Exactly a year earlier, the men and women of the 5th Battalion, 158th Aviation Regiment, a UH-60 Black Hawk unit from Giebelstadt, Germany, had stepped onto the sand.... Since then, they’d been tested by tragedy and sobered by war. Through the whole year, without letup, they had worked at a breakneck pace.
The 5/158 Aviation started out at Camp Udairi, immediately flying missions while training for war. Just two weeks after they arrived, the unit was blooded.
Two pilots and two crew chiefs died instantly when their Black Hawk slammed into the desert floor. Flying in darkness, the crew flew into an unexpected sandstorm.
Working directly for V Corps, 12th Brigade helicopters ferried VIPs and ordinary troops all over the country. Franks said his unit alone hauled 1,100 passengers...
The battalion’s Black Hawks flew the Army’s first Personnel Recovery Task Force missions, in which Apache and Black Hawk pilots trained jointly to rescue air crews or soldiers downed behind enemy lines.
The war experience built team spirit in a way garrison life does not. Somkovic and Robinson said they disliked each other before the deployment. Now they are best buddies.
But they are more than ready to get home.
“I can’t wait to get back and go knee-deep in a river, fly-fishing,” Robinson said. “I’m just glad to be [alive]. I’ve got the best damn job in the Army.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"MISSION READY !"
Mission Accomplished!
