Photo By Sgt. Cody Barber | After a mission the CH-47F Chinooks stop for refueling at Forward Operating Base Fenty...... read more read more
NANGARHAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – When the soldiers in the most remote places of Afghanistan start to run out of water, food or ammunition, they can expect the sound of blades cutting through air to be their savior.
CH-47F Chinook pilots and crew members with 2nd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade, Task Force Poseidon, run various operations in support of the mission and coalition forces in Afghanistan such as combat resupply, passenger transportation and air assaults.
U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 William Haynes, native of Elizabethtown, Ky., and a Chinook pilot, said that one of the most preformed and important missions they do is resupply.
“We spend most of our time doing resupply missions supporting all of RC-East,” said Haynes. “We do a lot of resupply of food and ammunition; those are the two big things we move around the battlefield right now.”
In total the Chinook pilots at Forward Operating Base Poseidon have flown more than 980 tons of cargo, moved 8,000 personnel and have flown more than 1,200 hours since last fall.
The importance of resupplying troops can’t be stressed enough, Haynes added. Sometimes ground forces are unable to reach the soldiers in the field and that’s where they come in.
“A lot of [observation posts] or [forward operating bases] have no other way to receive supplies,” said Haynes. “We are able to get into the mountains and support the troops in the isolated places.”
Being able to fly also takes away the risk for ground troops because they don’t have to risk the threat of improvised explosive devices and it also requires fewer assets to support the mission, said Haynes.
“For us, it’s a lot safer to go wherever support is needed then it is for trucks and ground convoys.” said Haynes. “We can get to places a lot faster and more efficiently and we can take a more direct route and get it done quicker.”
The Chinooks can hold more than 30 passengers on average, making it ideal for transporting troops around Afghanistan and also helping out with missions that require large drop offs.
“We are a big strength to the fight,” said U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Marlon Stewarg, a Chinook pilot with 2nd Battalion, 82nd CAB, Task Force Poseidon. “A lot of these air assaults missions go into places that are high in elevation and between valleys. We can put combat ready troops on the back of each Chinook and drop them off in any location quickly.”
“We like to think we are a big part of the mission,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Steffen Wittbrodt, native of Marlette, Mich., a crew chief with 2nd Battalion, 82nd CAB, Task Force Poseidon. “We want to continue pushing forward and supporting the soldiers that go out to get the bad guys.”
When soldiers need to be moved for reasons such as redeploying, rest and relaxation or moving from one forward operating base to another we can also do that, the Saint Catherine, Jamaica, native added.
The aircraft they fly is about 100 feet from rotor tip to rotor tip, making it difficult for the pilots to judge a landing or see if the surrounding area they are going to land on has any obstacles or obstructions.
“For the pilots up front, we can only see a very small portion of [the area] and the 85 to 90 feet behind us we can’t really see,” said Haynes. “So that’s where our crew chiefs come in.”
Wittbrodt works with crew of three making sure they communicate with the pilots constantly during a mission.
“With such a big aircraft it’s very important to communicate, especially when we go into tight landing zones,” said Wittbrodt. “Sometimes we get within 10 feet of objects and its takes very many adjustments to get us where we need to land.”
Wittbordt also added that the crew’s safety and the safety of the passengers rely on them to communicate.
“If we didn’t work together something could easily go wrong,” said Wittbrodt. “We are the eyes and ears for the backside of the aircraft.”
| Date Taken: | 03.09.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.14.2012 05:26 |
| Story ID: | 85210 |
| Location: | NANGARHAR PROVINCE, AF |
| Hometown: | ELIZABETHTOWN, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | MARLETTE, MICHIGAN, US |
| Web Views: | 43 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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