The Cool Blue Blog

Medics under fire

Crews Brave Enemy Fire to Save Soldiers

By Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Mills, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

CAMP STRIKER, Iraq, Jan. 22, 2008 – Medical evacuation crews from Task Force Marne faced down enemy gunfire to deliver five injured soldiers in Iraq to safety Jan. 18.

The crews from the 3rd Infantry Division’s Company C, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Aviation Regiment, Combat Aviation Brigade, were called in when a patrol of Stryker vehicles from the 25th Infantry Division’s 2nd Brigade Combat Team was attacked.

The Black Hawk helicopters flew to the site, only to find that the easiest place to land -- the road the Stryker vehicles were on -- had not been cleared of possible improvised explosive devices. The medevac crews were unable to contact the ground forces or an Apache team from 12th Combat Aviation Brigade in the area.

After circling the area scouting for a place to land, the crews landed in a field adjacent to the road, Army Capt. Samuel Fricks, operations officer for Company C, said. Fricks, from Morrow, Ga., was a pilot in the second of the two medevac aircraft.

“After landing, my medic, Staff Sgt. (Robert) Congdon, departed the aircraft and linked up with … Staff Sgt. (Aughe) McQuown,” Fricks said.

The two Army medics went to the site of the attack and soon returned to the helicopters with three injured soldiers.

As they returned to the Stryker for the remaining two injured soldiers, Congdon said, they began taking fire.

“I just grabbed the patient and grabbed McQuown and we went into the Stryker,” said Congdon, a native of Las Vegas.

Bullets struck the Stryker and around them as they went for the cover of the armored vehicle. Congdon reset the Stryker’s radio to the medevac frequency, then took off his flight helmet and put on a Stryker crewmember’s helmet so he could talk to the aircrew.

When the call came over the radio that his medics were taking fire, Fricks said, he was not sure what to think. He did not know where the fire was coming from, but he figured that since the helicopters were down below the level of the road in the field, he was not in too much danger.

“The only thing we knew was that Staff Sergeant Congdon was taking fire,” Fricks said.

As they waited for the two medics to come back with the remaining patients, a third medic, Sgt. Donald Dedmon, from Foreman, Ark., in training as a flight medic, ran back and forth between the two aircraft to treat the injured soldiers already on board.

Dedmon was midway through his training to be certified to operate as a lone medic on a medevac mission when he found himself suddenly responsible for patients on two different aircraft.

“I was keying on the patients,” Dedmon said. “Afterward, it kind of came into perspective.”

Fricks had been linked up via radio to the circling Apaches, and he relayed Congdon’s directions to bring in 30 mm machine cannon fire to suppress the enemy shooter.

Back at the Stryker, Congdon and McQuown were attempting to get back to the aircraft with their patients.

“We lowered the ramp (of the Stryker) to get out and be able to get to the aircraft, and (the sniper) started shooting,” Congdon said.

McQuown, a native of Florida, picked up one patient while Congdon and an infantry soldier helped the other patient, and they broke for it.

“They ran out of litters, and the guy was shooting at us,” Congdon said. “The longer we wait on the ground, the worse it is on the patient, so at some point we had to just leave and get the patients to the hospital.”

The medics loaded the remaining two patients on the medvac birds. After a quick count of heads to make sure no one was left behind, they departed while the Apaches continued to lay down suppressing fire.

“The five patients we hauled all survived,” Fricks said.

He said watching the two medics struggling to bring their patients to safety was almost like something you’d see in a Hollywood production. “I just thought it was awesome,” he said.

Company C is part of Multinational Division Center and is based out of Baghdad International Airport, with aircraft at several locations in and around the Iraqi capital.

(Army Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Mills serves in public affairs with the 3rd Infantry Division’s 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade.)

Shot down and surrounded

Downed pilots endure 30 minutes of intensity
By Sgt. 1st Class Thomas Mills, 3CAB PAO
Jul 5, 2007 - 2:15:31 PM

Blackanthem Military News, BAGHDAD, Iraq – What started as a routine reconnaissance mission for two Troop C, 3rd Squadron, 17th Cavalry, pilots suddenly became 30 minutes of intense action as the pilots found themselves shot down, surrounded by enemy fighters, then finally rescued.

Chief Warrant Officers Mark Burrows and Steven Cianfrini had just finished spotting a suspected roadside improvised explosive device for an infantry unit south of Baghdad and had begun to recon other routes for the troops on the ground.

“We were out doing a standard recon,” said Cianfrini.  “The situation was normal.”

Cianfrini was running mission systems for the scout helicopter while Burrows was on the flight controls.

When Cianfrini saw tracer rounds arching up toward them he shouted to Burrows to turn away.

