Posted on 01/14/2008 7:32:06 PM PST by maine-iac7
In a scene all too familiar to US Servicemen past and present, a UH-60 MEDEVAC Helicopter, always call signed Dust-off, evacuates US Army Paratroopers and Afghan Army soldiers who were ambushed near Forward Operating Base Bella in November.
The team of soldiers, comprised of Paratroopers from the 173rd Airborne Brigade, soldiers from the Afghan National Army, and two Afghan interpreters, had traveled less than 2 miles on foot to a nearby town of Aranas in the mountainous Nuristan Province. They set out early in the morning for what was supposed to be a positive and productive day of Shuras with local government officials and elders from surrounding villages. The terrain was unforgiving and impossible to pass in vehicles. The distance was short, yet time consuming to navigate, especially on foot and with the weight the modern day soldier carries. After the day's activities were finished in Aranas, the combined team set out for their return foot march back to Forward Operating Base Bella. The mountains of the area, scattered with cliffs and valleys, offered a hideout for Taliban insurgents who waited for the opportune moment to attack the team of US and Afghan Soldiers returning to base.
As a result of the attack by Taliban fighters, the combined team of Paratroopers and Afghan Soldiers sustained great loses. At that point, and after the area was secured, Dust-off leaped into action, and conducted what ended up being a 31 hour medical evacuation mission ..........................
It mentions heavy losses and a 31 hour evac mission, but not how many were lost/wounded...in this once again scenario of a small band of troops sent to talk to village edlers - the Taliban given a heads up that they will be coming back the same route and they set up an ambush. Hope some one in upper command figures out a better way to handle this - like have some air cover to protect the troops on their return to outpost... The 173rd lost 3 in the Kunar Province (Operation Rock Avalanche) in the same setup just before this battle and again, also in the Kunar, in mid-Nov, where they lost 5.
How many times do the village enemy contacts get to set up these ambushes with the Taliban before someone in upper command decides to do something to change the pattern, or at least to give our troops air cover back to the post?
I saw a presentation on either Discovery or the History Channel about helicopter medevac flights during Vietnam. There was one pilot that was focused on. He was fearless. He would fly into the most murderous LZ’s there was. It was said that he did it to get the fallen soldiers out and to hospital. He flew countless flights and was shot at a lot. On his last flight, he flew into a hot LZ and was hit. He crashed and was killed, along with those on his chopper.
He was such a heroic pilot that a term was named for him. His callsign was Dustoff. That’s how the term Dustoff came to be. He had to be one hell of a pilot, soldier, and human being.
An old friend of mine worked in Vietnam dustoffs. He was shot down twice in one day. One vet pilot in Germany recognized him and said “Never allow that man to buy his own drink. Many men owe their lives to that man.”
Brave man working to save other brave men. God Bless them all.
Amen
Thanks for the history -
I believ this was the pilot I mentioned. Klik the link and read about him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_L._Kelly
A brave man who did his duty and did it damned well.
God Bless them.
Great article. Thanks for posting.
For the past year [1962-1963] the 57th [Medical Detachment (Helicopter Ambulance)] had worked without a tactical call sign, simply using "Army" and the tail number of the aircraft. For example, if a pilot were flying a helicopter with the serial number 62-12345, his call sign would be "Army 12345." The 57th communicated internally on any vacant frequency it could find. Major Spencer decided that this slapdash system had to go.
In Saigon he visited Navy Support Activity, which controlled all the call words in South Vietnam. He received a Signal Operations Instructions book that listed all the unused call words. Most, like "Bandit," were more suitable for assault units than for medical evacuation units. But one entry, "Dust Off," epitomized the 57th's medical evacuation missions. Since the countryside then was dry and dusty, helicopter pickups in the fields often blew dust, dirt, blankets, and shelter halves all over the men on the ground. By adopting "Dust Off," Spencer found for Army aeromedical evacuation in Vietnam a name that lasted the rest of the war.
you have freep mail ;o)
Charles Kelly commanded the 57th Medical Detachment. The units moto - “No compromise. No rationalization. No Hesitation. Fly the mission. Now!” Kelly was killed after being urged by the ground commander to leave a hot LZ. He replied, “when I have your wounded”, and was killed leaving the LZ.
“Dustoff” was one of the call signs that were rotated among units in Vietnam monthly. When the “Dustoff” call sign came to the 57th, Kelly thought that it would be less confusing to the troops on the ground if the 57th kept that call sign permanently. He just kept it, and the unit that was supposed to use it next refused to use it. The 57th Medical Detachment, “The Originals” was born.
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