COMMAND SGT MAJ. MARC STEELE
59th Aviation Troop Command
South Carolina Army National Guard
McEntire Joint National Guard Base, South Carolina

One hot and dusty desert morning, our task force launched every flyable Black Hawk and Apache we could muster for a large show-of-force flight around the area at the request of our host nation. With just a few hours before their return, we took a short break to refill our canteens and CamelBaks and then got back to work. A small crew of us had installed the captive boresight harmonization kit on one of the partially mission capable Apaches out on the flight line and were deep into the alignment procedures when I suddenly heard — and felt — a massive thud from behind the aircraft.

I leaned out of the co-pilot/gunner (CPG) station to investigate and my stomach dropped. One of our Apaches had returned early, forced to make an emergency landing directly behind us with thick, white smoke billowing from the transmission bay. I quickly scrambled out of the cockpit, grabbed the nearest 150-pound Halon fire extinguisher and started hauling it toward the stricken aircraft. My platoon sergeant met me there, already unreeling the hose as he advanced on the smoking bird.

I yanked at the safety pin to unlock the activation lever and release the fire retardant, but it would not move. I pulled, tugged and wiggled it every which way. Nothing worked. In my frantic desperation, I glanced up at my platoon sergeant. Over the noise and chaos, he fixed me with a look and barked, "What. Are. You. Doing?" That snapped me back into focus. I whipped out my Gerber multitool, clamped the ring in the pliers' jaws, planted my feet on either side of the extinguisher's frame and pulled with everything I had. With a sharp ping, the pin gave way and sent me tumbling backward.

By now, several minutes had passed and Soldiers from across the flight line had converged on the scene, helping to suppress the smoke and extract the crew. I recovered quickly, grabbed the activation handle and threw it open. To my horror and everyone else's great amusement, a towering plume of retardant shot 30 feet straight into the air with a thunderous whoosh. It rained back down on everything and everyone at the scene, adding just the right amount of comedy to an otherwise potential tragedy.

Ultimately, both pilots were OK and the smoke turned out to just be some faulty wiring. Despite being first on the scene with a fire extinguisher, I had made absolutely no difference in the outcome. The lesson was hard but clear: the Soldier assigned to perform the monthly inspections of the flight line extinguishers had checked all the boxes, but that wasn't enough. A proper inspection meant taking additional steps, such as verifying that hoses weren’t dry-rotted and safety pins weren’t seized, as they were in this case. Equipment that looks ready and equipment that is ready are not the same thing, and in an emergency, that difference is everything.