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A Big No-No

It was another hot afternoon in the eastern part of Afghanistan known to many as RC-East, where the temperature can exceed 120 F in the summer. My unit was tasked with providing two CH-47D Chinook helicopters to transport 40 personnel from Kabul to Bagram Airfield. This was supposed to be a simple mission, but as everyone knows, there is no such thing.

The Turning Point

When I went to work that morning, I never thought I would later be sitting in the emergency room with one broken hand and a piece of metal in the palm of the other. Complacency and overconfidence had won the day.

  • 16 June 2024
  • Comments: 0
Following Protocol

Day-to-day operational activities seem to always provide opportunities for flight crews to grow complacent. Although there is no intent to arbitrarily shortcut proper maintenance procedures, isolated incidents or aircraft discrepancies that are relatively simple to rectify often get corrected using improper tooling, maintenance practices, personnel and documentation.

  • 16 June 2024
  • Comments: 0
A Shocking Surprise

The weather forecast was typical of a warm, North Carolina spring afternoon — visibility was great with 10 miles and a 30 percent chance of isolated thunderstorms. We had based our mission operations out of a local airport. As lead aircraft in a flight of three Black Hawks, we were completing our last leg of what was considered a routine infiltration/exfiltration mission.

  • 9 June 2024
  • Author: USACRC Editor
  • Number of views: 336
  • Comments: 0
Stick with the Standards

While the drivers returned to the motor pool to secure the fire extinguishers, the remaining Soldiers began to load up in the trucks. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed too many Soldiers heading to the rear of one of the trucks. I made my way over there to see what was happening.

  • 9 June 2024
  • Author: USACRC Editor
  • Number of views: 167
  • Comments: 0
What Could Go Wrong?

Before becoming an aviator, I served as a flight engineer on a CH-47D Chinook. Our mission that summer day was a simple, routine night vision goggle flight with a couple of very experienced pilots on the controls.

  • 2 June 2024
  • Author: USACRC Editor
  • Number of views: 156
  • Comments: 0
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