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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.

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
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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: 242
  • Comments: 0
Out of Harm's Way

It was just another routine training flight in the local Fort Liberty flying area. We were conducting a night team flight supporting the local Air Force combat controllers in what is known as the Northern Training Area (NTA). All was well and, upon the conclusion of our mission, we landed to kick out the left-seaters to give the guys a face-to-face debrief on how it went for both sides.

  • 19 May 2024
  • Author: USACRC Editor
  • Number of views: 357
  • Comments: 0
Saved by the Safety

In 2023, I served as a member of a unit that was engaged in a significant multi-day cross-country movement for an upcoming rotation at the National Training Center (NTC) in Fort Irwin, California. Specifically, I was part of the UH-60M assault company assigned to this training. During our cross-country journey from Fort Cavazos, Texas, to NTC, I owe a debt of gratitude to our company safety officer, who prevented me from making a potentially disastrous mistake.

  • 12 May 2024
  • Author: USACRC Editor
  • Number of views: 291
  • Comments: 0
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