FORWARD OPERATING BASE SPEICHER, TIKRIT, Iraq - One of the quickest ways of travel across the Iraqi desert is by helicopter flight, but prolonged exposure to the dust and sand, can lead to premature wear of vital helicopter components causing unsafe operating conditions and in-flight malfunctions.
Preservation of these vital components calls for frequent inspections and servicing by maintenance crews who work 12-hour shifts in a 24-hour operation.
“For every operational hour of flight time, there are many hours of maintenance performed by the maintenance crews,” said California National Guardsman Staff Sgt. John Ornalas, UH-60 airframe technician, Company C, 1st Battalion, 140th Aviation, Task Force Liberty. “Because the helicopters go up so often, we have to run a round-the-clock maintenance shop.”
The battalion is from Los Alamitas, California.