“We started taking fire from behind the aircraft,” said Cianfrini.  “I saw the tracer rounds come up through the rotors and at that point we tried to get out of range, check our instruments, make sure our systems were good and that nobody was hit.”

The firing stopped and the two decided to return to base, even though everything checked out okay.

“It was silent for about 30 seconds and I looked out the left door and saw and heard a heavy machine gun open up on us,” said Cianfrini.  “The aircraft took substantial hits along my side of the aircraft.”

That second volley was more intense, said Burrows, and came from multiple positions.

“I believe we were being shot at from all sides,” said Cianfrini.

There was no time to use the helicopter’s weapons systems to fire back, said Burrows.  They could only dodge and weave and try to get away from the enemy.

“The large caliber munitions started hitting the aircraft, feeling like sledgehammers hitting it,” said Burrows.  “The aircraft took quite a bit of damage and I was very surprised that it kept flying for as long as it did.”

The instrument panel was lit up with warning lights, emergency alarms were sounding in their ears, said Burrows.  Then the instrument panel exploded, said Cianfrini.

“One second it was there and then the next it was a mess of wires,” he said.

Being hit by a combination of large and small caliber weapons for an extended period of time had proved too much for the Kiowa. 

“From the time the second engagement started to when we hit the ground we were taking fire the whole time,” said Burrows.

Burrows made the decision to try a controlled landing in a field as he weaved back and forth in the shaking aircraft, trying to avoid the intense fire.  The main rotor had been hit, he figured, and the helicopter was trying to shake itself to death.  As he slowed, though, the aircraft began to try to spin on its axis, a sign that the tail rotor had been rendered useless.

Burrows brought the aircraft down hard and it bounced over a canal, landing on its left side near a road.

With only bruises and scratches, the two pilots scrambled out of the aircraft and met at the nose.  After assessing the situation, they discovered that Cianfrini’s M4 rifle had been ejected from the aircraft during the crash.  At the same time they started to receive fire from the other side of the aircraft.

Burrows and Cianfrini decided then to escape across the canal, away from the enemy fighters.  The canal’s thick growth of reeds afforded camouflage for the pilots and seemed like the best route to get away from the insurgents firing on them.

“When we got into it we realized the water was up to our necks and we were in knee deep mud,” said Burrows.  “We physically couldn’t move from the center of the canal.”

As luck would have it being stuck in the canal was a good thing.  A group of insurgents was approaching the other side of the canal and the two pilots would have run right into their arms, Burrows said.

Soon insurgents were gathered on both banks of the canal and they began shooting blindly into the reeds with their assault rifles, trying to hit the pilots they couldn’t see.

“They were within 15 to 20 feet of us on either side of the canal,” said Cianfrini.

All the two pilots could do, said Burrows, was wait for what seemed to be the inevitable.  Bullets clipped the reeds around them, hitting the water they were standing in, but not them.

“They just didn’t see us,” said Burrows.  “I had one of the attackers in my sights but I knew if I’d shot him they would have known where we were.”

A truck pulled up with a heavy machine gun and it began to fire into the reeds.  Again, though the rounds came close none hit the pilots as they hunkered down in the water.

Burrows said the insurgents began moving down the canal, firing into the water, but soon they loaded up into vehicles and left.

“When they started leaving, walking away, I felt amazement that we were still there,” said Burrows.

Burrows used his radio to send out a distress signal and Army helicopters and Air Force jets began to arrive on scene.  The Kiowa Warrior that had been flying with them had been hit as well and had retreated to a safe distance at the start of the shooting where it had called in reinforcements over the radio.

“Aircraft started arriving on scene and they were circling over head so we assumed it must be safe,” Burrows said.  The two decided not to fire a flare, though Burrows had one ready, just in case the enemy fighters were nearby.  He climbed out of the canal, leaving Cianfrini in hiding with the radios, and waved down a Kiowa helicopter.

A pair of Apaches from the 1st Cavalry Division from Fort Hood, Texas, had responded to the “Fallen Angel” call and was circling nearby.  One of the Apaches, piloted by Chief Warrant Officers Allan Davison and Micah Johnson, landed nearby.  Johnson, the front seat pilot, jumped out to check Burrows and Cianfrini for injuries.

Because of the possible danger of enemy fighters returning the pilots decided to extract Burrows and Cianfrini immediately instead of waiting for further assistance so they performed what is commonly called a “spur ride.”  The spur ride is an unconventional means of extraction in which the pilots clip themselves onto the outside of the aircraft using their built in safety harness and d-rings, said Burrows.

Cianfrini was placed in the front seat of the Apache, and then Johnson strapped himself onto the outside of the Apache on the right, while Burrows strapped himself onto the outside of the Apache on the left.

Once they gave the thumbs up to Davison who was at the controls of the Apache, said Burrows, they took off and flew the ten minutes back to Baghdad International Airport where 3/17 Cav. is based.

