Posted on 07/21/2009 5:10:31 PM PDT by SandRat
FOB WARRIOR — Pre-deployment training prepares Soldiers for a wide range of missions they may encounter. Flying a blimp is typically not one of them. Or at least it wasn't for Soldiers here, until a new surveillance blimp took its place in the skies above FOB Warrior.
The blimp began operating June 28, and is part of a growing number of these blimps currently being used across Iraq.
This equipment takes a special group of Soldiers operating day and night to keep it in the air and out of harm's way.
"If the blimp starts losing helium, or if it needs to be patched, we take it down, find the hole and fix it," said Spc. Jennifer Cumbie, a Miami native and a multi-channel transmission system operator with the 1st Calvary Division.
The Soldiers are also on the lookout for bad weather and heavy winds, which can affect the stability of the blimp.
"In the communications world, Soldiers who operate their systems are in control of troubleshooting and can easily identify where a problem can, or has occurred," said 2nd Lt. Valerie LoSchiavo, the officer in charge of the blimp team and a platoon leader with 1st Cav. "But this mission holds challenges and variables that are difficult to predict or determine."
And the unpredictability of this weather has made the job challenging.
"It has been a learning experience," said Spc. Marshall Austin, a Wilkesborow, N.C., native and a shift leader with the blimp team.
"We all learned an entirely new system," said LoSchiavo. "But the team has adapted to the task with ease. They have done an outstanding job.
"When they found out about it they were excited to do something new," she said. "It gave us something to focus on and put our energy into."
They just have to, and I mean have to, name one of these “The Rosie O’Donnell” both to reward her dietary accomplishments and her stance on the war.
Channeling “F Troop”:
IT IS BALLOON!
It has taken a long time to get blimps to Iraq, but those things could be real game changers.
First of all, unlike the Goodyear blimp, military blimps likely fly a lot higher. So anything short of a SAM is unlikely to be a problem. But up there, blimps can do all sorts of missions, and all at the same time.
They can conduct very intensive surveillance over a wide area (even into Syria and Iran), act as a very high bandwidth communications “satellite”, monitor ground communications such as cell phones, perform air traffic control, coordinate police and military movements, and no doubt many other things.
This can be enormously powerful. For example, say there is a terrorist attack. The surveillance recordings can be reviewed to find out where the attackers came from, what vehicles they used, anywhere else they visited, where they went to after the attack, etc. Potentially compromising the entire terrorist network, their safe houses, their vehicles, and other members who were not directly involved.
Having a blimp in the air means that there can be far less aircraft on patrol missions, it takes a lot of pressure off military communications satellites, and who knows what all else.
We’re back to Civil War technology !
This posting doesn’t give much detail. It appears that they ARE manned, but nothing is said about the whys and wherefores of HAVING a blimp hovering in the sky over Iraq. The first thing that comes to mind is that our troops HAVE TO BE sitting ducks up there, for anybody with a rocket or a 50 cal. weapon, or who-knows-what ELSE the raghead enemy might get their hands on.
Which brings me to ask; what the #@&!%*#! are the brass thinking to come up with a half-assed idea like this?! What happened to the unmanned drones that can lurk in the sky for HOURS, unseen and nearly-impervious? Is someone dissatisfied with the low number of body bags coming out of Iraq these days? What the blazes is going ON over there?!
“Spc. Marshall Austin, a Wilkesborow, N.C., native”
Wilkesboro.
Credit: Jon Stewart
It’s like reading a news report from World War I. I wonder if soon these balloons will be considered death traps because they’re targeted by biplanes from the enemy.
Dude - there’s nobody in the blimp.
It carries a sensor package, not people.
And we’ve had them over the FOBs for years. Even some of the smaller ones have ‘em.
That’s what an operator told me last week.
They’re pretty prevalent in Baghdad for sure, but I remember driving through some random postage-stamp, middle-of-nowhere FOB one night and even they had one.
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