
When Spc. Derec Zifko joined the Army, his entry scores were high enough that he had the pick of the litter when it came down to military occupational specialties.
“My recruiter threw the book at me and said ‘pick one’,” Zifko said.
He picked UAV operator and has been doing it nearly five and a half years with the California National Guard. Of all the tasks he performs on the job, he likes teaching other soldiers the most.
“One of the perks is when you get the ‘ah-ha’ moment,” Zifko said.
Staff Sgt. Daniel Ibarra, a 19-year California National Guard soldier and former combat engineer, has been a UAV operator for almost seven years. Always having had an interest in aviation, he enjoys the job, but hints at how the anticipation of a launch has mellowed out over the years.
“This is normal to me,” he said. “But the young guys get stoked.”
For the most part, this is a non-commissioned officer run organization. A warrant officer leads the platoon as well as conducting flight operations alongside sergeants and specialists. The platoon is small enough that each operator gets appropriate flight time and each mechanic can perform hands-on maintenance.
As the Shadow buzzes above the McMillan airstrip and eventually unseen into the afternoon horizon, the “Silent Guardians” go to work flying one aircraft, preparing another one for launch (that can replace the craft in the air during a concurrent operation), logging information from the flying Shadow, and wait for upcoming landing operations.
UAV’s have become somewhat of a controversial player in conflicts overseas. It’s unknown how many service members’ lives have been saved by not having to send troops into a dangerous area. Pictures of the twisted fragments of a remote controlled airplane may be easier for the public to handle as opposed to flag-draped coffins being carried off a cargo plane. It’s also considerably cheaper to field, operate and repair a UAV compared to larger, more complex manned aircraft.
During the few hours the Shadow is in the air, soldiers perform flight checks on another craft, monitor the weather and wait to land the craft currently in the air. When the time comes for another launch and the propeller gets going, the anticipation grows. A countdown goes out over hand-held radios. The noise of the propeller gets significantly louder. A few seconds later the Shadow gets flung off the launcher at a speed of 60 mph. All the preparation is worth it.
“It’s cool,” Rangel said. “Once you get the bird in the air.”
Date Taken: | 09.15.2011 |
Date Posted: | 11.15.2011 18:04 |
Story ID: | 80085 |
Location: | CAMP ROBERTS, CALIFORNIA, US |
Web Views: | 208 |
Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Golden State warriors put an eye in the sky, by SGT Aaron Ricca, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.