“It wasn’t the most comfortable flight but I was elated to be out of there,” said Burrows.  “(The Apache) was going 120 mph so you can imagine the wind was pretty strong.  I had no hearing protection and I couldn’t open my eyes so I just held on and rode it out and was just glad to be out of there.”

An Air Force Thunderbolt II destroyed the downed helicopter with two 500-pound laser-guided bombs some time after the extraction.

Both pilots say they can’t believe they went through what they did with nothing more than scratches and bruises.  From the moment their aircraft hit the ground to when they started the flight back to base was a span of nearly 30 minutes, said Burrows.  At the time, he said, they didn’t really think too much about how lucky, or unlucky, they were to survive that half hour.

“It happened so fast I don’t think we really thought about much except just trying to stay alive,” said Cianfrini.

The whole time all they could do was hope that they made it out alive, Burrows said.

“I knew we would be rescued but I can’t believe that through all this series of events we made it through (without serious injury),” said Burrows.  “That’s the kind of unbelievable part.”

The 3-17th Cav., part of the 10th Mountain Division from Fort Drum, N.Y., is attached to 3rd Combat Aviation Brigade from Fort Stewart, Ga.

Return to ad Dawr

Ad Dawr is the town, close to Tikrit, where Saddam Hussein was ultimately captured on December 13th, 2003. Beginning two weeks ago, a joint Task Force revisited the town to root out insugent activity there. What follows is a recent experience of 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division as they participated in the security operation.

Soldiers rid Ad Dawr of insurgents
Monday, 16 April 2007

AD DAWR — “Wake up!” yelled the cannon crew chief. “We have got to get on the road in 15 mikes,” he said, while paratroopers squirmed out of their sleeping bags and began to prepare for the upcoming mission.

It was an hour-long trip from Forward Operating Base Sad to Ad Dawr. But with all the moving elements the trip would turn into a more than three-hour journey.

Dozens of vehicles, making up the better part of a battalion, lined up at the base’s front gate, ready to take the fight to the enemy.

Anxious to get rolling, paratroopers in one vehicle started to exchange stories about different missions they had been on or the roadside bombs that had hit their convoy.

They were preparing for another rush of adrenaline. A rush Sgt. Jeffery Hevener, squad leader, Battery A, 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, said happens every time he stacks on a wall preparing to kick open a door and clear a room.

After traveling for nearly three hours the city was in view. The night was black with nothing in sight in all directions except for the city’s lights, which were directly in front of them.

Two mosque’s towers stood tall, one glowing neon green and the other a dark red.

As the artillerymen got closer to the city, they conducted one last check of their equipment. They gathered as many blind folds and zip-ties as they could, knowing that they would have to detain multiple enemy insurgents.

They had patrolled here before, and almost every time something had happened, whether it was taking small-arms fire from a roof top or a terrorist tossing a grenade at a convoy. The town had a violent history.

Ever since we got (to Ad Dawr) there have been numerous incidents, said Capt. Wade A. Germann, commander, Battery B, 1st Battalion, 319th Airborne Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division.

On Aug. 31, 2006, 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st (Air Assault) Division, lost Staff Sgt. Michael L. Deason days before he was supposed to go home, when a terrorist lobbed a grenade at his truck.

On Dec. 14, 2006, the Iraqi police station in Ad Dawr was demolished when a car bomb smashed into the front of the station, killing nine Iraqi police and wounding at least six others.

On March 11, Sgt. Daniel E. Woodcock was killed when he went to kick open a door and set off an explosive that was set to go off as soon as the door was opened.

The paratroopers knew the city was used as a safe haven by insurgency, and they were determined to stop it.

The convoy broke up going to their specified targets once they entered the city. Battery A rushed straight up the middle of the city kicking up clouds of dust behind them.

“That’s the house,” the platoon leader said over the radio. “Dismount, dismount, dismount,” another paratrooper yelled over the radio.

The artillerymen exited their vehicles and ran to their first objective, taking cover behind the wall surrounding the small home. “Ready,” one paratrooper said to the other. “Go,” the artilleryman yelled. Next a loud smashing noise was heard after one paratrooper kicked the metal gate open.

Paratroopers, along with Iraqi army soldiers, flooded into the courtyard, then into the house where they found their first objective.

He was a terrorist and insurgent financier; the predecessor of someone Battery A had detained two months earlier.

“Alright, throw him in the back of the detainee vehicle and let’s hit up the next house,” said the platoon leader.

The paratroopers from Battery A continued the searches in the city and saw the sun come up that morning.

Sweat dripped from the paratroopers’ exhausted faces that afternoon. They would get time to recuperate but that time would be short. More terrorists dwelled in Ad Dawr, and their mission was to find and detain or kill them.

