Courtesy Photo | U.S. Army 1st Lt. Marshall Titch of Maxton, N.C., downed aircraft recovery team...... read more read more
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By U.S. Army Maj. Kenric Smith
RC-East PAO
BAGRAM AIR FIELD, Afghanistan – The 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade’s Task Force Atlas is known for the numerous aircraft phase inspections that they perform- nearly 15 helicopters disassembled, inspected, and sent back out to the battlefield each month.
Not only do aircraft have to be repaired at the forward operating base, they must also be repaired or recovered should they have maintenance problems, or worse, crash outside of the wire. Recovery of downed aircraft is also the responsibility of TF Atlas.
To accomplish this critical mission, TF Atlas relies on the skill and dedication of its downed aircraft recovery teams. The DARTs are comprised of aviation mechanics and maintenance test pilots trained to repair and recover all airframes flown by the 82nd CAB. The DART mission is very challenging and often dangerous due to the terrain and hostile environments these aircraft operate in.
“When any of the brigade’s aircraft go down, or there is any type of [aircraft] incident, our job is to respond to the call with the necessary assets in order to recover the aircraft,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Randall Broyles of Tampa, Fla., DART team NCO in charge with Task Force Atlas. “No matter what team is selected, they are ready to go at any moment.”
The terrain in Regional Command-East is some of the most rugged and unforgiving in the world, covering the base of the Hindu Kush mountain range; a sub-range of the Himalayas. The highest peaks reach higher than 7,000 meters above sea level. In comparison, Mount Everest, the highest point in the world, stands 8,853 meters above sea level. That means DART teams face freezing temperatures, extreme altitudes and challenges that can cripple both humans and aircraft.
To help even the odds, the team comes equipped with some of the most state-of-the-art recovery equipment available.
The team uses a variety of equipment such as specialized sling sets, air bag systems capable of lifting all Army aircraft, a mobile crane that is capable of lifting over 6,000 pounds, and various cutting tools including the “jaws of life.” This equipment enables the team to recover aircraft in less than desirable terrain and is specially selected for every mission. It’s all necessary to get in and get out fast.
“There are nearly a hundred ways to recover an aircraft,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Travis Stills of Pendleton, Ore., and one of the DART teams leading and knowledgeable NCOs. “No matter how many pictures you see or how many preliminary reports you may receive, you can only make that decision when you and your team make it to the site.”
Trying to use all that equipment on a dusty, rocky mountainside to move mangled wreckage is a challenge hard to replicate in training. The equipment doesn’t want to work right, twisted wreckage becomes difficult to free, and tension runs high. Creativity is key to using the equipment effectively and evacuating the wreckage safely.
“You never know what you’re going to be faced with,” said 1st Lt. Marshall Titch, the DART team officer in-charge. “You’ve gotta get out there, look at what you’re facing, look at the tools and people you have available, and find a way to make it all work. It’s not easy, and it takes some ‘out of the box’ thinking.”
Titch found out he was going to be the DART OIC prior to deployment and immersed himself in aircraft manuals, studying for all types of situations he and his team could face.
“It’s my job to develop the situation and maintain a thorough knowledge of my team’s capabilities, said Titch, of Maxton, N.C. “In doing so, when the time comes to embark on a mission, I can confidently say I’ve assembled the right team of the exact number, of the most-qualified experts who possess the most applicable knowledge and experience for that particular scenario.”
The DART team has been called upon to recover aircraft on the battlefield twice since 82nd CAB has been deployed, and twice in the states prior to deployment.
The first mission in Afghanistan proved to be fairly straightforward for the team. They were able to make quick repairs, enabling crew to fly the aircraft back to base, setting a record recovery time of nine hours.
The second time the team was called out however, the situation wasn’t as simple. An aircraft had crashed in Paktika province at an elevation of 9,000 feet. Extremely cold temperatures, rough terrain, deep snow, and incredibly high elevation all became major planning considerations. They quickly began to formulate a plan based on worst-case scenarios.
“Planning for this mission was difficult because the initial reports were vague,” said Titch. “In addition, normally, recovery of a downed aircraft will fit into some category, such as damaged rotor head, no tail boom, or rolled over on the side but still intact, but this situation did not fall into any of those categories and was unlike anything we’ve ever recovered before.”
The next morning TF Atlas launched their DART team and began a two-day recovery mission.
“It was a mess,” Las Vegas, Nev., native, Spc. Ivan Martinez recalls. “The snow and altitude made our two extracting methods a little more difficult to accomplish. You don’t realize how difficult it can be to maneuver a diamond plated chop saw, when you’re fighting the clock and the weather.”
In knee-deep snow and temperatures barely above zero, the team performed their assessments and disassembled the aircraft until it could be slung beneath a CH-47 Chinook.
“It is impossible to train and prepare soldiers to deploy to an oxygen-limited altitude of 9,000 feet in below-freezing temperatures and waist-deep snow with the expectation that he or she will perform at their best,” said Titch. “Despite the conditions, the efforts every single soldier put forth far exceeded all expectations; resulting in a flawless recovery. Not one Soldier complained, moaned, or groaned while they were dragging the tail boom and aft pylon uphill or rolling fast packs full of aircraft parts onto Chinook after Chinook. Their mental and physical strength, endurance, and dedication to the mission led the way; all the way!”
“It was more than exciting getting away from aircraft maintenance and being able to be a part of what I knew would be a great team” says Martinez. “We all worked together really well and made sure we monitored each other for weather injuries, which were probably the most dangerous part.”
Once the mission was over and the equipment was put away, the team went into work mode again to prepare for the next mission using the lessons they learned.
“The most crucial lesson we learned on this DART was the importance of bridging the gap between ground and air assets by handing over control to a single representative,” said Titch.
The current TF Atlas DART, to date, has completed four DART missions since it was formed and is scheduled to redeploy to Fort Bragg in the fall.
| Date Taken: | 03.23.2012 |
| Date Posted: | 03.24.2012 06:08 |
| Story ID: | 85742 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Web Views: | 1,349 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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