To isolate the insurgents in Ad Dawr, Battery B, set up a cordon outside of the city, not letting anyone in or out, while Battery A and Company B, 2nd Battalion, 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, conducted searches inside the city.

The operation went on for more than a week and resulted in numerous detainees, all of whom were known to have links to terrorist organizations.

“I believe that this operation will lead to more successful operations within Ad Dawr, because once you rid a town of insurgents, the people will be able to engage in council meetings openly and will not have to put on two faces, one towards the coalition and one towards the insurgency,” said Germann.

Planning for the operation began when Iraqi army officials and Ad Dawr city council officials came to the U.S. Army for help, said 1st Sgt. Jeffery Volmer of Battery A.

“Insurgents believe that Ad Dawr is somewhere they can go where it is safe, and this operation will take that perception away from the insurgents,” he continued.

The Black Lions in Baghdad

‘Black Lions’ Seize Weapons Cache

Search of Baghdad house uncovers hidden weapons-storage room

By Multi-National Division   
Camp Victory, Iraq                                        

BAGHDAD, Iraq, April 9, 2007 — Baghdad forces seized a large weapons cache in southwestern Baghdad, March 30, after observing suspicious activity around a residence.

Infantrymen of Company A, 1st Battalion, 28th Infantry (The Black Lions) silently established an outer cordon around an Iraqi house and moved in. The inner cordon element, led by 1st Lt. Michael Sheer, entered the building with a squad of heavily armed Black Lions. Shortly after, Capt. Bret Hamilton, Attack Company commander, monitoring the unit radio heard Sheer say, “We have found a cache.”

The house under search was located in an insurgent-dominated neighborhood, and Attack Company immediately received enemy small arms and rocket-propelled grenade fire.               

“The enemy did not want to surrender this sizable cache without a fight, but our soldiers had rehearsed this operation and were prepared for multiple contingencies,” Hamilton said. The first sighting was of several weapons in the living quarters of the residence. A search uncovered a hidden room, which served as massive enemy weapons and demolitions storage site within the home.               

The cordon and search was intended to disrupt enemy actions. The unit was supporting an Iraqi army forward-operating base that had been under enemy attack for 36 hours. Seizure of “Target-2,” this large weapons, ammunition, and demolitions cache struck an immediate blow to an insurgent attack on Forward Operating Base Lion, the Iraqi army facility nearby, said an officer at the scene.               

“The enemy lost the initiative when the sniper rifles and mortar systems were seized by Attack Company,” Maj. Will Cotty, Iraqi army training team chief, said. “Capt. Hamilton's team and the Iraqi army have developed a strong partnership in a short period of time.”

As the battle raged on in the Baghdad neighborhood, Attack Company with the Black Lion explosive ordnance detachment began to remove the cache from the residence.  Attack helicopters prowled the sky overhead looking for enemy movement around the Black Lion perimeter, keeping insurgent fighters at length. The insurgents that attempted to take down the Attack Company soldiers were met with overwhelming fire.               

“There is no doubt that the 25mm chain gun on our Bradley platoon made a dramatic impression on the enemy tonight,” said 1st Sgt Jeffery Griffith from Company A.  Significant weapons removed from the enemy’s possession include AK-47s, sniper rifles, machine guns, mortar systems, rocket propelled grenades, 107mm rockets, TNT, C-4 plastic explosives, bulletproof vests and a 240mm Soviet rocket.         

“Operations developed with actionable intelligence, like tonight, allow us to keep the enemy off-balance,” said Sgt. 1st Class Jamil Gutierrez from Company A. “My platoon was proud to remove these weapons and demolitions from the enemy's hands.”

Earthpig 66

'Instincts Over Feelings' Help Security Team Neutralize Enemy

During the evening hours of Jan. 7, the team hit the road from Camp Taji for a convoy that would take them about 200 miles in the southeast direction.

By Spc. Dustin Perry
1/34th Battalion Combat Team Public Affairs

CAMP ADDER, Iraq, Jan. 31, 2007 — Thirty seconds. Within a short sliver of time, a dozen U.S. soldiers, conducting a routine convoy operation, endured an engagement with the enemy under the Baghdad twilight, quickly and safely quashed the threat with a textbook reaction, and came away with a war story they will be able to take home and tell to their grandkids one day.

Answering to the radio call sign "Earthpig 66," the 12 members of the 2nd Combined Arms Battalion, 136th Infantry Regiment convoy logistics patrol team regularly escort supply trucks and other vehicles to and from countless locations throughout Iraq.

During the evening hours of Jan. 7, the team hit the road from Camp Taji for a convoy that would take them about 200 miles in the southeast direction. Only a few hours into an otherwise routine mission, they encountered the first of many obstacles the night had in store for them.

"At approximately 10 p.m., we came up on an (improvised explosive device) in the middle of the road," said Staff Sgt. Steven Davis, convoy commander.

After securing the area they heard a loud explosion to the west of their position, Davis said.

"(Then), we had an Iraqi Army convoy come up that had stopped about 50 meters behind us, roughly," said Davis, a native of Owatonna, Minn. "Our rear gunner could see people running around their vehicles, and he called me up to let me know what was going on."

The gunner, Spc. Alexander Jimenez of Tacoma, Wash., said the Iraqi soldiers were telling him they had at least two of their own soldiers who were dead and an unknown amount of wounded after being hit by an IED and coming under rifle fire. Davis sent his No. 3 vehicle to the rear to assess the scene.

"They had a lot of guys with gunshot and shrapnel wounds," said Sgt. Josh Day, noncommissioned officer in charge of the convoy. "I told them to bring their wounded up to us because we weren't going to run around to the back of their convoy; we needed to secure our own."

Day instructed an Iraqi Army captain to split the injured soldiers into two groups, "which ones were worse or better." He then told his medic, Pfc. Joshua Livingston, they were going to have to call in a few helicopters and execute a small-scale medical evacuation for what they thought was only a few people.

"From there, it just escalated into a mass casualty evacuation - like that," said Day, with a quick snap of his fingers. "They just kept coming. They had wounded that were being carried by other Iraqi army. They were bringing trucks up that had even more wounded in them and a lot more who were dead."

With the increasingly complex situation, the rear Humvee in the convoy was immediately called to provide assistance. The driver, Spc. Steven Rockwell, a second medic in the Earthpig 66 patrol and a native of Cookville, Tenn. began administering medical care and helping with the evacuation.

Less than an hour after the convoy stopped, an EOD team destroyed both the improvised explosive device and an additional explosive device. Establishing a landing zone for the incoming aircraft and continuing the medical evacuation were the next priorities, Day said.

"We had already triaged all the patients who were getting ready to be medically evacuated," said Livingston. "The first two helicopters were on the ground, so we immediately started loading the injured. At that time, I think one of the Iraqi soldiers was yelling that a truck pulled up. He yelled, 'Enemy!' and he notified us that we had an unidentified vehicle in the area."

The vehicle had been creeping up from the side of the road. Shortly after being spotted, someone exited the truck and began running toward the convoy and firing, said Cpl. Aaron Glasscock, a gunner from Opelousas, La.
 
"I started popping flares in the vicinity of where they had seen the truck," said Glasscock. "We started taking fire, and bullets were impacting all around the truck. I saw one guy, an insurgent, moving about 75 meters in front of me. He was firing and moving up closer to our position. That's when I opened up with my M-240 machine gun. I fired maybe a 40-round burst. As soon as I did that, I noticed a building about 25 meters in front of where I engaged the first enemy," continued Glasscock. "Small-arms fire and muzzle flashes were coming out of the windows, so I immediately turned my weapon and started engaging the building. At about the same time, the Iraqi army guys on the ground saw where our tracer rounds were flying and about 30 or 40 of them started opening fire on the same building."

Glasscock fired a single shot from his M203 grenade launcher, which ended the enemy's engagement after about half a minute, and a cease-fire was called. One Iraqi soldier was slightly wounded during the fire fight.

"In a matter of seconds, the threat was completely neutralized," said Day. "At that point, we started right back up with our medical evacuation sequence. We advised the medevac team that we were not receiving any more fire. The landing zone was clear for them to return."

A total of 12 Iraqi casualties were evacuated to a nearby medical treatment facility, Livingston said. Communication with the Iraqi Army went really smooth throughout the ordeal. Everyone involved was organized and coordinated, he said.
 
Many of the 2-136th soldiers also lauded their Iraqi counterparts for the quick and decisive way they reacted during the fire fight, despite the fact that several of them were already injured from the previous attack.

The Iraqi soldiers were tough said Glasscock. "They had one truck that rolled up with bullet holes in the doors. The guy who was sitting on that side, he got out and he had matching bullet holes all up and down his body. He got out of the truck and stood up. He lifted his shirt to show us he had been hit, but he said he was OK."

Asked how his soldiers handled the attack, 1st Sgt. Joseph Persing, the TC in the scout truck, said it "was kind of a remarkable deal." "It was a basic situation when it first started and it turned into a complex situation, which they handled very well," said Persing, a native of Heron Lake, Minn. "It was something that you only train on a little bit, but when we were put in the actual situation it appeared to me that it was like second nature." Day echoed the remark, saying he was "highly impressed" with the way the other soldiers in his company reacted.

"It was instinct over feelings," said Day. "We had a situation, we had a lot of wounded, we needed security, but we still had our primary mission to complete."

Close to 11:30 p.m., the convoy was back on the road. The remainder of the trip was without incident. Day said the attack hasn't done anything to set his team back or slow them down. He said they are being totally proactive and taking the event as a learning experience.
   
"We had a traumatic event, but it goes on all over theater," said Day. "Everybody who runs missions outside the wire will eventually have to deal with something similar to what we experienced. We're part of the big plan in this country, so we can't just say, 'Hey, we did our good deed.' We've still got an important piece of the puzzle to finish. We have just got to keep going."

Dustoff 77

Air Ambulance Team Awarded for Daring Rescue

The crew of Dustoff 77 risk life and limb to save the lives of their fellow soldiers.

By Spc. Daniel Bearl
25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs

TIKRIT, Iraq, Jan. 29, 2007 — When the soldiers from the 68th Medical Company made a promise last March they may not have known what it would take to keep their word.

“The 1-14th Field Artillery’s battalion commander had been in to see us several times,” recalled Staff Sgt. Bryan Resh, the ranking flight medic that day. “He seemed really concerned about the whole evac situation and prepping his guys for combat in Iraq. We reassured him several times that if anything happened, we’d be able to get these guys out.”

Soldiers from 1-14th Field Artillery had been training for the upcoming deployment at the Pohakuloa Training Area on the Big Island of Hawaii.

When something did go wrong late in the afternoon of March 10, 2006, the crew of Dustoff 77 kept their promise and distinguished themselves by risking their lives and their aircraft to save the lives of their fellow soldiers.

“The weather was marginal at best,” Resh said. "When the team received the call, which reported six soldiers down after a mortar round had exploded in its tube, cloud ceilings were below 300 feet, and visibility was less than one mile, Resh said. And there was even worse weather between them and the training area."

Weather conditions were so bad that the crew had to decide whether or not they would be able to perform the evacuation, Resh said.

“We’re talking on the internal comms in the aircraft,” Resh said, “and we decide that even though the weather was (not the best), we could not just sit there and not attempt to help, since we had made the promises that we could do it.”

So, they lifted off and headed for the accident site. After successfully navigating to the training area, the crew found that their landing zone was packed with ground vehicles.

“It was very crowded, very congested,” Resh said. “There was lots of chaos. We wound up landing in an area that was not designated for us to land. It was in front of the mortar tubes.”

As soon as the aircraft was on the ground, Resh was out and assisting the ground medics at the scene. Then he was forced to make a decision.

Six soldiers lay wounded from the explosion, but the helicopter only had room to carry four. Fortunately, Resh had thought ahead.

“Knowing that I would only be able to take or load four and care for four patients when this call came in, I immediately told range control to go ahead to dispatch the fire department, the ground ambulance that’s out there,” Resh said. “I’d evaluate the situation and give them the two least injured patients.”

Once the patients were loaded, the pilots lifted off into heavy cloud cover.

“It was the only way we could get out of there,” Resh said. “We didn’t have a control tower watching us under radar takeoff tell to us where to fly. So we just picked up, climbed.”

The helicopter headed immediately to the hospital located at Hilo, which is the primary trauma care facility on the island, Resh said.

As the aircraft fought its way through the dangerous weather, the crew faced a new problem.

“By the time we get over there and with the delay on the ground and weather conditions, we were approaching critical fuel levels,” Resh said.

In addition, weather was so bad that the airport at Hilo, which was just a mile ahead of the hospital, was closed to all traffic, Resh said.

Strykers on Haifa St

More on Operation Tomahawk Strike 11

Iraqis, Coalition reestablish security on Haifa

Saturday, 27 January 2007
Story and photo by Spc. Shea Butler
7th Mobile Public Affairs Detachmen

BAGHDAD — The company of Soldiers starts the day before the sun, knowing in the back of their minds that it is going to be a long day full of fire fights with the enemy. As grenades detonate around them and bullets fly by, they target the enemy and engage immediately, proving that “courage is the absence of fear.”

For the second time in the past several weeks, Soldiers from 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division teamed up with Iraqi Army troops to take on insurgents on Haifa Street, in Baghdad’s Karkh district Jan. 24.

The Haifa Street operation, dubbed Operation Tomahawk Strike 11, aimed to disrupt insurgents in order to establish security, said Capt. Isaac Torres, commander, Company C, 1-23 Inf.

The Soldiers started the operation at 3 a.m. when they gathered for pre-combat inspections, received the updated status of the area of operation and piled in their Strykers. They were prepared for a long day. They expected enemy fire.

“We knew we were going to get fired at, and we were ready for it,” said Sgt. Kevin McCallum, a native of Aikens, S.C., with Co. C.

Their assumptions were accurate. It wasn’t long after entering their objective area that the enemy threw grenades. It was continuous from that point on.

“There was pretty much constant firing back and forth all day with (only a) few slow periods,” McCallum said.

Despite all the noise coming from various weapons being fired, Co. C kept up communication between one another which helped the success of the mission.

“The communication was great. Everyone was relaying information about targeting and identifying the enemy. Some of it was over the radio and some was just yelling back and forth,” McCallum said. Noncommissioned officers communicated to everyone in their sectors of fire, constantly rotating around the building the company had secured. NCOs made sure that Soldiers were staying out of windows and were doing well.

While the NCOs were vigilant, the junior enlisted troops didn’t need much guidance. They have been in similar dangerous fire fights.

“They have all been in enough fire fights to know what is going on,” McCallum said. “They know all the rules of engagement.”

Training is part of what helped these Soldiers through the long day, but adrenaline helped too.

“It was a long day but there was so much adrenaline it made easier,” he said. “We took shots through some windows and adrenaline really kicked in. We immediately got on line, located the enemy and suppressed fire.”

Firing slowed down greatly towards the end of the day. When the smoke cleared, 21 insurgents had been detained and a weapons cache uncovered.

“The mission was a success,” Torres said. “The enemy was greatly disrupted and the Iraqi Army and coalition forces made an impact”

UPDATE: BlackAnthem has more pictures.

Fix Forward DART

'Fix Forward' recovers downed aircraft

Nov 09, 2006
BY Master Sgt. Charles A. Wheeler

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq (Army News Service, Nov. 9, 2006) - The Army calls it DART, for Downed Aircraft Recovery Team. Soldiers of Company B, 449th Aviation Service Battalion, called it a chance to do what they have been training for.

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter belonging to the 36th Combat Aviation Brigade made a precautionary landing in Southern Iraq recently because of low fluid pressure. The 449th ASB, known as "Fix Forward," sprang into action to prepare the helicopter for movement to a Forward Operating Base for repair.

Normally the aircraft would have been moved to a repair facility via ground transportation. But in this area of the world, security concerns make it preferable to move it through the air. Thus, the decision to sling load the aircraft, which included connecting the aircraft to a CH-47 Chinook with cables and letting the larger bird carry it to the FOB.

Having rehearsed the drill eight times before, the Soldiers reacted decisively and methodically. The team configured a Unit Maintenance Aircraft Kit for a UH-60 one-hook recovery procedure, then reviewed the DART process checklist.

"We removed the (rotor) blades and set up the sling load in under an hour," said Staff Sgt. Timothy Haynes of the 449th ASB.

Upon arrival at the forward base, the Soldiers unhooked the line from the Black Hawk, removed the shackle and repacked their equipment.

"From first notification to mission complete we were moving for 26 hours," said Sgt. Johnny Orneloz.

After having time to think about the mission, would they want to do it again?

"I'd do it again everyday if I had to; that is why we are here," said Spc. Jack Johnston.

Huey Rescue

Unorthodox rescue by Huey crew saves soldiers life

Nov. 9, 2006;    Submitted on: 11/10/2006 02:33:50 AM ;    Story ID#: 2006111023350

By Cpl. Brandon L. Roach, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing

AL ANBAR PROVINCE, Iraq (Nov. 9, 2006) --  While deployed to Iraq, the mission of a UH-1N Huey helicopter pilot and his crew is to provide support to ground units with heavy firepower and an extra set of eyes, but for one pilot and his crew, a mission of escorting convoys Sept. 25, turned into one of the most unforgettable days of their lives.
       
The UH-1N Huey pilots, Capt. Clint R. Marshall and 1st Lt. Ryan N. Harshman, and their two crew members, Staff Sgt. Mark Pipasquale and Sgt. Samair Alyassini, were conducting a convoy support mission in the Al Anbar Province of Iraq when they were redirected to provide cover for a disabled aircraft Sept. 25.

"We knew there was an injury when we arrived to the site," said Marshall, assigned to Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 167, Marine Aircraft Group 16 (Reinforced), 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward). "All we could do at that point was listen to the updates over the radio to find out what was happening and make sure that the crew on the ground was safe."
       
After an update on the injured soldier, the Marines knew what they had to do. They needed to evacuate the injured soldier to a medical facility.
       
With limited landing space available at the location, the Marines would have to hover over the disabled aircraft and hoist the soldier into their helicopter.

"As Marines we take chances sometimes," said Pipasquale, UH-1N Huey crew chief, HMLA-167. "This was a maneuver that we don't usually do, but we had to in order to help that soldier."

With his co-pilot, Harshman, watching the gauges and manning communication, and Alyassini directing him where to go, Marshall brought the Huey in close enough for Pipasquale to physically reach the injured man.

"This was a very dangerous situation because we were trying to hover over people within close proximity to them," said Alyassini, helicopter airframes mechanic UH-1/AH-1, HMLA-167. "I guided the pilots in above the disabled helicopter so that we could grab hold of the wounded soldier."

Once the Huey was in position and the hover was held, the Marines tried to get a gunner's belt around the soldier so they could hoist him inside of their helicopter.

"The soldiers were on the rotor head of the disabled aircraft when we began our hover above them. The rotor wash from our Huey started to spin the rotor the soldiers were on," said Pipasquale, native of Rochester, N.Y. "When this happened, it made it hard to secure the belt around him, so we had to try it a different way."
       
When the belt idea didn't work, the Marines repositioned their Huey and got in close so Pipasquale and Alyassini could grab a hold of the wounded man and pull him aboard their aircraft.

"The soldier was a very big guy," said Alyassini, a Cupertino, Calif., native. "But we had no problem pulling him up into our bird."

The Marines then headed back to Al Asad with their wounded soldier so that he could get the proper medical treatment.

"Good teamwork made this mission a success," said Harshman, a native of Jacksonville, N.C., and UH-1N Huey pilot, HMLA-167. "We analyzed the situation and made it work right. The directions from the crew put Marshall right on target."

Although their heroics were just another part of a day in the life of pilots and crewmembers with HMLA-167, they walked a little taller knowing that their actions had saved a man's life.

"This was my first time flying with Marshall," said Harshman. "It is a mission that I will never forget."

A few days after the daring rescue, the soldiers with 82nd Medical Company, MAG-16, surprised the Marines early in the morning with a token of their appreciation.

"I was really surprised by the soldiers awarding us the (Army Commendation Medal)," said Marshall. "I honestly felt better knowing we saved that soldier than I did getting a medal."

Although as prestigious as it is for the Marines to be awarded a medal by a different branch of the military service, Marshall and his crew knew that there was no medal that could instill the sense of pride they got after saving the soldier's life.

"I got a more honorable feeling from knowing he was okay, than any award could ever give me," said Alyassini. "It was great for the Army to do that, but we would do it for anyone, anywhere."

"We have gained a greater respect for the jobs that the soldiers of the medical evacuation units do," said Marshall. "The feelings you get knowing that your actions saved someone's life, is by far the best feeling anyone could ever have."


Disclaimer -- Photos associated with the article can be found at the following links:

1 - http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2006111023733
2 - http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/image1.nsf/Lookup/2006111023623

Surviving the House of Hell

'House of Hell' survivor awarded Navy Cross

July 28, 2006;    Submitted on: 07/28/2006 07:45:51 PM ;    Story ID#: 2006728194551

By Gunnery Sgt. Keith A. Milks, MCB Camp Pendleton

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif.  (July 28, 2006) --  His desert utilities shredded by shrapnel and streaked with his own blood and that of his fellow Marines, Cpl. Robert J. Mitchell Jr. limped out of the cement block house in downtown Fallujah, Iraq, and into the annals of Marine Corps history.

The day was Nov. 13, 2004, and according to the Marine Corps’ official account of the fierce, close quarters battle, Mitchell ignored his own wounds and repeatedly braved enemy fire to administer first aid to and evacuate other Marines wounded in the fight.

Nearly two years after that fateful day, in a solemn ceremony at Camp Pendleton, Calif., Mitchell received the Navy Cross from Lt. Gen. John F. Sattler, commander of the I Marine Expeditionary Force. The Navy Cross is the nation’s second-highest award for battlefield heroism.

“This is a truly special occasion,” said Sattler, addressing the assembled Marines and guests after presenting the award. “Valor comes in a scale, and all the Marines, Sailors, and veterans here today know how rare of an occasion this is.”

As a cool, dry wind snapped the flags around the parade deck, Mitchell choked back tears as he thanked God, his family, and his fellow Marines for their support and attending the ceremony.

Mitchell joined the Marine Corps in early 2001, and was on his second tour in Iraq with the 1st Marine Division when Coalition forces launched a joint U.S.-Iraqi offensive to reclaim Fallujah from insurgents who had fortified the city.

Dubbed Operation Al Fajr (aka Phantom Fury), the assault on Fallujah kicked off on Nov. 8, 2004, and quickly turned into a bloody, street-by-street contest with then-Corporal Mitchell and his fellow Marines in Kilo Company, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, in the thick of the fighting.

Day by day, Mitchell and his squad pushed through the city, methodically clearing pockets of enemy resistance as they progressed. During an assault against an insurgent strong point on Nov. 12, Mitchell was shot through the right tricep, but ignored the wound to help destroy the fortified position, and later refused medical evacuation to remain with his squad.

The next day, an assault against a squat, cement house had gone horribly wrong and several wounded Marines lay trapped inside with several well-fortified insurgents waiting in ambush positions. Mitchell’s squad got the call to come and assist.

“When the call came, we knew we had to get them out,” said Mitchell.  “That became the mission – the only mission.”